Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

Unfortunately in early stage startups the drive for financing hijacks the corporate DNA and becomes the raison d’etre of the company. The Traditional VC Pitch Entrepreneurs who pursue the traditional product development model don’t have customer data to answer these questions. Is there a profitable business model? Great post!

Customer Development 270

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 270

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. Seed is about showing initial product market fit. A founder asked me what makes a $2M round “pre-seed”?

Valuation 186

Valuation Software Review Generative AI Technical Review 186

Steve Blank

APRIL 23, 2018

The entrepreneur who founded and grew the largest startup in the world to $10 billion in revenue and got fired is someone you have probably never heard of. Sloan kept the corporate staff small and focused on policymaking, corporate finance, and planning. A version of this article appeared in the Harvard Business Review.

Michigan 301

Michigan Cofounder Stock Forecast 301

The Startup Magazine

MARCH 6, 2024

Similarly, new product development with advanced features and specs is based largely on new research, making the old surveys redundant and useless. Through strategic decision-making, financial managers and teams can decide how to modify operations management and supervision by keeping in view the company finances and capital in cash.

Operations 158

Operations Management Software Review Technical Review 158

YoungUpstarts

FEBRUARY 28, 2018

by Steve Owens, Founder and CTO of Finish Line Product Development Services. Product Mis-Timed – 13%. No Financing/Investor Interest – 8%. Rule #2: Revenue is your first priority. Rule #2: Revenue is your first priority. In this context, revenue can be an investment as well as sales.

Startup 133

Startup Product Development Revenue Distribution 133

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2018

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. Consider licensing your product or intellectual property, and “white labeling.”

Intellectual Property 134

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 134

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

So you’re interested in raising capital from a Revenue-Based Investor VC. A new wave of Revenue-Based Investors (“RBI”) are emerging. For background, see Revenue-Based Investing: A New Option for Founders who Care About Control. We have a special program if you are pre-seed and need product development.

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 14, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Tuesday, April 14, 2009 Validated learning about customers Would you rather have $30,000 or $1 million in revenues for your startup? All things being equal, of course, you’d rather have more revenue rather than less. And yet revenue alone is not a sufficient goal.

Customer 167

Customer San Francisco Lean Hockey Stick 167

YoungUpstarts

APRIL 17, 2018

Not sales, product development, or fundraising. Your internal team creates your external results, such as new products and increased revenues. As Elon Musk says, “A company is just a bunch of people who come together to create a product or service”. It doesn’t take long to ask your employees and network, so do it.

Cofounder 164

Cofounder Elevator Pitch Hiring Dividend 164

YoungUpstarts

MAY 23, 2018

Finances are a huge part of startup success or failure, but while a lack of funds is a significant problem, it’s usually not the biggest problem. Guarding their own interests and being vigilant when it comes to finances is another area in which many startups stumble. Often, founders have an entrepreneurial mindset.

Due Diligence 133

Due Diligence Startup Finance Leadership 133

This is going to be BIG.

AUGUST 22, 2012

Let’s start out with the basic functions of a tech company: 1) Engineering 2) Marketing 3) Sales 4) Business development 5) PR 6) Design 7) Product Management 8) HR 9) Operations 10) Finance Ok, that's just overwhelming. In a way, you can think of BD as “sales when you don’t know what the product is yet.”

PR 157

PR Technical Review Seed Stage Design 157

Feld Thoughts

SEPTEMBER 16, 2011

Since SayAhh is in the pre-launch development stage, the company doesn’t have any revenue yet. They also haven’t launched a product, so there is no corresponding “cost of goods sold” – the direct cost of delivering their product. The default Quickbooks setup uses “Income” to refer to “Revenue”.

Balance Sheet 126

Balance Sheet Fractional CTO Burn Rate Salary 126

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 4, 2024

Examples of Goals Increase Market Share: By expanding your product line, aim to capture 10% more of the market within two years. Customer Satisfaction: Improve customer satisfaction scores by 15% in the next year through enhanced support and product improvements. It involves budgeting, forecasting, and efficient use of resources.

