View from Seed

APRIL 30, 2015

NVV: Let’s talk about the seed stage specifically. With venture debt as a source of low-cost capital to fuel growth or buy time during later stages, should a founder approach their fundraising from VCs any differently today ? Traction and revenue? Business model? Previous capital raised?

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.

Technical Review 63

Technical Review Valuation Venture Capital Investment Bankers 63

ConversionXL

JUNE 2, 2022

In this article, you’ll learn how to define your ABM strategy so you can target the right accounts and increase your revenue. Think of it as a filter that helps you find the highest chance of return on investment, revenue potential, and profitability. Cloud-based data warehouse Snowflake had an ambitious goal to triple its revenue.

Customer 98

Customer Marketing Channel Acquisition 98

Steve Blank

JUNE 15, 2010

The role of a founding CEO in a startup searching for a business model is radically different than a CEO building and growing a company. Certain VC’s like the new class of Super-Angels and small VC funds specialize in the early stage of a startup where you are searching for a business model. Lean Startups ?

Founder 232

Founder Vesting Later Stage Early Stage 232

Steve Blank

JUNE 11, 2013

When you take money from investors their business model becomes yours. Sigh… What I should have been hearing is the search for the business model, specifically the progress on product/market fit, but I hear the fund raising story first at least 90% of the time. What are revenue strategy and pricing tactics?

Venture Capital 227

Venture Capital IRR Liquidity Event Business Model 227

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2013

As opposed to a startup incubator, which typically deals with startups barely hatched, an accelerator focuses on a later stage startup, with an existing product and proven business model, looking for rapid growth. It suggests the minimum features to allow the product to be deployed and get feedback, and no more.

Entrepreneur 274

Entrepreneur Accredited Investor Silicon Valley Angel Investor 274

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

Data companies focused on early-stage startups include Aingel , fundsUP , Preseries , PredictLeads , and Sploda. Later stage investors are using for sourcing private company marketplace services focused on more established companies, listed below under “Step 11: Exit”. They read reviews of the products of target investments.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

SEPTEMBER 10, 2013

This is the fourth article in a series on novel ideas for SaaS metrics, which started with The unprofitable SaaS business model trap , COC: a new metric for cancellations , and The mistake of 1/c in LTV. Its tough for a growing SaaS business to ascertain whether or not it’s truly profitable. Here’s a way to do it.

Metrics 238

Metrics Revenue Flash Later Stage 238

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2013

As best, you should reserve this option for later stage VC discussions, once you have a well-proven business model, large market following, and substantial revenue. More importantly, make sure first that you really want to give up the entrepreneur lifestyle for the challenges of a public company executive.

IPO 242

IPO SEC Prospectus Startup 242

Reid Hoffman

MARCH 9, 2021

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. And the primary driver might even shift at key times during the life of the business.

Leadership 45

Leadership Technical Review Cofounder Later Stage 45

cdixon.org

AUGUST 3, 2012

Some consequences: - For consumer startups with non-transactional models (ad-based or unknown business models), you need something closer to 10 million users versus 1 million users to get Series A funded. - 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

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. forward revenue for SaaS businesses when in the years before it had been less than 5x. This corrected only to go back up to 13.4x

Valuation 150

Valuation Down Round Startup Later Stage 150

Steve Blank

APRIL 23, 2014

Most large companies manage three types of innovation: process innovation (making existing products incrementally better), continuous innovation (building on the strength of the company’s current business model but creating new elements) and disruptive innovation (creating products or services that did not exist before.).

Acquisition 334

Acquisition Intellectual Property Silicon Valley Startup 334

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 9, 2022

5) Is the post-money on your last round north of $30mm and you’ve yet to show meaningful and repeatable revenue traction that comes with positive contribution margins? There could be lots of things wrong with their business model that you didn’t notice until the company folded—and not just because of financing issues.

Stock 97

Stock Marketing Valuation Later Stage 97

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. Revenues are the best source of financing we can ever hope for during lean times. Growth takes time with this approach to building a business. She does not need much funding, but does need some start-up capital.

