A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

MARCH 21, 2017

Revenue multiples, profit multiples, premium over the previous financing — these are metrics used by sellers to help determine a minimum acceptable price. So the shift to mobile meant Facebook’s business model was breaking. Remember this is revenue , not valuation. Zoom out to see the strategic decision.

Balance Sheet 242

Balance Sheet Vertical Acquisition Revenue 242

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 1, 2020

In very few specific cases, depending on the nature of the business, the business model might demand a considerable gestation period or extensive research and development. For these businesses, it is imperative to get funding from the start without which the company cannot be set up. Stages of Equity-based funding. ?

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Seed Stage 150

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 20, 2017

Obviously, these companies still need money to get started, or finance growth, just like a for-profit company. Hopefully you can see from this list that the people and processes involved in financing a nonprofit have little in common with angel investors, or the venture capital process. Individual and institutional philanthropy.

Angel Investor 132

Angel Investor Equity Technical Review Exit Strategy 132

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

In addition to FOMO it is partly driven by massive increase in valuations for earlier-stage companies who raised money at bit seed prices but who still have product risk. million pre-money valuation is now raising $1 million at a $12 million valuation the next investor has nowhere to go but up (or sit out the investment).

Saudi Arabia 309

Saudi Arabia Valuation IPO Technical Review 309

Steve Blank

APRIL 26, 2022

At the turn of the century after the dotcom crash, startup valuations plummeted, burn rates were unsustainable, and startups were quickly running out of cash. Most existing investors (those still in business) hoarded their money and stopped doing follow-on rounds until the rubble had cleared. They’re Back.

Cram Down 417

Cram Down Founder Venture Capital Recapitalization 417

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 21, 2020

Should they focus on increasing revenues and profitability, or entice more and more users with “free” services, to increase their valuation. A business only achieved critical mass by becoming cash-flow positive. Re-investing profits to grow the business is organic growth. Most are still confused about the right priority.

Revenue 434

Revenue Valuation Viral Retention 434

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

OCTOBER 13, 2013

Obviously, these companies still need money to get started, or finance growth, just like a for-profit company. Hopefully you can see from this list that the people and processes involved in financing a non-profit have little in common with Angel investors, or the venture capital process. Individual and institutional donations.

Equity 207

Equity Angel Investor Technical Review Exit Strategy 207

Tim Keane

MARCH 9, 2011

How to prepare a sales forecast for a business plan » March 09, 2011. How should I finance my new venture? It’s a deceptively simple question:  what is the optimal way to finance a new startup?   Sometimes, the bonus in bootstrapping is that the venture finds it doesn’t need acceleration financing. 

Finance 83

Finance Bootstrapping Startup Equity 83

Steve Blank

MARCH 31, 2014

Cheered on by finance professors, Wall Street analysts, investors and hedge funds, companies have learned how to make metrics like Internal Rate of Return look great by one; outsourcing everything, two, getting assets off their balance sheet, and three only investing in things that pay off fast. Act Like a Startup.

Private Equity 330

Private Equity Metrics China Intellectual Property 330

Hunter Walker

NOVEMBER 10, 2024

Now we have more and more consensus auctions where the price is an outcome of a VC’s ballooned business model and FOMO. These leads to both higher valuations earlier -AND- different underwriting targets for the larger fund (that is, $1b AUM fund is trying to get to 3x net, $60m seed fund is trying to get to 5x net).

Cap Table 97

Cap Table Dilution Valuation .Net 97

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

Obviously, these companies still need money to get started, or finance growth, just like a for-profit company. Hopefully you can see from this list that the people and processes involved in financing a non-profit have little in common with angel investors, or the venture capital process. Individual and institutional donations.

