VC Cafe

NOVEMBER 2, 2019

One question that keeps coming up when speaking with early stage entrepreneurs when it comes to funding, is what metrics the company needs to hit to raise seed/series A/B etc: What’s a good conversion rate? Is my churn rate below the category average? Example of Baremetrics revenue per user benchmarks.

B2C 141

B2C Technical Review Startup Retention 141

Up and Running

AUGUST 21, 2014

In this webinar, we take time to discuss the different metrics that startups—and established businesses—should be tracking. In terms of pre-purchase, traffic and content metrics. So I’m going to keep going here, “Pre-purchase, the traffic and content metrics.” Peter, anybody have any questions as I go along?

Metrics 84

Metrics Startup Churn Rate Forecast 84

Up and Running

FEBRUARY 20, 2015

If you don’t understand your key financial metrics, you have no way of monitoring your business’s health—and you risk mingling assets, incurring penalties for filing taxes late, overlooking expenses, and running into difficulties paying bills and employees, just to mention a few! Each article will give you: A brief definition of the metric.

Metrics 60

Metrics Burn Rate .Net Churn Rate 60

View from Seed

OCTOBER 24, 2019

As a first time founder, having a few million dollars in the bank after a successful seed raise may seem like a huge amount of capital, and it’s easy to lose discipline around your burn rate. Unlike in B2B, you don’t necessarily want to use a second-seed round to get to metrics that every investor will appreciate.

Dilution 149

Dilution B2B Burn Rate Early Stage 149

YoungUpstarts

JULY 31, 2019

Founders need seed capital to get their operations up and running, and to begin generating revenue. For first time entrepreneurs or new entrants in a market, most initial problems start with failing to meet revenue projections — when product roll out is delayed, for example, or when it takes longer than expected to get revenue traction.

Cofounder 127

Cofounder Burn Rate Technical Cofounder Seed Capital 127

crowdSPRING Blog

OCTOBER 24, 2014

Benchmarking SaaS Startup Efficiency with Revenue per Employee Metrics | by @ttunguz – crowdspring.co/1sRVdjm. What is the Right Burn Rate at a Startup Company? | How to Ruin Your Company with One Bad Process | by @bhorowitz – crowdspring.co/11FYS9R. by @msuster – crowdspring.co/1qKWc0z. 1qKWc0z.

Social Media 95

Social Media Small Business Design Media 95

Steve Blank

MARCH 17, 2020

The questions every startup or small business CEO needs to ask now are: What’s my Burn Rate and Runway? Burn Rate and Runway. To answer the first question, take stock of your current gross burn rate i.e. how much cash are you spending each month. What are the new financial metrics? Laying off people?

Burn Rate 436

Burn Rate Startup Valuation Sales Cycle 436

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2013

The minute you try to monetize now they have metrics with which to beat you up and say you’re business has limitations.” The company with no revenue and a $150k burn rate that raised $2.5 I often wonder why they didn’t find a way to bring in some revenue to cover costs. I see this weekly.

Burn Rate 412

Burn Rate Dilution Revenue Valuation 412

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 22, 2010

I had been confused for years why I had to update an income statement each board meeting that said zero for 18 months before we had any revenue. An early indication that you’ve found the right business model is when you believe the cost of getting customers will be less than the revenues the customers will generate. Startup Metrics.

Balance Sheet 307

Balance Sheet Startup Burn Rate Metrics 307

Up and Running

OCTOBER 7, 2019

You need to use your time and resources productively by focusing on the right metrics so you can use data to help you implement improvements that matter. The first step is to formulate a KPI strategy by selecting the right metrics to track. The metrics should help you identify areas for improvement.

Founder 71

Founder Retention Metrics Technical Review 71

David Teten

NOVEMBER 26, 2019

Instead of budget approvals, monitor key metrics and give managers more flexibility. Sean Colrock, Director of Client Partnerships at Wiss & Company , suggests at a minimum you track: cash on hand; fume date; and burn rate. Traditional budgets can be destructive and a huge waste of time.

