View from Seed

APRIL 30, 2015

From a company milestones perspective, entrepreneurs who take on venture debt are almost always thinking about raising that next round of capital from other institutions. GM: The model is more about the relationship with the entrepreneurs, the investors, and us as the bank, as opposed to cash flow or fixed assets to lend on.

Term Sheet 120

Term Sheet Equity Startup Seed Stage 120

thebarefootvc

JANUARY 27, 2014

I think that later stage valuations are frothy (for reasons I explain below) while earlier stage valuations are starting to stabilize from previous highs (with the exception of the superstar serial entrepreneur) - turns out scaling in a sea of competition (both startup and entrenched) is not so easy. Or so it seems.

Technical Review 63

Technical Review Valuation Venture Capital Investment Bankers 63

Reid Hoffman

MARCH 9, 2021

This can serve as a guiding light to other entrepreneurs and CEOs. These innovations are impactful, but there are also ample opportunities to innovate purely on the business model. That’s a statement of business innovation, not technological innovation. I helped establish the business model.

Leadership 45

Leadership Technical Review Cofounder Later Stage 45

David Teten

JANUARY 21, 2021

This essay is part of a series on alternative VC: I: Revenue-Based Investing: a new option for founders who care about control. II: Who are the major Revenue-Based Investing VCs? III: Why are Revenue-Based VCs investing in so many women and underrepresented founders? IV: Should your new VC fund use Revenue-Based Investing?

Equity 78

Equity Revenue Cofounder Colorado 78

ReadWriteStart

MARCH 3, 2021

Growing a business is always challenging, but it’s often the hardest in the earliest stages of development. You’ll be operating with limited resources, limited knowledge, and quite possibly, a business model poised to change in the immediate future. Limited capital. Email Marketing. Referral Programs.

Early Stage 125

Early Stage PPC Retention Churn Rate 125

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 18, 2016

As an entrepreneur looking for professional investors, one of the quickest ways to lose credibility and get rejected is to start with a ridiculously high pre-money valuation. First priority is real revenue, customers and contracts. Future revenue projections are not relevant at the pre-revenue stage.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Startup 120

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2013

In the old days, every entrepreneur dreamed of someday taking their startup public, and making it a multi-national powerhouse. In my view, the key reasons that IPOs have lost their luster from an entrepreneur and investor perspective include the following: The US IPO process seems broken. Marty Zwilling.

IPO 242

IPO SEC Prospectus Startup 242

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 2, 2015

Resilience – the ability to bounce back from adversity – is one of the key attributes of entrepreneurs and was the focus of my first weekly radio show, Entrepreneurs are Everywhere , on Sirius XM Radio Channel 111. Sometimes the best lessons are the most painful. There are 3500 students that signed up for this.

Entrepreneur 120

Entrepreneur New York Cofounder Equity 120

cdixon.org

AUGUST 3, 2012

Entrepreneurs and investors have been enamored with consumer internet startups for the last few years. Some observations: - Thousands of early-stage consumer web/mobile companies were started and funded in last 24 months. Hence, many early-stage consumer startups are switching to transactional models. -

Bridge Financing 86

Bridge Financing Early Stage Valuation Later Stage 86

Growthink Blog

MAY 10, 2012

You see, equity capital is raised in stages or rounds. The five main stages include the following: 1. Early Stage Investment (Series A & B) 4. Later Stage Investment (Series C, D, and so on) 5. Put everything else on your "wish list" to buy with revenues from sales or additional financing.

Equity 88

Equity Mezzanine Later Stage Venture Capital 88

The Entrepreneurial Mind

JUNE 14, 2010

They do play a role, but only a limited one with later stage businesses that have good cash flow. Any start-up loans will be to the entrepreneur as a personal loan. But, with plummeting property values over the past three years, there ain't much water in that well for many younger entrepreneurs.

