SoCal CTO

JANUARY 5, 2011

Some really great stuff in 2010 that aims to help startups around product, technology, business models, etc. 500 Hats , February 1, 2010 When to Use Facebook Connect – Twitter Oauth – Google Friend Connect for Authentication? 500 Hats , February 1, 2010 When to Use Facebook Connect – Twitter Oauth – Google Friend Connect for Authentication?

Silicon Valley 378

Silicon Valley Startup Term Sheet Venture Capital 378

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 1, 2011

None of that can compare with being the CEO of a startup facing a rapidly diminishing bank account, your best engineer quitting, working until 10pm and rushing to the airport and catching a redeye for a “ Hail Mary ” close of a customer, with your board demanding you do it faster. venture/operating partners to get them into new industries.

Venture Capital 334

Venture Capital Early Stage Technical Review Startup 334

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 11, 2016

We then help surround founders with other talent who want to join important causes but don’t have the startup idea themselves. Fundamentally venture capital is about human capital. Importantly, we recently announced a $30 million financing that gives us the resources we need to build a global enterprise software company.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Fractional CTO Cofounder Early Stage 150

Steve Blank

APRIL 11, 2013

I just spent a few weeks in Japan and China on a book tour for the Japanese and Chinese versions of the Startup Owners Manual. Of all the Chinese government programs, the Torch Program is the one program that kick-started Chinese high-tech innovation and startups. In these series of 5 posts, I thought I’d share what I learned in China.

Programming 287

Programming Technical Review SBIR China 287

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2022

Yet as I mentor entrepreneurs around the country, crowdfunding still seems to be one of the least understood approaches to startup funding, with more myths than accredited angels and professional venture capital investors combined. Startup equity model. Product pre-order model. Interest on debt model. In the U.S.,

Accredited Investor 352

Accredited Investor Startup SEC Equity 352

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

There has been much discussion in the past few years of the changing structure of the venture capital industry. The rise of alternative sources of capital (crowd funding and the like). The overall trends in our industry have breathed a new life into the venture capital industry. The iPhone was released.

Technical Review 398

Technical Review Venture Capital Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 398

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 7, 2011

I spent the month of September lecturing, and interacting with (literally) thousands of entrepreneurs in two emerging startup markets, Finland and Russia. —— I was invited to Finland as part of Stanford’s Engineering Technology Venture Program partnership with Aalto University. Startup Blog: Arctic Startup.

Finland 329

Finland Venture Capital Government Russia 329

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

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 17, 2020

Michael Majeed is quick to note the vast numbers of new startups that launch each year on the Canadian landscape, and he’s keenly interested in helping young business owners make the most of their opportunities, especially when it comes to their finances. But it’s not only major corporations that grab his attention.

Finance 217

Finance Forecast Balance Sheet Angel Investor 217

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

Over the past month a colleague ( Chang Xu ) and I sifted through data on the venture capital industry (as we do every year) and made a bunch of calls to VCs and LPs to confirm our hypotheses. As a result of the IPO window shifting we saw a massive inflow of public-market capital into the latest stages of venture.

Venture Capital 328

Venture Capital Technical Review Seed Stage IPO 328

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

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 13, 2013

One of my favorite events last year was attending Startup Grind where I got to interview Clayton Christensen, author of The Innovator’s Dilemma. And of course we talked about many of my views of building startups. I got a job at a bank, and I worked in their corporate finance group. You didn’t join startups then.

Cofounder 337

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Startup San Diego 337

Steve Blank

APRIL 14, 2013

I just spent a few weeks in Japan and China on a book tour for the Japanese and Chinese versions of the Startup Owners Manual. This left an open playing field for Chinese software startups as they “copy to China” existing U.S. If you’re a software startup competing in China, the words that come to mind are “ruthless and relentless.”

China 328

China Silicon Valley Non-Compete Intellectual Property 328

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

If you haven’t raised any money or if you raised a small round from angels or friends & family I would suggest you avoid setting up a formal board unless the people who would join your board are deeply experienced at sitting on startup boards. What happens at the A-round of venture capital? But it’s quite rare.

Venture Capital 236

Venture Capital Startup Angel Investor Silicon Valley 236

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

At our mid-year offsite our partnership at Upfront Ventures was discussing what the future of venture capital and the startup ecosystem looked like. million, our Seed Funds mostly between $200–300 million and have delivered median ownerships of ~20% from the first check we write into a startup.

Technical Review 416

Technical Review Pre-Money Valuation San Francisco Valuation 416

The Startup Magazine

FEBRUARY 26, 2024

Venture capital: it’s the jet fuel behind many of the most explosive startups turning them into household names. However, as the business landscape evolves at a breakneck pace, so too does the strategy of these financial titans, starting a whole new set of venture capital trends.

Venture Capital 148

Venture Capital Technical Review Due Diligence Early Stage 148

Hunter Walker

OCTOBER 14, 2024

I was working at a venture-backed apparel startup for 4 years and saw the power of building digitally-native brands through Facebook and Instagram (TikTok was still nascent). What was it like seeing some folks raise tens of millions of dollars, and where has your financing mostly come from? Here are Five Questions with Sandro.