Technical Review 146

Technical Review Agile Audience Employee 146

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 11, 2023

The following is a condensed explanation of seed funding: Seed money is a form of early-stage financing that new businesses receive from investors in exchange for a share of ownership in the company. It is necessary to cover the early stages of product development, thorough market research, and other processes during the initial step.

Seed Stage 148

Seed Stage Technical Review Early Stage Due Diligence 148

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 12, 2024

Rising costs threaten AI projects From intelligent product development to data-driven decision-making, it’s no wonder entrepreneurs have turned to AI to drive business growth. According to SQream’s Chief Revenue Officer Deborah Leff, leaders and entrepreneurs are increasingly aware of the transformative power of GPU acceleration.

Technical Review 167

Technical Review Cost Artificial Inteligence Analytics 167

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 5, 2023

Since this number is budgeted and pre-authorized, managers tend to focus upon other things such as sales, marketing and product development issues. There is an art to efficient management of a process, whether that is the process of bringing a product to market from R&D to production or developing a new product’s launch program.

Silicon Valley 118

Silicon Valley Burn Rate Angel Investor Down Round 118

The Startup Magazine

FEBRUARY 26, 2021

New product development business concept on device screen. Before you can start determining the tax treatment for your website development costs, you need to determine what you use your website for. To show this progress you have to add up all the sources of revenue and the subtract all the expenses related to that revenue.

Web Development 127

Web Development Balance Sheet Cost Developer 127

Business Plan Blog

OCTOBER 4, 2013

If you have a technical background and you are focused on product development, consider a co-founder with a sales and marketing background that can focus on selling your world class product. Rather, give titles such as VP of Engineering, Product/Technology, Sales, Marketing, Finance, etc. Early Stage.

Part-Time VPE 79

Part-Time VPE Fractional VPE Cofounder CTO Hire 79

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 6, 2013

Every startup needs access to capital, whether for funding product development, for initial rollout efforts, acquiring inventory, or paying that first employee. Thus “creative” really means maximizing non-bank financing. They have to sell themselves, more than their product, to close on every alternative source of funding.

Finance 243

Finance Startup Equity Early Stage 243

ReadWriteStart

FEBRUARY 22, 2022

Research and development is the process of creating innovations using scientific methods and data analysis practices. Investment in research and development, in turn, means allocating and using finances to support this process with technology solutions, scientific and tech talents, equipment, etc. Become more competitive.

Offshore 140

Offshore Demand Germany Global 140

ConversionXL

AUGUST 30, 2018

It slows product development. It’s likely to be related to improving revenues, reducing costs, increasing the number of new customers, increasing the sales from existing customers, or increasing shareholder value. The finance team understands that content customers are less likely to churn and destabilize revenue flows.

Design 111

Design Framework Product Development Technical Review 111

Berkonomics

AUGUST 10, 2017

Since this number is budgeted and pre-authorized, managers tend to focus upon other things such as sales, marketing and product development issues. There is an art to efficient management of a process, whether that is the process of bringing a product to market from R&D to production or developing a new product’s launch program.

Silicon Valley 97

Silicon Valley Burn Rate Angel Investor Down Round 97

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2015

That’s why I recommend that they find a co-founder who loves business challenges, including marketing and finance. Outside investors are most interested in scaling a proven business model, not research and development. Most founders bootstrap product development. Fabulous solutions require great technology.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Intellectual Property Cofounder Bootstrapping 120

Up and Running

MAY 2, 2011

How revenues are generated. Explain exactly how customers are served, how the product or service is delivered, and how money is collected. so you can demonstrate activity toward continual revenue creation and growth. Lenders want to get their money back, so they are especially interested in knowing how you make yours.

Business Plan 92

Business Plan SBA Revenue Finance 92

YoungUpstarts

MARCH 6, 2017

Typical indicators of qualified research include: Degreed engineers, scientists, or software developers on staff. Patentable products, software, or production methods. Manufacturing products. Developing software. Operating in an industry where prototyping is common. Who qualifies for the payroll taxes offset?