Kentucky 56

Kentucky Washington Nashville Bootstrapping 56

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

Small investment firms often have interns and entrepreneurs in residence passing through, each of which is a security risk. Chris Dixon, Partner, A16Z, observes , “Success in VC is probably 10% about picking, and 90% about sourcing the right deals and having entrepreneurs choose your firm as a partner”. 2) Market .

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

Steve Blank

JUNE 11, 2013

For many entrepreneurs “raising money” has replaced “building a sustainable business” as their goal. When you take money from investors their business model becomes yours. Just as a reminder, a startup is a temporary organization designed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model.

Venture Capital 335

Venture Capital IRR Liquidity Event Business Model 335

Steve Blank

JUNE 11, 2013

For many entrepreneurs “raising money” has replaced “building a sustainable business” as their goal. When you take money from investors their business model becomes yours. Just as a reminder, a startup is a temporary organization designed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model.

Venture Capital 227

Venture Capital IRR Liquidity Event Business Model 227

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 29, 2011

Others have chased earlier-stage but lack the skills or relationships to do this effectively. Some have moved into later stage investments in an effort to “put logos on their websites.&# Surprisinly, this strategy works well with many entrepreneurs. I’m less sure it will work well for returns. Funny, that.

Venture Capital 296

Venture Capital Software LP Early Stage 296

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2016

Most venture capitalists who have been in this business for a long time foresaw this correction and have been talking about it privately for the better part of the last year or two. ” “This will be great for VCs and bad for entrepreneurs.” What is the True Sentiment of VCs? ” “Sure, prices are dropping.

Valuation 150

Valuation Down Round Startup Later Stage 150

Reid Hoffman

OCTOBER 17, 2018

In fact, to achieve your aggressive growth goals in the face of uncertainty and change, you need to follow a new set of rules that fly in the face of what is taught in business schools and are completely counterintuitive to accepted “best practices” of either early stage startups or classic corporate management. Revenue guidance.

Finder 28

Finder Rhode Island Cofounder Engineer 28

techcrunch.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

It is the first in a series of posts he’s writing about the decisions a young entrepreneur needs to make when she/he is first starting a business. One of the things I do as a founder of a later stage startup is to meet with early stage entrepreneurs to help them get their companies going.

Technical Review 84

Technical Review Cofounder Technical Cofounder Software Review 84

abovethecrowd.com

JULY 7, 2015

My partners and I have noticed an interesting trend over the past few years: an increase in the number of entrepreneurs who prefer to pitch us without the use of a presentation deck. Efficiently communicating your strategy, business model, and competitive differentiation is required for many critical things you will do as a company.

Warrant 40

Warrant Later Stage Forecast IPO 40

David Teten

MARCH 18, 2021

Thirty-four VC firms in OpenVC call themselves “early-stage” Yet, 30% of those don’t actually invest in pre-revenue startups. 2) Business model-defined funds. For example, Point Nine Capital focuses on B2B SaaS and marketplaces at the seed stage, across many industries. 3) Geography-defined funds.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Cofounder Venture Capital Deal Flow 78

techcrunch.com

FEBRUARY 19, 2010

That means the vast majority of privately held companies are still very dependent on venture money to stay in business. Respondents deemed between 12%-16% of companies generating revenues to be essentially “worthless” and deemed 20%-26% of their pre-revenue investments to be “worthless.” Add to this that 72.7% just my 2 cents.

Venture Capital 62

Venture Capital Technical Review Sweat Equity Valuation 62

Steve Blank

MAY 9, 2017

Continuous innovation requires the imagination and courage to challenge the initial hypotheses of your current business model (channel, cost, customers, products, supply chain, etc.) Fourth, in the last decade, corporate investors and hedge funds have jumped into later stage investing with a passion. The founders.

Restful 249

Restful Silicon Valley Puerto Rico San Jose 249

Up and Running

DECEMBER 9, 2014

Are you an entrepreneur or small business owner with questions about funding your small business? Maybe you are wondering which metrics to track, or whether or not you should take out a loan for your business. I’m the CEO of Executive Speaking Success and I’m a long-time entrepreneur.

Small Business 95

Small Business Finance Forecast Metrics 95