Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2019

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. After bootstrapping, friends and family are the most common funding sources for early-stage startups.

Intellectual Property 219

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 219

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

So you’re interested in raising capital from a Revenue-Based Investor VC. A new wave of Revenue-Based Investors (“RBI”) are emerging. For background, see Revenue-Based Investing: A New Option for Founders who Care About Control. Our wheelhouse is bootstrapped (or lightly capitalized) SMB SaaS. Bigfoot Capital.

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

Does the traditional VC financing model make sense for all companies? A new wave of Revenue-Based Investors are emerging who are using creative investing structures with some of the upside of traditional VC, but some of the downside protection of debt. So what is Revenue Based Investing? Absolutely not. Structured as a loan.

Revenue 60

Revenue Term Sheet Founder Technical Review 60

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 14, 2014

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. After bootstrapping, friends and family are the most common funding sources for early-stage startups.

Entrepreneur 283

Entrepreneur Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 283

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2017

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. After bootstrapping, friends and family are the most common funding sources for early-stage startups.

Product Development 177

Product Development Cost Developer Product 177

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2013

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. After bootstrapping, friends and family are the most common funding sources for early-stage startups.

Intellectual Property 309

Intellectual Property Technical Review Venture Capital Startup 309

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2018

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. After bootstrapping, friends and family are the most common funding sources for early-stage startups.

Intellectual Property 134

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 134

YoungUpstarts

JULY 6, 2017

Once you learn about all of your financing options, you could choose the one best suited to help your business grow. Some business owners decide to self-finance their startup rather than seek out investors. Bootstrapping has a number of advantages compared to other fundraising strategies. Understand the Tax Code.

Syndicate 127

Syndicate Syndication Software Review Angel Investor 127

Tim Keane

MARCH 9, 2011

How should I finance my new venture? It’s a deceptively simple question:  what is the optimal way to finance a new startup? Misaligned interests that lead to poor financing choices are often very problematic for first time entrepreneurs in young companies.  Can you bootstrap your way to positive cash flow?

Finance 83

Finance Bootstrapping Startup Equity 83

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 29, 2022

While you may be enamored with becoming an entrepreneur and bootstrapping your business, don’t quit your day job. Track finances early. Even if you’re not a numbers person, you need to track your finances. To truly stay on top of your finances, you should start creating financial forecasts as early as possible.

Forecast 154

Forecast Software Review Bootstrapping Finance 154

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 8, 2015

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. After bootstrapping, friends and family are the most common funding sources for early-stage startups.

Entrepreneur 120

Entrepreneur Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 120

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 1, 2020

The primary source of your funds should be your paying customers, i.e., your business should generate enough revenues and profits to fund the growth and expansion. Bootstrapping. I always recommend that you start with bootstrapping. These usually play a role in the very early stage of your business, primarily pre-revenue.

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Seed Stage 150

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 15, 2014

Based on the Startup Environment Index from the Kauffman Foundation and LegalZoom a while back, personal money, or bootstrapping, continues to be the primary startup funding source. At least wait until later, when you ready to scale, and have some “leverage” based on a proven business model, some real customers, and real revenue.

Bootstrapping 276

Bootstrapping Entrepreneur Startup Burn Rate 276

The Startup Magazine

OCTOBER 9, 2019

Tech startups are, in contrast, focused on rapid growth, potential, and top-end revenue. Goal setting is essential to the success of any business, and is critical to the growth of a tech startup in the bootstrapping stage. Separate Personal and Business Finances. Stay Ahead of the Payments Curve .

Technical Review 81

Technical Review Bootstrapping Startup Finance 81

YoungUpstarts

JULY 16, 2019

No matter how fantastic your innovations are or excellent your new ideas appear to be, you will always need capital to bootstrap any business innovations you might have. You can either raise capital in return for ownership interests in your business or you can obtain loans to finance your business. New product or service development.

