Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

Wouldn’t younger VCs with the incentive to climb the ranks internally be better champions of one’s startup and more likely to want to fuel growth, regardless of the exit strategy? My own metric is that you need experience >= 1.5 Warning sign? Say 40 years = 20 years real direct experience. At best. ~

Silicon Valley 237

Silicon Valley IPO Technical Review Venture Capital 237

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2021

To keep you on a positive track with potential investors, I recommend the following logic principles, to balance your passion in presenting your vision of a new business: Make sure your plan includes some business metrics. Show that you anticipate this, how they will react, and how you have ongoing strategies to stay ahead.

Exit Strategy 406

Exit Strategy Merger Angel Investor IPO 406

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 28, 2015

As an entrepreneur, make sure you understand your direct and indirect costs, staffing requirements, margins and metrics to make sure these elements are in place. This will lead to investor-return calculations and exit strategies. In all cases, you need customer support, formal processes and training in place.

Exit Strategy 120

Exit Strategy Technical Review Distribution Viral 120

Duct Tape Marketing

JANUARY 15, 2025

By fostering psychological safety, improving communication, and rethinking job exit strategies, businesses can enhance employee retention, protect workplace culture, and build long-term loyalty. Implementing modern job exit strategies can mitigate these risks and foster long-term success. John Jantsch (17:07.533) Yeah.

Exit Strategy 58

Exit Strategy Retention Programming Employee 58

Up and Running

AUGUST 20, 2018

They use a plan to reinforce strategy, establish metrics , manage responsibilities and goals, track results, and manage and plan resources including critical cash flow. You don’t do an exit strategy section of your business plan if you’re not writing for investors and therefore you aren’t concerned with an exit.

Business Plan 119

Business Plan Technical Review Lean Forecast 119

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 19, 2018

Milestones and metrics that you’ll need to hit to be viable. Your funding ask and exit strategy, if applicable. Milestones and metrics. For metrics , decide which numbers to check regularly to track your company’s health. For metrics , decide which numbers to check regularly to track your company’s health.

Business Plan 154

Business Plan Technical Review Forecast Software Review 154

Up and Running

AUGUST 28, 2018

Milestones and metrics that you’ll need to hit to be viable. Your funding ask and exit strategy, if applicable. Milestones and metrics. For metrics , decide which numbers to check regularly to track your company’s health. Exit strategy : You only need this if you’re seeking outside investment.

Business Plan 72

Business Plan Technical Review Exit Strategy Oregon 72

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 18, 2023

In addition, current investors want to see every startup go public or be acquired, as an exit event, so they can get their due return for that investment which has been tied up for the last few years. For these reasons, I always look for an overt exit strategy in every startup I might consider for an angel investment.

Exit Strategy 248

Exit Strategy Valuation Acquisition Metrics 248

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 13, 2011

In fact, a business plan is needed more by you than investors, as the blueprint for your company, team communication, and progress metrics. Financial forecast and metrics. Exit strategy. For a family business, don’t project an exit. See where your cashflow bottoms out. Show breakeven and growth assumptions.

Business Plan 290

Business Plan Sweat Equity Exit Strategy Intellectual Property 290

Berkonomics

JANUARY 16, 2014

Clarify operation responsibilities and metrics used to measure performance. Exit strategy planning, including determining what happens when one partner leaves, if closing the business, if selling the business, creating a mutual buy/sell agreement, and more. Define management responsibilities and job descriptions.

Technical Review 81

Technical Review Due Diligence Exit Strategy Partner 81

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2012

In fact, a business plan is needed more by you than investors, as the blueprint for your company, team communication, and progress metrics. Financial forecast and metrics. Exit strategy. For a family business, don’t project an exit. See where your cashflow bottoms out. Show breakeven and growth assumptions.

Business Plan 283

Business Plan Sweat Equity Exit Strategy Intellectual Property 283

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 7, 2020

External investors expect a documented business plan, with clear targets on funding needed, use of funds, revenue projections, return potential, and exit strategy. For progress and success assessment, each of these needs some metrics defined, a training plan, and responsibility assignments within your team.

