View from Seed

JULY 8, 2020

The remainder of the email should include other highlights, core business metrics, financial metrics, challenges, goals, asks & thanks. Accordingly, your deck is not a presentation aid, but rather a more complete document that can be read & understood without much commentary. Download Investor Update Email Template.

Email 331

Email Seed Stage Syndication Syndicate 331

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2020

The days of lengthy, text-heavy, business plan documents prepared by expensive experts are behind us. You don’t have to be a heavily funded later stage startup to get access to “big data,” customer analytics, and metrics dashboards. Angel groups, accelerators, and incubators are pervasive. Set milestones and manage to those targets.

Intellectual Property 404

Intellectual Property Startup Angel Groups Social Media 404

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 15, 2019

Product people are often messy, hate paperwork and prefer to spend their time creating stuff rather than documenting it. Metrics are used to manage process rather than creation of new capabilities, outcomes and speed to deployment. People who manage processes are not the same people as those who create product.

Government 322

Government Technical Review Acquisition Metrics 322

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 25, 2014

Define hard (data) and soft (anecdotal) metrics on the change, as well as on the quality of your leadership. That means you have to start with assessing the current state against the same metrics, before you can assess progress or change. Make sure metric results are available to the team, to keep them motivated.

Metrics 271

Metrics Technical Review Leadership Framework 271

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 17, 2024

You can download the full 64-page document of Program Executive Offices and Officers with all 602 names here. Caveats Do not depend on this document for accuracy or completeness. This means this document was out of date the day it was written. It is likely incomplete and contains errors.

Programming 249

Programming Customer Portfolio Government 249

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 3, 2016

Sets goals and milestones, with metrics to track progress. Good implementers document and communicate long-term goals, and translate them into daily action items. They define metrics for each goal, and diligently track themselves against these metrics. Tie executive titles and organizations to business roles.

Entrepreneur 266

Entrepreneur Technical Review Metrics Restful 266

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 20, 2013

Define hard (data) and soft (anecdotal) metrics on the change, as well as on the quality of your leadership. That means you have to start with assessing the current state against the same metrics, before you can assess progress or change. Make sure metric results are available to the team, to keep them motivated.

Startup 253

Startup Metrics Technical Review Leadership 253

SoCal CTO

APRIL 28, 2014

Other Topics Covered I also covered topics that are covered more thoroughly in the following posts: Document Your MVP for a Developer. Read Document Your MVP for a Developer for all of the detail that you really need to provide. Provide the metrics you are trying to achieve. I just want the cost, timeline and impact.

Technical Cofounder 280

Technical Cofounder Developer Fractional CTO CTO Hire 280

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 14, 2013

She recommends phone interviews by you, by appointment, with structured questions, and you document results. All of these processes should be documented, and should explicitly include the customer buying process and perceptions as the base. Include planned measurements and metrics. Their perception is your reality.

Revenue 263

Revenue Startup Technical Review Business Model 263

SoCal CTO

MARCH 11, 2013

If you do build the MVP and show it to them, they will ask you about your metrics. They really want metrics, not a product. The real question you should be asking is "When I've built this product and show you the following metrics, would you invest?"

Algorithm 264

Algorithm Metrics Viral Venture Capital 264

Gust

APRIL 27, 2014

Like it or not, you are now entering the dreaded realm of specifying and documenting “formal business processes.” Even if you are doing the work yourself, you need to document requirements, features, metrics, and milestones. The right question is “What is the minimum that I need?”. Product development process. Funding process.

Startup 187

Startup Institutional Investors Angel Investor Bootstrapping 187

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 25, 2011

She recommends phone interviews by you, by appointment, with structured questions, and you document results. All of these processes should be documented, and should explicitly include the customer buying process and perceptions as the base. Include planned measurements and metrics. Their perception is your reality.

Customer 242

Customer Technical Review Business Model Revenue 242

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 3, 2012

She recommends phone interviews by you, by appointment, with structured questions, and you document results. All of these processes should be documented, and should explicitly include the customer buying process and perceptions as the base. Include planned measurements and metrics. Their perception is your reality.