Software Review 113

Software Review Startup Equity Bootstrapping 113

YoungUpstarts

MAY 28, 2014

In other words, you have done wonders while “bootstrapping.” ” Getting some revenue from at least 3 clients (proving that there’s value to what you’re doing) would be fantastic, but other types of traction and validation would help too. Show Capital Efficiency.

Security 200

Security Incubator Technical Review Bootstrapping 200

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2022

Duffy emphasizes the often overlooked personal side of entrepreneurship, including balancing finances, relationships, and your health. That means coming up with revenue and expense assumptions that balance your natural optimism and determine how much cash the business will really need. Let your passion drive your cash flow projections.

Early Stage 307

Early Stage Bootstrapping Revenue Framework 307

Version One Ventures

JULY 22, 2014

Any entrepreneur trying to navigate the financing landscape should be aware of the over-abundance of angel money compared with subsequent rounds. If not, revenue from your customers will be your best source of financing. That’s okay: many great companies have been built by bootstrapping.

Finance 167

Finance Seed Money Bootstrapping Angel Investor 167

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 16, 2016

It was a way for us to stay creative and it also brought in some revenue. The capital earned in the agency was used to bootstrap the progression of the key business we wanted to launch. I always encourage entrepreneurs to get creative with sourcing finance. When you are bootstrapping cash flow is king. The Hustle.

Greece 100

Greece United Kingdom Ukraine Philippines 100

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2021

Unfortunately, most of us don’t have enough resources to bootstrap our own startups, so we are completely dependent on investors to help turn great ideas into great businesses. They need to believe your valuation, based on current revenue and intellectual property, and feel the equity offered gives them a real return for the risk.

Intellectual Property 352

Intellectual Property Equity Bootstrapping Valuation 352

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 29, 2020

In other words, you must start bootstrapping an online startup , because the future of the global business world is online. Before we look at ways to bootstrap a startup, let’s consider a comprehensive definition of what a startup is. Ways to bootstrap a startup. Thus, you must manage your available finances wisely.

Bootstrapping 85

Bootstrapping Global Startup Hungary 85

Up and Running

DECEMBER 23, 2019

One of the most important decisions a new business owner can make is how they’re going to finance their venture. . Bootstrapping, saving funds over years, borrowing from friends and family, taking out a bank loan and pitching investors are all viable options, but some will work better than others for your specific business. .

Finance 92

Finance Sweat Equity Bootstrapping Entrepreneur 92

Up and Running

AUGUST 11, 2015

How ironic that it seems like more than 90 percent of the online information on startups is about getting financed—but more than 90 percent of startups are bootstrapped. What does bootstrapping mean? ” See Also Should I Borrow Money, Seek Investment, or Bootstrap My Business? How many startups are bootstrapped?

Bootstrapping 60

Bootstrapping Startup Angel Investor Small Business Administration 60

Gust

DECEMBER 7, 2014

Based on the Startup Environment Index from the Kauffman Foundation and LegalZoom a while back, personal money, or bootstrapping, continues to be the primary startup funding source. At least wait until later, when you ready to scale, and have some “leverage” based on a proven business model, some real customers, and real revenue.

Bootstrapping 191

Bootstrapping Entrepreneur Startup Burn Rate 191

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 16, 2011

Zendesk is heavily financed by Benchmark and Charles River and has 10,000 customers. They charge $9, $29 and $59 per agent per month and I am eager to see bootstrapped, scrappy Freshdesk morph their pricing structure to aggressively compete with them. Higher end players like ServiceCloud charges $65, $135 & $260 per agent per month.

India 123

India Bootstrapping Non-Compete Entrepreneur 123

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 10, 2010

They already have several customers including some telcos, and are at about $350,000 in revenues. I call it drip-financing. Most entrepreneurs have no choice but to avail of this sort of financing along with the mentoring and the contacts that could come with it (doesn't always come along, though). Kir Devries.

