Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2019

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Join a startup incubator. Only one-third make it past their tenth anniversary.

Finance 320

Finance Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 320

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2019

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Join a startup incubator. Use crowd funding. Get a loan or line-of-credit.

Intellectual Property 219

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 219

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 16, 2014

How do you figure out what’s the right mix of skills for the co-founders of your startup? Surprisingly if you’ve filled out the business model canvas you already know who you need. She started by sketching her business model canvas on a napkin, but somehow the conversation quickly shifted to what was really on her mind.

Cofounder 335

Cofounder Founder Intellectual Property Business Model 335

TechEmpower

JULY 31, 2023

When talking to startup founders or other innovators, we always ask questions to better understand their business as a core. What does the business do? One way to approach that last question is to use this simple model: Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) How will your business reach prospects?

Metrics 260

Metrics Startup Retention Acquisition 260

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 14, 2014

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Join a startup incubator. Use crowd funding. Get a loan or line-of-credit.

Entrepreneur 283

Entrepreneur Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 283

Steve Blank

JUNE 26, 2014

We’re changing the order in which we teach the business model canvas and customer development to better-fit therapeutics, diagnostics and medical devices. The Lean LaunchPad class uses the three “ Lean Startup ” principles: Alexander Osterwalders “ business model canvas ” to frame hypotheses.

Intellectual Property 290

Intellectual Property Lean IP Open Source 290

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2022

I found their five phases of the process to be compelling, based on my own years of experience mentoring startups: Nail the pain. Great businesses begin with a customer problem that has a big and monetizable pain point. Nail the business model. It’s time for a new startup model. Marty Zwilling.

Angel Investor 359

Angel Investor Technical Review Incubator Business Model 359

Steve Blank

JANUARY 17, 2023

Three types of organizations – Incubators, Accelerators and Venture Studios – have emerged to reduce the risk of early-stage startup failure by helping teams find product/market fit and raise initial capital. They do the most to de-risk the early stages of a startup. Reducing Startup Risk.

Technical Cofounder 368

Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 368

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2014

There are no guarantees in business, but it pays to learn from the experiences of entrepreneurs and business experts who have gone before you. As a long-time mentor to entrepreneurs, here is my collection of smart risks that investors and I look for in new startups: Focus on a tough customer problem rather than a fun technology.

Startup 283

Startup Forecast Stock Options Technical Review 283

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2022

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Join a startup incubator. Use crowd funding. Get a loan or line-of-credit.

Intellectual Property 261

Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator Bootstrapping 261

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 15, 2019

I found their five phases of the process to be compelling, based on my own years of experience mentoring startups: Nail the pain. Great businesses begin with a customer problem that has a big and monetizable pain point. Nail the business model. It’s time for a new startup model. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 245

Startup Angel Investor Technical Review Incubator 245

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 23, 2020

Entrepreneurs who experience success with their first startup are often amazed to realize that the risks and fears of doing it right the second time go up, rather than down. Encores are tough, especially in the high-risk world of startups, yet every entrepreneur I know can’t wait to start over and do it again.

Technical Review 324

Technical Review Entrepreneur Due Diligence Business Model 324

VC Cafe

MARCH 1, 2024

Most startups equate the process of fundraising to dating – founders have to typically kiss a lot of frogs until the find the right fit. New space companies – If we are entering a future with access to space being as routine and inexpensive as commercial air travel, shipping or trucking… what new businesses does that unlock?

Artificial Inteligence 176

Artificial Inteligence Technical Review Software Review Generative AI 176

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

Description of the business entity you plan to form. The most common business entity used for startups is a Limited Liability Corporation (LLC), which is the cheapest and simplest to manage. Provide specifics on the customer business model. They want to see revenue to share in the return.

Business Plan 423

Business Plan Product Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch 423

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 24, 2017

. — Unremarked and unheralded, the balance of power between startup CEOs and their investors has radically changed: IPOs/M&A without a profit (or at times revenue) have become the norm. The startup process has become demystified – information is everywhere. Board Control. And while new markets were created (i.e.

Founder 281

Founder Technical Review CTO Hire IPO 281

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 14, 2021

For example, my dictate that entrepreneurs need to find a “ painful ” problem to solve (such as high cost, low productivity) to attract customers, doesn’t really account for many successful startup businesses today, including top social media platforms, dating sites, and new fashions.

Customer 432

Customer Social Media Dividend Technical Review 432

Steve Blank

APRIL 1, 2020

So here’s a five-day playbook to help CEOs of cash-flow negative startups, or ones about to go negative, assess the new normal and respond with speed and urgency. But other businesses like law firms, contracting firms, real estate firms, will take hits, too. Your revenue plans are no longer valid. External Assessment.

South Korea 334

South Korea Salary Business Model China 334

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. Startups shouldn’t act smug about this. Even for startups, it takes years for a new product to become good enough to demand many millions of dollars in revenue.).

Balance Sheet 242

Balance Sheet Vertical Acquisition Revenue 242

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 30, 2020

Most of you prefer to ignore the feedback from analysts that your chances of creating the next unicorn startup may be as low as one in five million. Minimize one-time sales in your business model. You need a stable customer base with an automatically renewing revenue stream, such as the subscription model.

Merger 386

Merger Acquisition Software Review Social Media 386

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2020

There are no guarantees in business, but it pays to learn from the experiences of entrepreneurs and business experts who have gone before you. As a long-time mentor to entrepreneurs, here is my collection of smart risks that investors and I look for in new startups: Focus on a tough customer problem rather than a fun technology.