Agile 60

Agile Management Forecast Silicon Valley 60

View from Seed

OCTOBER 15, 2014

Examples of housekeeping include the following list, though not every item will appear every time: Finance: Cash out date, burn rate, 409A valuation, cap table, common/preferred stock dashboard. A seed-stage mobile startup’s housekeeping section might look something like this: Section 3: Core Metrics.

Seed Stage 331

Seed Stage Cap Table Metrics Burn Rate 331

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 6, 2025

Thoughts from BERKONOMICS – Dave Berkus After 50 years in entrepreneurship and 200+ startup investments, here’s what most first-time founders get dangerously wrong: They obsess over the wrong metrics. There are only 5 metrics that truly matter in your first 18 months: Everything else is a distraction. Monthly burn rate 4.

Founder 62

Founder Burn Rate Bankruptcy Metrics 62

Up and Running

JUNE 18, 2013

We’ll be using LivePlan to display these metrics. Keep an eye on both your monthly burn rate and any major payables to make sure you’re financially viable in the immediate future. If you are running a monthly net loss, you need to closely monitor how much of your expenses aren’t being funded from revenues.

Metrics 79

Metrics Burn Rate .Net Finance 79

VC Cafe

JUNE 6, 2024

It’s not a surprise, given that entrepreneurs are obsessed with data and metrics, but in the conservative VC market of 2024, it feels even more important for founders to know what ‘good’ looks like and what investors expect.

B2B 97

B2B Burn Rate Generative AI Retention 97

BeyondVC

DECEMBER 10, 2009

While the revenue model may change as well, I like to at least understand going into the investment that the entrepreneur's head is in the right place and that the economics work right from the start. The remainder would go into deferred revenue. Another area that is quite important is churn rate.

Churn Rate 112

Churn Rate Burn Rate Startup Metrics 112

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 14, 2015

Define metrics to keep on track for the journey. Common financial metrics include burn rate, gross margin, revenue growth and net profit. You also need a sales pipeline, customer acquisition costs and marketing costs as a percent of revenue.

Elevator Pitch 120

Elevator Pitch Burn Rate Startup Metrics 120

The Startup Magazine

MAY 9, 2024

Their net revenue retention (NRR) soared to 150%, a testament to their product’s value to existing customers. During the ZIRP era, vanity metrics like customer acquisition cost (CAC) to lifetime value (LTV) ratio and monthly active users (MAU) dominated investment decisions.

Burn Rate 88

Burn Rate Startup Bankruptcy Metrics 88

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2015

Every customer understands that your solution has to generate more revenue than cost, but you should not put that data in a customer pitch. Of course, these should never be in a customer pitch, but investors expect an overall strategy with specific budgets, milestones and metrics. Immediate investment requirements and use of funds.

Product 120

Product Intellectual Property Liquidity Event Burn Rate 120

abovethecrowd.com

APRIL 20, 2016

The pressures of lofty paper valuations, massive burn rates (and the subsequent need for more cash), and unprecedented low levels of IPOs and M&A, have created a complex and unique circumstance which many Unicorn CEOs and investors are ill-prepared to navigate. The same thing happened to many Internet stocks.

IPO 40

IPO Term Sheet Silicon Valley Valuation 40

David Cohen

MARCH 1, 2017

As an investor, I’m often asked what sort of burn rate is appropriate for a growing company. For SaaS companies in this situation, my rule of thumb for burn guidance is to have a one year ratio of net burn to net new MRR. Please be careful if you’re just skimming this post looking to justify a big burn!

.Net 94

.Net Burn Rate Cloud Metrics 94

K9 Ventures

MAY 28, 2015

At K9 we invest in companies which have a clear/direct revenue model and typically don’t invest in companies that follow the Ubiquity first Revenue Later (URL) revenue model made famous by Eric Schmidt in 2007. I call this Revenue Development and have written about it before. >$0/month. That’s real money.

