Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2011

It doesn’t prove your business model of pricing, distribution, and support. Intellectual property is a large element of most early-stage company valuations, and this value determines what percent of the company an investor will expect to get for his money. Get a real customer and real revenue.

Intellectual Property 253

Intellectual Property Sweat Equity CTO Hire Fractional CTO 253

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 3, 2011

A non-profit organization is generally defined as an organization that does not distribute its surplus funds to owners or shareholders, but instead uses them to help pursue its goals. Some non-profit entrepreneurs think they can skip the whole plan, rather than just the sections on valuation, equity offered, and exit strategy.

Angel Investor 238

Angel Investor Technical Review Exit Strategy Equity 238

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 8, 2019

A nonprofit organization is generally defined as an organization that does not distribute its surplus funds to owners or shareholders, but instead uses them to help pursue its goals. Some nonprofit entrepreneurs think they can skip the whole plan, rather than just the sections on valuation, equity offered, and exit strategy.

Equity 235

Equity Angel Investor Technical Review Exit Strategy 235

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2010

It doesn’t prove your business model of pricing, distribution, and support. Intellectual property is a large element of most early-stage company valuations, and this value determines what percent of the company an investor will expect to get for his money. Get a real customer and real revenue.

Intellectual Property 222

Intellectual Property Sweat Equity CTO Hire Fractional CTO 222

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

A non-profit organization is generally defined as an organization that does not distribute its surplus funds to owners or shareholders, but instead uses them to help pursue its goals. Some non-profit entrepreneurs think they can skip the whole plan, rather than just the sections on valuation, equity offered, and exit strategy.

Angel Investor 218

Angel Investor Technical Review Exit Strategy Equity 218

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 13, 2013

A non-profit organization is generally defined as an organization that does not distribute its surplus funds to owners or shareholders, but instead uses them to help pursue its goals. Some non-profit entrepreneurs think they can skip the whole plan, rather than just the sections on valuation, equity offered, and exit strategy.

Equity 207

Equity Angel Investor Technical Review Exit Strategy 207

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 11, 2023

Analysts perform a valuation of the company in question before the beginning of any round of funding. The management of a company, its established track record, the size of the market, and the level of risk all play a role in determining a company’s valuation. What is the Evaluation of the Funding?

Seed Stage 148

Seed Stage Technical Review Early Stage Due Diligence 148

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

Underwriters realized that as long as the public was happy snapping up shares, they could make huge profits on the inflated valuations (regardless of whether or not the company should have ever been public.) The valuations for acquisitions were nothing like the Internet bubble, but there was a path to liquidity, difficult as it was.

Silicon Valley 237

Silicon Valley IPO Technical Review Venture Capital 237

The Next Web

DECEMBER 30, 2012

How to identify and engage the first customers for your product, and how to gather, evaluate and use their feedback to make your product, marketing and business model far stronger. Social media marketing for startups : How to use social to launch, position your messaging and get distribution.

Artificial Inteligence 156

Artificial Inteligence Founder Private Equity Ruby 156

Agile VC

JANUARY 13, 2016

Was this simply a shift in sentiment among the tech & business media? A realignment of valuations by late stage investors? Potential for instant global distribution (mobile app stores, Facebook, etc). But growth dried up (due to competitive pressures, changes in business model, etc) and today Zynga has a market cap of $2.2B

Technical Review 157

Technical Review .Net Revenue Software Review 157

VC Cafe

OCTOBER 31, 2022

Mature startups with proven business models and the potential to reach the public markets within a few years will be the safest place to park any new venture capital that comes into the ecosystem. Tiger, Softbank and other crossover funds are slowing down significantly and valuations overall are down significantly.

Founder 173

Founder Technical Review Down Round Liquidation Preference 173

Tim Keane

JANUARY 12, 2010

Term-sheets and Valuations: Thinking about Negotiations.   I’ve sat down with entrepreneurs and a copy of a term sheet guide I like [ “Term Sheets & Valuations - A Line by Line Look at the Intricacies of Venture Capital Term Sheets & Valuations ” by Alex Wilmerding, Aspatore Press.] The Valuation Question.