Technical Review 234

Technical Review Business Model Revenue Social Media 234

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 14, 2013

Of course there are scenarios where a written business plan is not critical, but I haven’t seen one yet where a well-written 15-page document, or at least a 10-slide pitch, is a negative. You need an investor, and want a document to mass-mail to everyone. With bootstrapping, no business plan is expected by anyone.

Business Plan 250

Business Plan Technical Review Entrepreneur Angel Investor 250

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 9, 2022

Document plans and progress, with checkpoints. Setting your own metrics, and measuring yourself , will facilitate accountability. In my experience, developers can be so committed to a technology, such as hydrogen engines for cars, such that they may be unwilling to change as the business pivots for market reasons.

Philadelphia 274

Philadelphia Technical Review Engineer Metrics 274

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2023

The days of lengthy, text-heavy, business plan documents prepared by expensive experts are behind us. You don’t have to be a heavily funded later stage startup to get access to “big data,” customer analytics, and metrics dashboards. Angel groups, accelerators, and incubators are pervasive. Set milestones and manage to those targets.

Intellectual Property 261

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Angel Groups Social Media 261

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 19, 2020

If established and well documented, they can be used to demonstrate how efficiently and orderly a business is run, increasing what your business is worth. EBITDA is the most important profitability metric to consider as many valuations are based on a multiple of this metric.

Exit Strategy 246

Exit Strategy Intellectual Property Valuation Metrics 246

ConversionXL

JUNE 16, 2022

Top marketers are 414% more likely to report success when they document their strategy, according to CoSchedule’s 2022 Trend Report. A marketing playbook, in the traditional sense, is an internal document. Treat your playbook as a living document rather than something set in stone. A playbook does exactly this. Content creation.

Campaign 149

Campaign CTO Marketing Social Media 149

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 8, 2018

For example, I still find businesses asking you to print, sign, and return documents by mail in lieu of digital signatures or email. You need to communicate quantified and updates goals quarterly, including the metrics to assess progress and success. In my mind, these are killing their businesses.

Technical Review 211

Technical Review Channel Social Media Metrics 211

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2019

I suggest you use social media, blogging, crowdfunding, or documented research to quantify a real demand from people who can afford it, and don’t have a better alternative already out there. This is the point where you must manage to metrics, work on the culture of the organization, and look for partner-based growth.

Intellectual Property 235

Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch Harvest Technical Review 235

Up and Running

AUGUST 20, 2018

To start, don’t swallow the obsolete idea that the business plan must be a long, formal document, as if it were some term paper you have to write. And furthermore, even for those of you who do need to produce a business plan document, the task of writing a formal business plan today is much less daunting than it used to be.

Business Plan 119

Business Plan Technical Review Lean Forecast 119

The Startup Magazine

MARCH 8, 2024

Factors to Consider Before Taking on Debt The debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) is a financial metric lenders use to assess a business’s ability to cover its debt obligations. Key metrics to track may include revenue growth, profit margins, cash flow, debt-to-equity ratio, and return on investment.

Finance 147

Finance Technical Review Metrics .Net 147

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 31, 2019

Documentation and meticulous record keeping is a must for startups. You should never leave the office at the end of any day or week without having all finances reconciled with the proper supporting documentation. This is the critically important metric that tells you how much of your cash you’re spending on a monthly basis.).

Burn Rate 176

Burn Rate Startup Lean Early Stage 176

Up and Running

MAY 12, 2020

Your plan doesn’t need to be a lengthy document either, especially if you follow a Lean Planning methodology. It can even start as a one-page pitch document that eventually evolves into a full business plan. . Establish milestones and metrics for your business plan. Track your key metrics and know your numbers.

Software Review 153

Software Review Exit Strategy Technical Review Business Plan 153

The Startup Magazine

APRIL 15, 2020

Data, files and documents can be shared between team members in a central setting. The best software solutions offer managers the option to track task status in real time, inspect actual team performance and compare it to initial goals, analyze reported issues, and visualize all reports and metrics whenever necessary.