Management 322

Management Entrepreneur Forecast Stock Options 322

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 2, 2022

There are no guarantees in business, but it pays to learn from the experiences of entrepreneurs and business experts who have gone before you. As a long-time mentor to entrepreneurs, here is my collection of smart risks that investors and I look for in new startups: Focus on a tough customer problem rather than a fun technology.

Forecast 304

Forecast Stock Options Technical Review Metrics 304

Steve Blank

MARCH 31, 2014

Just look at the disruptive challenges that businesses face today– globalization, China as a manufacturer, China as a consumer, the Internet, and a steady stream of new startups. Perhaps that’s because where established companies might see risks or threats, startups see opportunity. Innovation.

Private Equity 330

Private Equity Metrics China Intellectual Property 330

The Startup Magazine

NOVEMBER 22, 2022

She realised the revenue operations market was booming, especially within the tech industry, and therefore wanted to explore what is largely an untapped market within the UK and Europe. RevOps, or “Revenue Operations”, is a B2B function that uses automation to help teams make the right decisions to grow their business.

Congo 158

Congo Technical Review Africa Netherlands 158

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 6, 2018

Entrepreneurs who experience success with their first startup are often amazed to realize that the risks and fears of doing it right the second time go up, rather than down. Encores are tough, especially in the high-risk world of startups, yet every entrepreneur I know can’t wait to start over and do it again.

Technical Review 233

Technical Review Due Diligence Business Model Demand 233

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2019

In the old days, every entrepreneur dreamed of easily taking their startup public, and making it big. Today the rate of startups going public (IPO – Initial Public Offering) is up from the dead zone, but is still half the rate back before 2000. Startups going public are laid open to competitors and critics.

IPO 210

IPO SEC Prospectus Startup 210

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 15, 2019

Once upon a time every great organization was a scrappy startup willing to take risks – new ideas, new methods, new customers, targets, and mission. They’ll use government regulation and lawsuits to keep out new entrants with more innovative business models. Companies Run on Process. The result is process theater.

Government 322

Government Technical Review Acquisition Metrics 322

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 1, 2020

I have often been asked about Startup Funding by entrepreneurs. Many myths surround the subject of startup funding. Here is Startup Funding, a Comprehensive Guide for Entrepreneurs. Funding might be a need in some cases — but it’s not an absolute necessity. ? The business should be self-sustainable.

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Seed Stage 150

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 19, 2023

Entrepreneurs who experience success with their first startup are often amazed to realize that the risks and fears of doing it right the second time go up, rather than down. Encores are tough, especially in the high-risk world of startups, yet every entrepreneur I know can’t wait to start over and do it again.

Technical Review 229

Technical Review Due Diligence Business Model Demand 229

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 26, 2021

Launching a startup is ridiculously exciting. Of course, most of you reading this know that the odds of your business becoming a tech unicorn are slim, even if you have a great idea in place. That’s because more than half of all startups fail within the first five years of operation. Lack of Market Need. Running Out of Capital.

Startup 180

Startup Angel Investor Business Model Demand 180

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

Many startup businesses – tech or otherwise – fail. Trying outrageous new things or even trying mundane things but in new ways but with extreme quality & innovation is what fuels the tech startup industry. But today I want to give you advice on how to decrease your odds of failure in a startup.

Startup 150

Startup Seed Money DC Software Review 150

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 10, 2014

Over 44 classes have embedded the business model canvas and/or Customer Discovery including a year-long course taken by every single one of its bioengineering majors. It was Steve who first brought Will Harvey to visit Immersion, which led to a strategic investment in There.com, Will’s stealth-mode but sure-fire, can’t-miss startup.

Maryland 280

Maryland Lean DC Virginia 280

This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 17, 2024

If you’re a Black female founder with revenue struggling to raise and you see two straight white dudes get $5 million for their Powerpoint presentation, it’s only logical to assume the process is stacked against you. doesn’t really buy you many points with an investor—but coming off like a startup n00b really tanks your chances.

Technical Review 166

Technical Review Cofounder Startup Equity 166

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 23, 2022

Building an ethical business is more than just compliance and meeting legal requirements, and it has big paybacks. One 11-year study of over 200 companies over a decade ago, detailed in the book “ Corporate Culture and Performance ,” found that those working on their culture improved revenue by 516%, and increased net income by 755%.

Software Review 291

Software Review Offshore Entrepreneur Leadership 291

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 17, 2018

What is the definition of traction for a business startup today? This can happen through early marketing, independent of whether you have yet delivered a single product, proven your business model, or have any real customers. Show validation data for business model key elements.

Advisory Board 199

Advisory Board Technical Review Metrics Business Model 199

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 21, 2020

Some analysts argue that revenue drives growth, while others say user growth drives revenue. Google reached $1B in revenue within five years of incorporation, and now has a market capitalization of over $1 trillion. A business only achieved critical mass by becoming cash-flow positive. Both have worked.

Revenue 434

Revenue Valuation Viral Retention 434

The Startup Magazine

APRIL 22, 2024

When it comes to startups, the focus often gravitates toward acquiring new customers, expanding market reach, and chasing growth metrics. However, amidst the frenzy of attracting fresh clientele, many startups overlook a critical aspect of sustainable success – client retention.

Retention 148

Retention Reputation Startup Social Network 148

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 21, 2020

They also look for entrepreneurs they know from past experience and warm introductions, or for evidence that you have previously built a successful startup, and sold your last one for maybe $800 million. Investors are buying part of the business, not the product or service.

Technical Review 310

Technical Review Angel Investor Business Plan Social Media 310