Kentucky 56

Kentucky Washington Nashville Bootstrapping 56

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2017

As best, you should reserve this option for later stage VC discussions, once you have a well-proven business model, large market following, and substantial revenue. More importantly, make sure first that you really want to give up the entrepreneur lifestyle for the challenges of a public company executive.

IPO 218

IPO SEC Prospectus Technical Review 218

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2019

As best, you should reserve this option for later stage VC discussions, once you have a well-proven business model, large market following, and substantial revenue. More importantly, make sure first that you really want to give up the entrepreneur lifestyle for the challenges of a public company executive.

IPO 210

IPO SEC Prospectus Startup 210

abovethecrowd.com

JULY 7, 2015

Efficiently communicating your strategy, business model, and competitive differentiation is required for many critical things you will do as a company. It may simply be an expense analysis, or a detailed pricing model, or a TAM (total available market) analysis. You will raise more money at later stages.

Warrant 40

Warrant Later Stage IPO Forecast 40

Seeing Both Sides

JANUARY 13, 2015

My boss and mentor from Open Market, Gary Eichhorn , made the entire management team read it in the 1990s to hammer home its important lessons as we stumbled through the chasm on our way to scaling from zero to nearly $100 million in revenue in a few years. At each stage, there are different problems. Anyone up for a rewrite?

Mezzanine 20

Mezzanine IPO Finance Business Model 20

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 1, 2015

As best, you should reserve this option for later stage VC discussions, once you have a well-proven business model, large market following, and substantial revenue. More importantly, make sure first that you really want to give up the entrepreneur lifestyle for the challenges of a public company executive.

IPO 120

IPO SEC Prospectus Startup 120

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 29, 2011

Some have done earlier-stage deals and done well. 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.&# You can’t scale a large business quickly on your $500,000 alone.

Venture Capital 296

Venture Capital Software LP Early Stage 296

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2022

As best, you should reserve this option for later stage VC discussions, once you have a well-proven business model, large market following, and substantial revenue. More importantly, make sure first that you really want to give up the entrepreneur lifestyle for the challenges of a public company executive.

IPO 245

IPO SEC Prospectus Startup 245

Up and Running

DECEMBER 9, 2014

They cover funding for small businesses from the initial funding stage to later stages of growth, and other areas in between. The question is what metrics do you most rely on to understand your business’s health? Two, revenue. You heard a little bit from others about that. What do you do?

Small Business 95

Small Business Finance Forecast Metrics 95

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 18, 2016

First priority is real revenue, customers and contracts. If you have a proven business model with some sales, it’s credible to apply a multiplier of five to 10 times this number for the first element of valuation. Thus, $100,000 of gross revenue in the last 12 months might be extrapolated to $500,000 to $1 million in valuation.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Startup 120

Hunter Walker

JULY 18, 2022

Multiples dropped in public and private markets, growth expectations were cut, and business models with high spend for promise of future ROI became quite unfavorable. Your runway is impacted by the absence of projected revenue. Similarly, for a variety of reasons, the music stopped.

Valuation 147

Valuation Cap Table Startup Later Stage 147

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

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

Ben's Blog

AUGUST 17, 2020

OH in South Park, San Francisco (or on Zoom from Big Sky, Montana): “OMG, crazy – that firm just paid 100x revenue to invest in [insert hot startup here] – what could they be thinking?” Multiples are not only used to value companies today but also to value companies several years down the line.

Valuation 36

Valuation Balance Sheet Cofounder Forecast 36

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 2, 2015

We’re in our second cohort, 71 young folks, all of whom are alums of the university, given the opportunity and resources to build their businesses. Of the cohort that just graduated I think eight are completely self-sufficient and actually revenue positive and another 10 are in Series A round financing. . It should be digital.”

Entrepreneur 120

Entrepreneur New York Cofounder Equity 120

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

techcrunch.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

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. Take the top 10 largest tech innovators (take your pick of largest by revenue or largest by idea) of the last 20 years in Silicon Valley. How many were started by programmers?

Technical Review 84

Technical Review Cofounder Technical Cofounder Software Review 84

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