Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2011

In fact, it’s all about the “focus” required to get early stage technology products across the deadly chasm from early adopters to mainstream customers. Most investors and startup professionals expand this concept of focus to apply to key issues of every aspect of strategic and tactical planning in a startup.

Marketing 238

Marketing Entrepreneur Technical Review Dilution 238

The Next Web

OCTOBER 3, 2012

Andrew is the co-founder and CTO of Parse.ly , a technology startup that provides big data insights to the web’s best publishers. Startups die due to a variety of causes. In 2007, Paul Graham gave a variety of causes for startup death in How Not To Die. Distraction is fatal to startups.

Cofounder 155

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Technical Review Software Review 155

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 23, 2017

In fact, it’s all about the “focus” required to get early stage technology products across the deadly chasm from early adopters to mainstream customers. Most investors and startup professionals expand this concept of focus to apply to key issues of every aspect of strategic and tactical planning in a startup.

Customer 191

Customer Entrepreneur Technical Review Dilution 191

Up and Running

JULY 2, 2014

Picking the right attorney in your startup is as important as picking the right business partner. My business partner and I made many mistakes in our first tech startup, and so many of them were the result of choosing a lawyer who was a terrible fit. Let me paint the picture for you: We were about two months into our startup idea.

Technical Review 118

Technical Review Angel Investor Due Diligence Dilution 118

Business Plan Blog

OCTOBER 4, 2013

Aligning the Startup Team Strategy with the Capitalization Strategy. The single most important factor to raising capital for any tech startup is the management team. Furthermore, a startup works differently than a large corporation. Having too many co-founders will only lead to your eventual dilution. Early Stage.

Part-Time VPE 79

Part-Time VPE Fractional VPE Cofounder CTO Hire 79

VC Cafe

FEBRUARY 27, 2024

especially if the startup already has a product and revenue? While the answers are somewhat semantic, the pre-seed funding round is making a comeback in 2024 startup financing. Pre-seed round tends to be the first ‘institutional’ round of funding in a startup. Seed is about showing initial product market fit.

Valuation 186

Valuation Software Review Generative AI Technical Review 186

YoungUpstarts

MAY 6, 2019

by Arsalan Sajid, startup community manager at Cloudways. Life is not a box of chocolates and startups are not always easy to start. There is a complete process that governs the startup lifecycle including inception to exit. They make money by starting a product from scratch and then selling it in thousands of dollars.

Startup 113

Startup Technical Cofounder Merger Early Stage 113

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 5, 2010

As all of you know, Steve Blank is the progenitor of Customer Development and author of The Four Steps to the Epiphany. I have personally sold many copies of his book, and continue to recommend it as one of the most important books a startup founder can read. On the minus side, that has made it a wee bit hard to understand.

Customer Development 166

Customer Development Developer San Francisco Customer 166

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 26, 2009

Anyone who has worked in a real-world product development team can tell you how utopian that sounds. Every time you listen to customers, you fear diluting your vision. Anyone who has worked in a real-world product development team can tell you how utopian that sounds. That’s natural. That’s natural.

Advisory Board 151

Advisory Board Customer San Francisco Lean 151

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 15, 2009

Of all the tactics I have advocated as part of the lean startup , none has provoked as many extreme reactions as continuous deployment , a process that allows companies to release software in minutes instead of days, weeks, or months. Glad you don't > develop software for space shuttles. Expo SF (May. . Expo SF (May.

Continuous Deployment 167

Continuous Deployment Software Review San Francisco Lean 167

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 24, 2009

In other words, they are facing conditions of extreme uncertainty, just like startups. But, as any startup can tell you, this opens up a tremendous set of opportunities for the rest of us. When I reviewed a recent product development book, it immediately shot up to Amazon sales rank 300. Is that a lot? Is that good?

San Francisco 113

San Francisco Lean Technical Review Distribution 113

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 17, 2011

I’m a very big believer in the “Lean Startup&# principles as espoused by Steve Blank and Eric Ries. When you see evidence that there is this so called “product / market fit&# then you may be ready for larger amounts of capital. In the seed phase startups are typically raising between $500k-$1m in today’s market.

Pre-Money Valuation 303

Pre-Money Valuation Dilution Valuation PR 303

betashop.com

OCTOBER 8, 2012

This past week while I was in Tokyo for meetings with potential partners for Fab, I was invited to participate in a panel discussion on startups. There’s no time to dicker around at a startup. Startups are hard work. At my first startup I soured on executives too quickly, blaming them vs. accepting ownership myself.

Technical Review 108

Technical Review Technology Software Review Valuation 108

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 19, 2014

Typically they can be used to fund product development and commercialization that would otherwise require outside investors. A good place to start looking is the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, which is a lifeline for high-tech startups. To the investors, it means less dilution and lower overall risk.

Seed Money 242

Seed Money SBIR Dilution Government 242

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 27, 2011

For a more elaborate explanation of the deal, please read my blog post 1M/1M: Alternative Financing For Startups Using A Sales Channel Partner. I have discussed at length why revenue sharing channel deals may serve as perfectly fine alternatives to raising equity (or even complements) because of their non-dilutive nature.

Dilution 114

Dilution Revenue Finance Entrepreneur 114

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2013

Typically they can be used to fund product development and commercialization that would otherwise require outside investors. A good place to start looking is the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, which is a lifeline for high-tech startups. To the investors, it means less dilution and lower overall risk.