Term Sheet 68

Term Sheet Valuation Dividend Liquidation Preference 68

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 6, 2010

A non-profit organization is generally defined as an organization that does not distribute its surplus funds to owners or shareholders, but instead uses them to help pursue its goals. Some non-profit entrepreneurs think they can skip the whole plan, rather than just the sections on valuation, equity offered, and exit strategy.

Angel Investor 143

Angel Investor Technical Review Exit Strategy Equity 143

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

AUGUST 18, 2015

They have everything: money, brand, momentum, existing customers, press, product teams, distribution channels, expertise, market insight, analysts, sales offices, product features, and, by definition, a working business model. A big, profitable company seems like the hardest thing for a small company to compete against.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Valuation Flash Revenue 120

Lightspeed Venture Partners

OCTOBER 7, 2012

He had been at it for 6 months and had no sales or distribution lined up yet. The two founders invested $40k in the business, and plan to license it rather than manufacture it because manufacturing seems too hard. That’s why most entrepreneurs do not make a specific ask on valuation, but wait to hear offers from investors.

Technical Review 110

Technical Review Technical Cofounder Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 110

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 20, 2017

A nonprofit organization is generally defined as an organization that does not distribute its surplus funds to owners or shareholders, but instead uses them to help pursue its goals. Some nonprofit entrepreneurs think they can skip the whole plan, rather than just the sections on valuation, equity offered, and exit strategy.

Angel Investor 132

Angel Investor Equity Technical Review Exit Strategy 132

View from Seed

AUGUST 17, 2021

90% of the airtime around ownership and valuations is focused on what happens when the first check is written. Effective post money is the effective valuation of an investor’s dollars at any one time. Also, being too dogmatic isn’t very fun J. What matters is effective post-money at exit. We think about this a lot too.

IRR 205

IRR Dilution Founder Portfolio 205

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 15, 2015

A non-profit organization is generally defined as an organization that does not distribute its surplus funds to owners or shareholders, but instead uses them to help pursue its goals. Some non-profit entrepreneurs think they can skip the whole plan, rather than just the sections on valuation, equity offered, and exit strategy.

Angel Investor 120

Angel Investor Equity Technical Review Exit Strategy 120

VC Cafe

JANUARY 27, 2021

As teams become increasingly distributed, video communication is important for both internal alignment and external business development. Next47 and American Insight Partners VC, demonstrates growing trust in its current and future business model. Their latest round of 138 millions dollars, led by Viola Growth ?-Next47

Vertical 148

Vertical Video Technical Review Europe 148

www.paulgraham.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

August 2010 Two years ago I wrote about what I called " a huge, unexploitedopportunity in startup funding :" the growing disconnect betweenVCs, whose current business model requires them to invest largeamounts, and a large class of startups that need less than theyused to. Butthere may not have to be just one valuation.

Startup 93

Startup Valuation Non-Compete Deal Flow 93

Up and Running

MAY 15, 2019

These products will be distributed to remote yet extremely viable areas, where the market is appreciative of readily-available, good-quality brew. With this money, they plan to expand its distribution to selected metro areas within the state of Oregon. There’s no one model—or one business plan—for breweries.

Oregon 24

Oregon Jordan Software Review Distribution 24

crowdSPRING Blog

NOVEMBER 30, 2012

Start With a Business Model, Not a Business Plan | WSJ – [link]. The danger of waiting to long to find a business model? … Checking In on Foursquare’s Valuation – [link]. How PRWeb Helps Distribute Crap Into Google & News Sites – [link]. Just got acquired?

Social Media 100

Social Media Small Business Central African Republic Design 100

View from Seed

AUGUST 17, 2021

90% of the airtime around ownership and valuations is focused on what happens when the first check is written. Effective post money is the effective valuation of an investor’s dollars at any one time. Also, being too dogmatic isn’t very fun J. What matters is effective post-money at exit. We think about this a lot too.

IRR 156

IRR Dilution Founder Portfolio 156

www.forentrepreneurs.com

FEBRUARY 2, 2010

Business Model I would like to propose that in addition to team, product, and market, there is actually a fourth, equally important, core element of startups, which is the need for a viable business model. These new business models focused heavily on how buying behavior has changed because of the power of the web.

Acquisition 103

Acquisition Cost Customer Entrepreneur 103

View from Seed

AUGUST 17, 2021

90% of the airtime around ownership and valuations is focused on what happens when the first check is written. Effective post money is the effective valuation of an investor’s dollars at any one time. Also, being too dogmatic isn’t very fun J. What matters is effective post-money at exit. We think about this a lot too.