Angel Investor 218

Angel Investor Technical Review Exit Strategy Equity 218

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 5, 2011

Some really great stuff in 2010 that aims to help startups around product, technology, business models, etc. 500 Hats , February 1, 2010 When to Use Facebook Connect – Twitter Oauth – Google Friend Connect for Authentication? . -

Silicon Valley 378

Silicon Valley Startup Term Sheet Venture Capital 378

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 3, 2011

Obviously, these companies still need money to get started, or finance growth, just like a for-profit company. Hopefully you can see from this list that the people and processes involved in financing a non-profit have little in common with angel investors, or the venture capital process. Individual and institutional donations.

Angel Investor 238

Angel Investor Technical Review Exit Strategy Equity 238

Up and Running

AUGUST 17, 2022

Investors want to have a real shot at growing your valuation when they write you a check. They want your business to be able to scale up. This will be difficult if your business model doesn’t easily scale. If the answer is no, you may need to revisit your business model.

Venture Capital 146

Venture Capital Intellectual Property Angel Investor Bootstrapping 146

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 15, 2015

Obviously, these companies still need money to get started, or finance growth, just like a for-profit company. Hopefully you can see from this list that the people and processes involved in financing a non-profit have little in common with Angel investors, or the venture capital process. Individual and institutional philanthropy.

Angel Investor 120

Angel Investor Equity Technical Review Exit Strategy 120

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 13, 2021

If you are an aspiring entrepreneur, or an existing business, and haven’t yet sized any of these opportunities, you may be already late to the game. One consequence of the new sharing business model is that goods become services. Access to assets in a community leads to a reduced need to own. Restaurants.

Cuba 316

Cuba Venture Capital Community Valuation 316

thebarefootvc

JANUARY 27, 2014

Do I think we are in a valuation bubble? 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.

Technical Review 63

Technical Review Valuation Venture Capital Investment Bankers 63

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 19, 2017

That’s because obtaining a pre-money valuation for a concept level technology company in excess of $1 million is difficult, particularly for a startup founder without a proven track record. By contrast, obtaining a pre-money valuation of $5 million for a business with a new viable product and even very minimal sales is somewhat reasonable.

Private Equity 94

Private Equity Pre-Money Valuation Equity Startup 94

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2015

Most technologists have little interest in the mechanics of starting and building a business. That’s why I recommend that they find a co-founder who loves business challenges, including marketing and finance. Outside investors are most interested in scaling a proven business model, not research and development.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Intellectual Property Cofounder Bootstrapping 120

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2011

Of course, monetization of search became one of the best business models in the history of business. After AltaVista, Mike spent a year doing business development for USA Networks ( now IAC – Interactive Corp ). Part 2/3 of Interview: Mike Joins Quigo as CEO, Sells it to Aol for $340 Million [ Minutes: 13 – 30 ].

Semantic 302

Semantic Acquisition Valuation Angel Investor 302

abovethecrowd.com

FEBRUARY 24, 2015

Historically, different financial institutions specialized in different stages, because the assessment of risk and opportunity was considered unique at each stage — for example, a seed investor was unlikely to do late-stage financing, and vice versa. If you want to know if the business model truly hunts, you must pay careful attention.

IPO 40

IPO Liquidation Preference Valuation Technical Review 40

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

Yes, via conversion rights at a valuation cap. Yes, via conversion rights at a valuation cap. Part of the magic of revenue-based financing is how historical performance and strong, achievable financial projections are ultimately the backbone of how RBI/RBF investment decisions are made.” Typical business stage.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

Reid Hoffman

JULY 27, 2021

What business schools can provide is an opportunity to learn a set of skills that can be helpful on the entrepreneurial journey. MBA programs teach valuable analytical skills that can help you evaluate and refine strategies and business models. In particular, Bill Sahlman’s Entrepreneurial Finance course was excellent.

Silicon Valley 69

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Balance Sheet Cofounder 69

Reid Hoffman

JULY 27, 2021

What business schools can provide is an opportunity to learn a set of skills that can be helpful on the entrepreneurial journey. MBA programs teach valuable analytical skills that can help you evaluate and refine strategies and business models. In particular, Bill Sahlman’s Entrepreneurial Finance course was excellent.