Revenue 48

Revenue Startup Burn Rate Cofounder 48

BeyondVC

DECEMBER 9, 2009

  While the revenue model may change as well, I like to at least understand going into the investment that the entrepreneur's head is in the right place and that the economics work right from the start. .    The remainder would go into deferred revenue.    The remainder would go into deferred revenue. 

Churn Rate 78

Churn Rate Burn Rate Startup Metrics 78

Feld Thoughts

SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

Some will demonstrate strategically justifiable metrics and have fantastic ‘up round’ exits; others may see liquidation preferences kick in which will negatively impact founders and employees; others may fulfill the adage “IPO is the new down round” , which has been the case for more than half of the public companies on our list.

Liquidation Preference 70

Liquidation Preference Burn Rate Balance Sheet .Net 70

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 18, 2014

First, the VC’s ordered that the company ramp its burn rate (monthly losses in cash) to over $800,000, which I could not fathom. But the CFO let the spending rate continue to increase out of balance with the board-approved budget which projected revenues to ramp, reducing the monthly cash burn.

Balance Sheet 71

Balance Sheet Burn Rate Cash Position Forecast 71

Up and Running

MAY 22, 2018

You’ll have to actually demonstrate that you’re generating revenue and increasing your client base. Demonstrating to investors that you have a handle on key business metrics as they relate to your business model and forecast is essential. Expenses that were surpassed by revenue. Nerdy term: Burn rate.

Exit Strategy 90

Exit Strategy Angel Investor Search Elevator Pitch 90

Berkonomics

JULY 1, 2021

First, the VC’s ordered that the company ramp its burn rate (monthly losses in cash) to over $800,000 a month, which I could not fathom. But the CFO let the spending rate continue to increase out of balance with the board-approved budget which projected revenues to ramp, reducing the monthly cash burn.

Balance Sheet 62

Balance Sheet Cofounder Cash Position Burn Rate 62

BeyondVC

JUNE 11, 2007

If you burn through your cash and can’t make the monthly principal and interest payments, your lender can take over your company as their debt is usually secured against your company and intellectual property.

Intellectual Property 60

Intellectual Property Covenant Warrant Equity 60

BeyondVC

JUNE 11, 2007

If you burn through your cash and can’t make the monthly principal and interest payments, your lender can take over your company as their debt is usually secured against your company and intellectual property.

Intellectual Property 60

Intellectual Property Covenant Warrant Equity 60

The Equity Kicker

JANUARY 10, 2020

They find a niche in the market where they can grow some revenues and then they raise some more money. It’s got a big burn rate, it’s too big to pivot, and it goes bust. And what are the metrics for customer love? Ultimately, the quality of the idea gets found out, but by that point, that business has raised £5M-£10M.

Partner 68

Partner Early Stage Portfolio Metrics 68

Hippoland

FEBRUARY 21, 2016

The Hustle writes one of the best investor reports I’ve seen and sends them weekly : Here are 3 things you should make sure to include: 1) KPIs Every company will have different KPIs they are tracking, but for most companies, this will revolve around revenue. You should also include your burn rate and runway.

Burn Rate 48

Burn Rate Acquisition Revenue Metrics 48

Professor VC

AUGUST 26, 2011

To that last one, there is certainly some truth as the standard time vs. revenue chart in most business plans looks like this: Im not teaching Entrepreneurial Finance this semester for the first time since Fall 2007. What are the key drivers and metrics? Does a complicated sales build model make sense for a pre-revenue SaaS company?

Silicon Valley 35

Silicon Valley San Jose Hockey Stick Venture Capital 35

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 27, 2009

The full formula works like this: runway = cash on hand / burn rate # iterations = runway / speed of each iteration Very few successful companies ended up in the same exact business that the founders thought theyd be in (see Founders at Work for dozens of examples). The key is to be able to refute as many major hypotheses as you can.

San Francisco 117

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 117