IRR 136

IRR Dilution Founder Portfolio 136

Up and Running

OCTOBER 13, 2014

Either way, he says, these smaller firms gain major clients that fund further growth and drive their valuations higher. The Bottom Line for Small Businesses. Coley Brown, of VisionMine, said that open innovation helps some smaller companies get acquired, while others have their technology licensed by the larger firms they work with.

Intellectual Property 106

Intellectual Property Philadelphia Small Business California 106

crowdSPRING Blog

APRIL 26, 2013

Downfalls of Distributed Startups – [link]. Q1 Venture Capital Spending & Number Of Deals Down, M&A Activity Drops 44 Percent And Pre-Money Valuations Plummet – [link]. “sometimes you have the right product but the wrong business model.” ” – [link].

Social Media 90

Social Media Small Business Design Media 90

Steve Blank

MARCH 18, 2011

The signals are loud and clear : seed and late stage valuations are getting frothy and wacky, and hiring talent in Silicon Valley is the toughest it has been since the dot.com bubble. Underwriters realized that as long as the public was happy snapping up shares, they could make huge profits from the inflated valuations. Carpe Diem.

Internet 335

Internet IPO Silicon Valley Agile 335

www.paulgraham.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

If you get an offer from a reputablefirm at a reasonable valuation with no unusually onerous terms,just take it and get on with building the company. [ Because making something people want is so much harder than makingmoney from it, you should leave business models for later, just asyoud leave some trivial but messy feature for version 2.

Startup 108

Startup Software Review Hiring Silicon Valley 108

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 14, 2020

Non-credible funding request or unreasonable valuation. Investors are looking to buy a chunk of the business, not the product. They need to know how much money you need, and what portion of the current business you are willing to offer for the investment. Future unproven projections don’t set today’s valuation.

Due Diligence 308

Due Diligence Intellectual Property Preferred Stock Startup 308

Ben's Blog

APRIL 28, 2010

Looking across these nearly 50 companies, the study finds that founding CEOs consistently beat the professional CEOs on a broad range of metrics ranging from capital efficiency (amount of funding raised), time to exit, exit valuations, and return on investment. Total commitment to the long term. The company is their life’s work.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Cofounder Technical Cofounder Software Review 78

VC Cafe

OCTOBER 31, 2024

Non-consensus investments , on the other hand, are those that defy popular opinion or seem risky due to unconventional business models, unproven markets, or early market entry. When too many investors pile into ‘obvious’ opportunities, valuations inflate and returns compress.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Due Diligence ChatGPT Generative AI 78

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2022

Non-credible funding request or unreasonable valuation. Investors are looking to buy a chunk of the business, not the product. They need to know how much money you need, and what portion of the current business you are willing to offer for the investment. Future unproven projections don’t set today’s valuation.

Due Diligence 271

Due Diligence Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Preferred Stock 271

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

Yes, via conversion rights at a valuation cap. Yes, via conversion rights at a valuation cap. Equity VC is a “get rich slow” business. Flexible VC creates early liquidity which can be either reinvested or distributed to LPs. Typical business stage. An already proven business model and its already valuable assets.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

Reid Hoffman

JULY 27, 2021

I was still unprepared; I had no idea that I also needed to learn about go-to-market strategy and distribution. What business schools can provide is an opportunity to learn a set of skills that can be helpful on the entrepreneurial journey. Or maybe valuation depends on growth rates or operating margins.

Silicon Valley 69

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Balance Sheet Cofounder 69

Reid Hoffman

JULY 27, 2021

I was still unprepared; I had no idea that I also needed to learn about go-to-market strategy and distribution. What business schools can provide is an opportunity to learn a set of skills that can be helpful on the entrepreneurial journey. Or maybe valuation depends on growth rates or operating margins.

Silicon Valley 69

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Balance Sheet Cofounder 69

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

Technographics vendors such as Builtwith , Datanyze , HG Data , Stackshare, and Stacklist help CEOs identify the right tech platform on which to build their business; they’re also helpful for investors to due diligence a company’s tech stack choices. Modano standardizes Excel models to improve comparability and reduce error rates.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78