Silicon Valley 69

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Balance Sheet Cofounder 69

ReadWriteStart

JULY 17, 2023

The platform has raised over $225 million through equity and debt financing to date. Furlenco’s innovative business model has disrupted the traditional furniture industry in India. On the other hand, Sheela Foam will benefit from Furlenco’s innovative business model and expertise in the furniture rental space.

India 104

India Acquisition Merger Curation 104

David Teten

AUGUST 20, 2019

I’ve been a traditional equity VC for 8 years, and I’m now researching new business models in venture capital. Revenue-Based Investing (“RBI”) is a new form of VC financing, distinct from the preferred equity structure most VCs use. Note that Clearbanc has a somewhat different business model than the RBI VCs I list here.).

Revenue 60

Revenue Cofounder Founder Venture Capital 60

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 6, 2010

Obviously, these companies still need money to get started, or finance growth, just like a for-profit company. Hopefully you can see from this list that the people and processes involved in financing a non-profit have little in common with angel investors, or the venture capital process. Individual and institutional donations.

Angel Investor 143

Angel Investor Technical Review Exit Strategy Equity 143

View from Seed

JANUARY 11, 2023

Think partners coming together to tap their own networks for your follow-on rounds of financing. The Clarity of the Terms : how will your company be financed? Every accelerator also finances its cohort companies differently. Complicated agreements with MFN clauses and confusing future financing obligations are opaque at best.

Programming 156

Programming San Francisco Sacramento Founder 156

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2012

Yes, it’s true that FOMO (fear of missing out) is driving some irrational behavior and valuations amongst uber competitive deals and well-financed VCs. Try charging customers for your product when you have 12 competitors giving the product away free finances by $20 million of VC. The Exit Problem. Bottom of the sales funnel.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Technical Review LP Mobile 347

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 13, 2019

Consider convertible debt Before diving into a seed round, you may want to consider convertible debt over equity financing. Our strategic investor had a major impact on the way we shaped our business model, and we owe a lot of our success to his advice.

Strategic Investors 49

Strategic Investors Austin Angel Investor Bootstrapping 49

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 6, 2014

I like to think that our generation’s digital skills are replacing the startup’s traditional hunt for capital – all we need is a good idea, our team specs it out to make it sell, and we self-finance each company off its own cash flow.

San Francisco 154

San Francisco Business Model Silicon Valley Coder 154

Version One Ventures

OCTOBER 15, 2020

Let’s now explore the major developments and ultimate use cases for the Lightning Network in two categories: A) payments/finance and B) Web3. . Use Case I: Payments and Finance . In this post, I outlined why the Lightning Network matters and recent developments around its two major use cases: payments/finance and Web3. .

Networking 168

Networking Global OTC Security 168

Hunter Walker

SEPTEMBER 19, 2022

Any spreadsheet that Adobe’s corp finance function used to justify the multiple, or the bankers presented to suggest what valuation it would take to get this deal done, is basically CYA math. With that out of the way, here are three statements about this acquisition. Is Figma really worth $20 billion? I mean that’s 50x ARR!

Acquisition 140

Acquisition Revenue Valuation Business Model 140

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 2, 2019

If you are an aspiring entrepreneur, or an existing business, and haven’t yet sized any of these opportunities, you may be already late to the game. One consequence of the new sharing business model is that goods become services. Access to assets in a community leads to a reduced need to own. Restaurants.

Cuba 246

Cuba Venture Capital Community Valuation 246

Lightspeed Venture Partners

OCTOBER 7, 2012

That’s why most entrepreneurs do not make a specific ask on valuation, but wait to hear offers from investors. As Cuban pointed out, this is a “down round” Zomm is seeking $2M for 10% of the company, implying an $18M pre money valuation today. The last company was a bit of a puzzler.

Technical Review 110

Technical Review Technical Cofounder Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 110

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