Entrepreneur 328

Entrepreneur Exit Strategy Metrics Operations 328

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

NOVEMBER 1, 2010

Congratulations, now there's only 47 other metrics you need to be tracking. What other simple, motivating metrics can you use early on in your startup? ?What's Tags: How-To exit-strategy finance inspiration investment planning. That's the end of the chart. Oh well, we should all be so lucky. Let's compare notes.

Exit Strategy 247

Exit Strategy Startup Bandwidth Revenue 247

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 10, 2023

External investors expect a documented business plan, with clear targets on funding needed, use of funds, revenue projections, return potential, and exit strategy. For progress and success assessment, each of these needs some metrics defined, a training plan, and responsibility assignments within your team.

Exit Strategy 288

Exit Strategy Metrics Operations Cost 288

Up and Running

OCTOBER 3, 2018

Milestones and metrics that you’ll need to hit to be viable. Your funding ask and exit strategy, if applicable. Milestones and metrics. For metrics , decide which numbers to check regularly to track your company’s health. For metrics , decide which numbers to check regularly to track your company’s health.

El Paso 61

El Paso Business Plan Technical Review Forecast 61

Hearpreneur

JULY 20, 2018

NorthSide Metrics is a digital marketing agency based in the Chicagoland area. The colors + location were combined with my love of data to bring in the metrics. I had a few variations of the name and after asking 3-5 people which they liked or hated I ended up settling in on NorthSide Metrics. Thanks to Ebooks4fashion ! #6-

Naming 90

Naming OTC Entrepreneur PPC 90

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2010

In fact, a business plan is needed more by you than investors, as the blueprint for your company, team communication, and progress metrics. Financial forecast and metrics. Exit strategy. For a family business, don’t project an exit. IPO as an exit strategy is not recommended these days.

Business Plan 186

Business Plan Exit Strategy Sweat Equity Intellectual Property 186

Up and Running

NOVEMBER 12, 2018

Key metrics. Going smaller, use key metrics to ensure that your business is on track to reach your milestones. The five key metrics to judge your subscription model’s success are: Churn and churn rate. MRR (monthly recurring revenue). ARPU (average monthly revenue per user/customer). Key assumptions and risks.

Business Plan 63

Business Plan Curation Balance Sheet Intellectual Property 63

Reid Hoffman

JULY 23, 2020

This week, I’d like to turn to the question of how current market conditions affect the approach entrepreneurs should take towards their exit strategy. This strategic value-oriented approach is one of the things that gives Silicon Valley its crazy reputation among traditional investors, who live and die by financial metrics.

IPO 36

IPO Exit Strategy Acquisition Technical Review 36

Gust

AUGUST 5, 2012

In fact, a business plan is needed more by you than investors, as the blueprint for your company, team communication, and progress metrics. Financial forecast and metrics. Exit strategy. For a family business, don’t project an exit. See where your cashflow bottoms out. Show breakeven and growth assumptions.

Business Plan 182

Business Plan Sweat Equity Exit Strategy Intellectual Property 182

ctotodevelopers.blogspot.com

JULY 11, 2012

decide on success metrics, measure, and then decide if additional investment is warranted. If the innovation is successful, then the metrics should help drive the enhancement into the top/right "agile happy place" quadrant. I call this scenario "Innovate and Measure". 4) Reality - Some things are "hard".

Agile 40

Agile Architecture Offshore Software Development 40

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

Lean Case provides standard business models & metrics, so you can apply a standard approach to business planning, modeling, and profitability tracking. The simplest way to track a company’s performance: have them give you access to their internal metrics dashboard. I used Ipreo heavily at one of my prior VC funds.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 3, 2015

Outline key milestones and metrics. Know your exit strategy. List your products and services and the problems they are solving or needs they are fulfilling. Flesh out your target market details. Create a marketing and sales plan. List your management team. Create a financial plan. Include an appendix. Create an elevator pitch.

Elevator Pitch 60

Elevator Pitch Startup Balance Sheet Forecast 60

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 23, 2017

An investor had few hard metrics other than the actual financials, and little technology to make the process scaleable. Over the past few decades, better metrics became available, and investors could take a more analytical, data-driven approach. ” Historically, investing was a manual, artisan process.