Indiana 113

Indiana Software Review Software Developers Software Development 113

Berkonomics

MARCH 30, 2010

Since this number is budgeted and pre-authorized, managers tend to focus upon other things such as sales, marketing and product development issues. There is an art to efficient management of a process, whether that is the process of bringing a product to market from R&D to production or developing a new product’s launch program.

Silicon Valley 85

Silicon Valley Burn Rate Angel Investor Down Round 85

Hearpreneur

JANUARY 22, 2023

In recent years, eCommerce companies have begun to increase revenue by selling products directly via social media networks. 13- Sustainability and ethical investing Photo Credit: Zach Larsen I'm really excited to see how technology will continue to shape the personal finance space in 2023.

Artificial Inteligence 127

Artificial Inteligence Technical Review Entrepreneur Social Media 127

Startup Lessons Learned

DECEMBER 23, 2009

If you never have, you can create your own using Google Finance. They were accustomed to measuring their progress primarily by gross revenue compared to their targets. If you never have, you can create your own using Google Finance. Go ahead and try it, then come back. Youve just experienced vanity metrics hell.

Metrics 167

Metrics San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment 167

Steve Blank

MAY 28, 2009

Market Risk vs. Invention Risk - Click to Enlarge For companies building web-based products, product development may be difficult, but with enough time and iteration engineering will eventually converge on a solution and ship a functional product - i t’s engineering, not invention.

Vertical 167

Vertical Silicon Valley Marketing Customer 167

Occam's Razor

NOVEMBER 11, 2013

My career spans customer service, engineering, finance, product development, marketing, sales, and corporate functions. The last people to get laid off in a company are the ones closest to creating revenue. When push comes to shove, they are the first to be laid off. 70/30 people will rule the world.

Saudi Arabia 167

Saudi Arabia Green Leadership Web 167

Hearpreneur

SEPTEMBER 22, 2021

Tesla has always put a huge emphasis on product development and technological advancement. From music to finance, airlines and now offering flights to the public into space. Mindbody is a shining example of a business that used innovation and quick thinking to turn negative circumstances into an incredible new revenue stream.

Technical Review 139

Technical Review Entrepreneur Software Review SEO 139

View from Seed

NOVEMBER 18, 2014

Recently, we looked at our own portfolio at NextView Ventures to dig a little deeper on how startups actually raise that next round of financing. Foster product development and marketing which creates organic (or somewhat organic) user traction. Generate Real Revenue. They are: 1. Build Audience Momentum.

Syndication 333

Syndication Syndicate Seed Stage Startup 333

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 27, 2011

And, oh by the way, we also really like the idea of the 1M/1M entrepreneurs building valuation and negotiating leverage through these business development efforts, instead of signing off large chunks of their company in form of equity early on. million in revenue. The business is already profitable with $2.9

Dilution 114

Dilution Revenue Finance Entrepreneur 114

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2022

By definition, second-stage ventures generally have 10 to 99 employees and/or $750,000 to $50 million in revenue, and see that as just the beginning. Very few startups are cash-rich enough to self-finance aggressive second-stage growth. Switch your attention from product development to sales. There is no free lunch.

Mezzanine 368

Mezzanine Private Equity Bandwidth Metrics 368

Steve Blank

MARCH 4, 2014

Product management tools like Stage-Gate ® emerged to systematically manage Waterfall product development. The product management process assumes that product/market fit is known, and the products can get spec’d and then implemented in a linear fashion. StageGate Process. This is a big idea.

IRR 335

IRR Startup Business Model Agile 335

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 26, 2014

Every startup needs access to capital, whether for funding product development, for initial rollout efforts, acquiring inventory, or paying that first employee. Thus “creative” really means maximizing non-bank financing. They have to sell themselves, more than their product, to close on every alternative source of funding.

Entrepreneur 254

Entrepreneur Finance Equity Early Stage 254

SVPG

JULY 24, 2011

If your company is one that still allocates product development funds based on approval of projects, then you still have the old “project-based funding model.” So you don’t know the revenue and you don’t know the required investment, so of course the ROI estimate is less than meaningful.

Portfolio 71

Portfolio Revenue Finance Product Development 71