Software Review 113

Software Review Software Management Operations 113

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 9, 2024

Learners can access these resources at their own pace and convenience by uploading videos, documents, quizzes, and assignments to the LMS. Learning Management Systems (LMS) come equipped with tracking features that allow monitoring of learner engagement, module completion rates, quiz scores, and other vital metrics.

Technical Review 144

Technical Review Software Review Retention Metrics 144

Up and Running

OCTOBER 12, 2017

I believe your business plan should be a living document that you regularly consult (think at least quarterly) to measure how you’re doing today versus what you forecasted in your plan. Keep an eye on these important metrics. This is a metric you just can’t ignore. Do you regularly review your plan? Accounts payable aging.

Metrics 128

Metrics Software Review Forecast Small Business 128

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 7, 2017

She recommends phone interviews by you, by appointment, with structured questions, and you document results. All of these processes should be documented, and should explicitly include the customer buying process and perceptions as the base. Include planned measurements and metrics. Their perception is your reality.

Small Business 147

Small Business Revenue Technical Review Business Model 147

ConversionXL

NOVEMBER 21, 2017

Developing documents and practices to organize your testing process can really help. For us, “vision documents” cemented the consistent process we desperately needed to get out of our own way. For that, you need your own tool, and for us, that tool is a vision document. A good hypothesis informs good success metrics.

Metrics 114

Metrics Database Retention Hiring 114

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 15, 2023

Additionally, they enable file sharing, document collaboration, and communication channels, reducing reliance on email threads. Email marketing software provides analytics and reporting capabilities to track metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and conversions, enabling data-driven decision-making.

Software Review 158

Software Review Software Small Business Social Media 158

Haystack

NOVEMBER 25, 2018

Look at Docusign, as one shining example — a company many folks thought would be a $1-2B outcome for a feature (e-signatures) transformed into a $10B+ document management platform. Here’s why: 1/ Pro-sumer Trend Has Legs In Enterprise: The freemium pricing model ushered in a new wave of business applications and services.

Technical Review 127

Technical Review Open Source Software Review Venture Capital 127

Up and Running

AUGUST 21, 2018

After all, planning is about making better management decisions, not about producing a thick document that sits in a drawer. Beyond tracking key financial metrics such as cash, sales, expenses, accounts receivable, and accounts payable, businesses must track the other key metrics that are critical to their success.

Lean 134

Lean Forecast Software Review Business Plan 134

crowdSPRING Blog

DECEMBER 13, 2018

You may already have your vision, mission, and values documented, but don’t worry if you don’t. Some companies chose to thoroughly document these and put them on an office wall or their website. You’re going to need some brand health metrics to track. Start by defining what metrics are important.

Marketing 162

Marketing Charlotte Naming Design 162

View from Seed

MARCH 24, 2021

In this comprehensive template and guide we break down each of the nine core sections in the deck: intro , team , what do you do , is it working , why does it matter (market) , can you be the best in the world (product, growth, financial metrics) , where are you going , what do you want (the ask) , and appendix. ” (Melody Koh).

Seed Stage 177

Seed Stage Hiring IPO Analytics 177

Board Effect

MARCH 23, 2022

A nonprofit fundraising plan is a written document that outlines your nonprofit’s fundraising goals along with a step-by-step plan for bringing them to fruition. A CRM or fundraising software program will yield a wealth of metrics that will help in planning, but also in evaluating the success of your fundraising programs and events.

Campaign 98

Campaign Software Review Technical Review Metrics 98

ConversionXL

APRIL 10, 2019

Form analytics provide quantitative data on metrics such as field timings, field re-entries, last field before abandonment, completion rates by segment, etc. Some of the tools below track dozens of metrics—even aggregating them into broader field “health” metrics—and visualize those metrics in clear reports. Ten seconds?

Analytics 130

Analytics Metrics United Kingdom Software 130

Up and Running

OCTOBER 21, 2014

It should remain a ‘live’ document as you progress and as you grow. The business plan should always be considered a live document. You can write your business plan in a simple word document or using software like LivePlan. If nothing else, familiarize yourself with your key financial metrics from the start.

Elevator Pitch 166

Elevator Pitch Software Review SBA Business Plan 166