Cloud 115

Cloud Silicon Valley Incubator Finance 115

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 27, 2014

This was a company that had successfully bootstrapped itself to real revenues, employees and cashflow and I thought it deserved the structure of a going concern, not a flier. Treat financings like an auction and you''re going to get a bubble and a lot of bad behavior. At first, I thought I was making a mistake. No, probably not.

Term Sheet 160

Term Sheet Founder Cofounder Software Review 160

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2015

That’s why I recommend that they find a co-founder who loves business challenges, including marketing and finance. Thus it’s a waste of time for most entrepreneurs to be looking for investors until they have a product and some customer revenue. Most founders bootstrap product development.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Intellectual Property Cofounder Bootstrapping 120

www.readwriteweb.com

OCTOBER 7, 2007

This is typically called “bootstrapping&# and it is fraught with potential pitfalls and dangers. What is bootstrapping? So, what does it mean to bootstrap a company? Bootstrapping involves launching a business on a low budget. Why bootstrap? Either way, bootstrapping is a viable model.

Bootstrapping 41

Bootstrapping Offshore Startup EC2 41

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2019

Duffy emphasizes the often overlooked personal side of entrepreneurship, including balancing finances, relationships, and your health. That means coming up with revenue and expense assumptions that balance your natural optimism and determine how much cash the business will really need. Let your passion drive your cash flow projections.

Early Stage 317

Early Stage Bootstrapping Revenue Framework 317

Spencer Fry

APRIL 17, 2017

Days before the conference started, I was asked (and felt honored) to lead two workshops on bootstrapping vs. raising money. Having started and sold 3 successful bootstrapped businesses, and am now running 1 venture capital backed business ( Coach ), this is a topic I know a thing or two about. What's “good” about bootstrapping.

Bootstrapping 63

Bootstrapping Cap Table Liquidation Preference Cofounder 63

David Teten

AUGUST 20, 2019

I’ve been a traditional equity VC for 8 years, and I’m now researching Revenue-Based Investing and other new approaches to VC. The question I’m asking myself: should a new VC fund use Revenue-Based Investing, traditional equity VC, or possibly both (likely from two separate pools of capital)? Potentially could use SBIC financing.

Revenue 60

Revenue SBIC Cofounder Venture Capital 60

ReadWriteStart

NOVEMBER 3, 2011

In How To Defend Your Dream Against All Odds , Alex and I explore the company's journey to $200 Million in revenue, while their VCs wrote them off. Zoho is already over $100 million in revenue and is seeing tremendous traction. Having turned down all overtures for investment, Zoho continues merrily on in its bootstrapping path.

North Carolina 116

North Carolina San Diego Entrepreneur Balance Sheet 116

ReadWriteStart

OCTOBER 7, 2010

Sub-$2 million pre-money, it is better to bootstrap. That is debt financing that converts into equity at the Series A valuation once the price for that is set. (I Our discussion today was largely around her financing strategy, and one of the key milestones that I probed her on was: What does it take to get a validated customer?

Valuation 119

Valuation Silicon Valley Pre-Money Valuation Bootstrapping 119

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 22, 2020

The only way an entrepreneur can really dodge this issue is to totally fund the startup with personal funds (bootstrapping). Tie payments to your product or service revenue. Other entrepreneurs never start their adventure, because they can’t face the prospect of even approaching friends and family for an investment kick-start.

Management 308

Management Cram Down Angel Investor Equity 308

The Startup Magazine

MARCH 29, 2024

Revenue streams are another critical component of your business model. Understand your costs, both fixed and variable, and plan your finances accordingly to sustain operations and fuel growth. Whether it’s through bootstrapping, seeking angel investors, or applying for grants, explore all options available to you.

Intellectual Property 131

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Business Model Bootstrapping 131

Feld Thoughts

JANUARY 25, 2015

“We will never need another financing.” ” “This financing will get us to cash flow breakeven.” ” “This is our last financing before we become profitable.” There are also companies, like my first one (Feld Technologies) that bootstrapped and never raised any money.

Finance 70

Finance Bootstrapping Acquisition Revenue 70