Private Equity 60

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity Technical Review 60

The Next Web

MAY 26, 2013

There’s no magic metric in software startups (so don’t let anyone convince you there is). That said, it’s crucial to have a core KPI (key performance indicator) to benchmark your progress, and it’s typically ideal that such a metric be a revenue lever. Offer key financial metrics.

Software 151

Software Forecast Startup Exit Strategy 151

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2015

In addition, current investors want to see every startup go public or be acquired, as an exit event, so they can get their due return for that investment which has been tied up for the last few years. For these reasons, I always look for an overt exit strategy in every startup I might consider for an angel investment.

Exit Strategy 120

Exit Strategy Startup Valuation Acquisition 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 28, 2016

External investors expect a documented business plan, with clear targets on funding needed, use of funds, revenue projections, return potential, and exit strategy. For progress and success assessment, each of these needs some metrics defined, a training plan, and responsibility assignments within your team.

Exit Strategy 155

Exit Strategy Metrics Operations Cost 155

The Equity Kicker

JULY 3, 2012

For Adtech startups looking for an exit strategy this is bad news. There are a bunch of mid-sized players, and Facebook and Apple are increasingly important forces, but none of these are predictable enough to build a strategy around.

Exit Strategy 96

Exit Strategy Acquisition Advertising Metrics 96

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

Business plans get a bad name because they too often deal in the high-level strategy without including any teeth, like tracking and metrics, to make them real. Exit strategy. Specifics: dates, deadlines, who’s in charge of what. Ask yourself how you’ll know what went wrong. . Cash flow: money in, money out.

Business Plan 90

Business Plan Exit Strategy Metrics Management 90

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2015

Of course, these should never be in a customer pitch, but investors expect an overall strategy with specific budgets, milestones and metrics. If we build it they will come” is not a marketing and sales strategy. Investors are also interested in future investment requirements, time frames and long-term strategy.

Product 120

Product Intellectual Property Liquidity Event Burn Rate 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 24, 2015

External investors expect a documented business plan, with clear targets on funding needed, use of funds, revenue projections, return potential, and exit strategy. For progress and success assessment, each of these needs some metrics defined, a training plan, and responsibility assignments within your team.

Exit Strategy 120

Exit Strategy Metrics Operations Cost 120

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 8, 2016

The smart ones identify and budget innovative approaches, and use metrics to tools to monitor effectiveness. Build a long-term growth strategy and exit plan. Investors look for an exit strategy to allow them to capture a return on their investment. Every business requires spending money to make money.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Exit Strategy 120

Up and Running

FEBRUARY 10, 2021

An exit strategy. One way or another, investors will want to know your thoughts about an eventual exit strategy for your business. If you have historical results, you should plan on sharing those too as well as any other key metrics about your business.

Business Plan 138

Business Plan Forecast Balance Sheet Exit Strategy 138

BeyondVC

DECEMBER 23, 2003

As with any smart executive who cares about the value of equity, the question I am often asked is, “What is your exit strategy.” What does this all mean? However, if you try to force it and shop your company, that shows a sign of weakness and more often than not will result in a fire sale.

Exit Strategy 78

Exit Strategy Balance Sheet IPO Valuation 78

BeyondVC

DECEMBER 23, 2003

As with any smart executive who cares about the value of equity, the question I am often asked is, “What is your exit strategy.” What does this all mean? However, if you try to force it and shop your company, that shows a sign of weakness and more often than not will result in a fire sale.

Exit Strategy 68

Exit Strategy Balance Sheet IPO Valuation 68

Up and Running

OCTOBER 1, 2014

Statdragon is a Saas platform that allows businesses to access and analyze metrics about their existing videos and optimize their video marketing strategy. She notes that if you’re considering acquisition as an exit strategy, creating and maintaining relationships is going to be key. How do dragons fit in here?

Bootstrapping 107

Bootstrapping Cofounder Portland Burn Rate 107

Up and Running

MAY 22, 2018

Demonstrating to investors that you have a handle on key business metrics as they relate to your business model and forecast is essential. If you don’t want to get into the core of accounting, at least make sure you know and understand how to calculate the important financial metrics. Describe your exit strategy.

Exit Strategy 90

Exit Strategy Angel Investor Search Elevator Pitch 90