Government 230

Government Equity Cost SBIR 230

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 2, 2011

Now that President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus package has been out for a while, including $50 billion aimed at alternative-energy initiatives, applying for grants has become the rage for high-tech startups. I applaud the initiative, and encourage startups in this direction, but there are costs. Processing and approvals take time.

Government 221

Government SBIR Dilution Database 221

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

In addition, I’ve noted a few multi-product lending firms, e.g., Kapitus and United Capital Source , which provide RBI as one of many structural options to companies seeking capital. . We have a special program if you are pre-seed and need product development. Up to $3M in growth capital for your tech startup”.

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

maplebutter.com

JANUARY 8, 2013

189 Answers To The Top Startup Questions On Your Mind. 189 Answers To The Top Startup Questions On Your Mind. Written By Dan Martell on February 2nd, 2012 | Category: Hiring LeanStartup Marketing Metrics Startup Life | 6 Comments. I love startups. Building Product 2. Here’s my high-level approach for startups.

Technical Review 44

Technical Review Startup Cofounder Software Review 44

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 7, 2024

If the business is not a startup, expect to supply income statements for the past several years as well, to emphasize trends in revenue and costs. Your future rounds should be at higher valuations if you meet your plan, making dilution of your equity less onerous at that time. The more you ask for – the more equity you give up.

Hockey Stick 62

Hockey Stick Liquidity Event Valuation Balance Sheet 62

blog.nahurst.com

JULY 19, 2010

Nathan Hursts Blog Thoughts on Software, Technology, and Startups « Back to blog Im on the technical side of entrepreneurship in NYC. This covers one of the most common situations I encounter: For a pre-funding web startup whose team includes only a non-technical cofounder, how much equity should an incoming technical cofounder get?

Technical Cofounder 43

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Equity Salary 43

David Teten

OCTOBER 1, 2015

How would one set up such a startup to eventually raise capital from outside VCs, who will be wary of ‘dead equity’ (i.e., The most important thing to consider is that launching a startup is usually a personal endeavor. First, the founders are their startup and define the company it will become. What are the timelines?

Software Developers 60

Software Developers Software Development Software Review Technical Cofounder 60

Gust

MAY 11, 2014

Typically they can be used to fund product development and commercialization that would otherwise require outside investors. A good place to start looking is the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, which is a lifeline for high-tech startups. To the investors, it means less dilution and lower overall risk.

Seed Money 164

Seed Money SBIR Dilution Government 164

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 14, 2013

Guest post by Lisa Regan, writer for The Lean Startup Conference, who has created content for a number of startups. In our ongoing exploration of how people actually implement Lean Startup methods in their workplaces, we’re asking practitioners to share their techniques. Most startups don''t get this.

Lean 167

Lean Conversion Audience Design 167

Berkonomics

MARCH 21, 2019

If the business is not a startup, expect to supply income statements for the past several years as well, to emphasize trends in revenue and costs. Your future rounds should be at higher valuations if you meet your plan, making dilution of your equity less onerous at that time. Projections for your future.

Hockey Stick 63

Hockey Stick Liquidity Event Valuation Balance Sheet 63

Berkonomics

MAY 26, 2010

They include an expense account, company car, profit sharing, 401k contributions, medical coverage for dependents, free life insurance, educational payments, extra vacation, relocation expenses, paid trips to industry association meetings, or a small override on revenue from new products developed under the candidate’s watch. .

Employee 54

Employee Liquidity Event Stock Options Salary 54

Early Growth Financial Services

MARCH 1, 2013

Admittedly, bootstrapping has its downside: the biggest drawback being the limit to how quickly you can get your product/service to market and how fast you can execute at a larger scale. Also, without VC funds, you will have less resources to focus on product development.

Bootstrapping 55

Bootstrapping Venture Capital Startup Product Development 55

The Equity Kicker

MARCH 17, 2015

As you probably know, Forward Partners bundles help from our startup team, our proven methodologies and office space with our cash investment so I will be talking my own book tomorrow and hence here. In the 1990s when companies needed £2-5m to get a product to market they had money to hire a team of people to help them.

Early Stage 60

Early Stage Venture Capital San Francisco Silicon Valley 60

K9 Ventures

OCTOBER 10, 2017

If it doesn’t have the product fully baked yet? Well, enter the Pre-Seed round, where the startup raises closer to $500K. Unless every aspect of product development is covered by founders who are only receiving equity, there are other parts of building a product that will require hiring highly qualified people.

Seed Stage 82

Seed Stage Finance Later Stage Equity 82

Seeing Both Sides

NOVEMBER 26, 2012

Startup CEO raising capital. Adding some debt onto your balance sheet will lower your cost of capital and your dilution, which is better for existing investors and the management team. For example, I have huge respect and passion for product development and the role of the product manager.

Balance Sheet 42

Balance Sheet Entrepreneur Dilution Portfolio 42

Seeing Both Sides

JANUARY 13, 2015

People: founder-run and trying to recruit amazing technical talent (the product development team is a huge priority at this stage) and integrate a few senior managers to help prepare the company for scale - which leads to cultural clashes and communication challenges. But I guess that is what makes the startup game so fun.'

Mezzanine 20

Mezzanine IPO Finance Business Model 20