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What is the Right Burn Rate at a Startup Company?

Both Sides of the Table

We want a strong balance sheet (um, ok. but that’s our firm’s money on your balance sheet. You technically have more gas left but you never know if some unexpected circumstance causes you to run out of gas. I call this “using your balance sheet as a strategic weapon.”

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Praying to the God of Valuation

Both Sides of the Table

SEEING THINGS FROM THE VC SIDE OF THE TABLE While I was a VC in 2007 & 2008 those were dead years because the market again evaporated due the the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). Almost no financings, many VCs and tech startups cratered for the second time in less than a decade following the dot com bursting.

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What’s Really Going on in the VC Industry? What Does it Mean for Startups?

Both Sides of the Table

But VC is an “illiquid asset&# so funds didn’t disappear quickly - In 2000/01 the stock market quickly adjusted punishing investors in the NASDAQ and in individual public technology stocks. It takes less to start a business these days – We all know that it takes less to start a technology company these days.

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The Value of Paying Down Technical Debt

OnlyOnce

The Value of Paying Down Technical Debt. Our Engineering team has a great term called Technical Debt, which is the accumulation of coding shortcuts and operational inefficiencies over the years in the name of getting product out the door faster that weighs on the company’s code base like debt weighs on a balance sheet.

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How can startups engage Amazon and AWS

VC Cafe

A few months ago, VC Cafe launched a series on startup engagement and outreach programs of large tech companies. Amazon Corporate Development – Notable acquisitions include Whole Foods ($13.7B), smart doorbell system Ring ($1.2B, 2018) and autonomous mobility technology Zoox ($1.2bn). AI startups in the Alexa Fund portfolio.

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Why large companies acquire small companies

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

In terms of acquisition, they ask more specifically: “How can we trade balance sheet assets (cash, equity) in exchange for executing our strategy better?”. Even if this costs more than 2 years of in-house assembly, it’s still worth it, due to accelerating revenue growth due to up-sales and market-differentiation.

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Why GE’s Jeff Immelt Lost His Job – Disruption and Activist Investors

Steve Blank

This article first appeared on the Harvard Business Review blog. He sold off slower-growth, low-tech, and nonindustrial businesses — financial services, media, entertainment, plastics, and appliances. GE’s gross margin was 21% last year, compared with 28% at United Technologies and 30% at Siemens.