New York City 110

New York City Hockey Stick Distribution Angel Investor 110

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

Something happened in the past 7 years in the startup and venture capital world that I hadn’t experienced since the late 90’s — we all began praying to the God of Valuation. How might our next phase of the journey seem brighter, even with more uncertain days for startups and capital markets? What happened?

Valuation 466

Valuation San Francisco Ratchet Liquidation Preference 466

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

JANUARY 20, 2020

Yet as I mentor entrepreneurs around the country, it still seems to be one of the least understood approaches to startup funding, with more myths than accredited angels and professional venture capital investors combined. With this model, a startup pre-sells their product early, at a cheaper price, in exchange for a pledge.

Accredited Investor 324

Accredited Investor Entrepreneur SEC Equity 324

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 8, 2019

Obviously, these companies still need money to get started, or finance growth, just like a for-profit company. Hopefully you can see from this list that the people and processes involved in financing a nonprofit have little in common with angel investors, or the venture capital process.

Equity 235

Equity Angel Investor Technical Review Exit Strategy 235

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2013

The new hot topic for entrepreneurs the last couple of years is crowd funding, which is anticipated to at least supplement, if not replace, the slow and mysterious process of current Angel and venture capital investors. Don’t confuse any of the models with other popular funding sites for startups, like FundingUniverse and Startups.co.

Intellectual Property 247

Intellectual Property SEC Venture Capital Equity 247

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. Join a startup incubator. Only one-third make it past their tenth anniversary.

Intellectual Property 134

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 134

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 11, 2022

Obviously, these companies still need money to get started, or finance growth, just like a for-profit company. Hopefully you can see from this list that the people and processes involved in financing a nonprofit have little in common with angel investors, or the venture capital process.

Angel Investor 327

Angel Investor Equity Technical Review Exit Strategy 327

Steve Blank

JANUARY 21, 2015

Just before the holidays I had coffee with Anne, an ex MBA student running a fairly large product group at a search engine company, now out trying to raise money for her own startup. The Columbia Startup Lab is a visible symbol of how the university is making entrepreneurship an integral part of all colleges at the university.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley New York City New York Venture Capital 120

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. Not every startup ended up this way. Board Control.

Founder 281

Founder Technical Review CTO Hire IPO 281

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

For others it feels like a two-speed economy, where rules apply to hot tech startups that don’t apply elsewhere. Or worse yet they may never get financed. Raise at “ the top end of normal &# but not so high that future financings in a corrected market become impossible. That’s a fact. Have a cushion.

Saudi Arabia 309

Saudi Arabia Valuation IPO Technical Review 309

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

2 preamble issues having read the comments on TC today: 1: I know that the prices of startup companies is much great in Silicon Valley than in smaller towns / less tech focused areas in the US and the US prices higher than many foreign markets. That’s the deal you get when you’re raising in a good market for startup financing.

Pre-Money Valuation 336

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Silicon Valley Stock 336

ReadWriteStart

APRIL 5, 2023

The last few months have been an unprecedented time for entrepreneurs and startup founders on the market. Figures provided by Crunchbase show venture capital funding dropped by 33% in Q3 2022 compared to Q2 and almost 53% down from the same time in 2021. The days of lavish seed funding rounds are over — for now, at least.

South Africa 136

South Africa New York City San Francisco Silicon Valley 136

Up and Running

NOVEMBER 26, 2018

Most healthy businesses need business financing at some point. Startups have to deal with starting costs and ongoing businesses have to finance growth and working capital. Financing options depend on what kind of business you have. Don’t waste your time looking for the wrong kind of financing.

SBA 161

SBA Venture Capital Angel Investor Technical Review 161

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 21, 2013

I recently wrote a blog post in which I pointed out that many investors & advisors discourage enterprise startups from having a professional services (PS) business and I think this is a big mistake. I think it’s important for enterprise startups to layer in professional services into your revenue stream.

Software Review 321

Software Review Software IP Technical Review 321

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 9, 2014

Entrepreneurs who require funding for their startup have long counted on self-accredited high net worth individuals (“angels”) to fill their needs, after friends and family, and before they qualify for institutional investments (“VCs”). Thus investing in startups should always be approached as a low odds game.

Angel Investor 278

Angel Investor Angel Groups Accredited Investor IRR 278

YoungUpstarts

MAY 24, 2018

In today’s business environment where innovation and technology converge and the modern day entrepreneur has more support and incentive than ever to begin their dream startup company, more often than not discussions about state and local business taxes have a similar tone: “The company is losing money; we don’t owe any taxes.”.

South Dakota 160

South Dakota North Dakota Wyoming United States 160

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

When you first start your company and raise initial venture capital your board probably consists of 1-3 founders and 1-2 VCs. Over time you start to figure out who you customers are and how to sell to them or how to get them to adopt your products if you’re a consumer-oriented startup. In the Early Days. Experience.

Technical Review 325

Technical Review Early Stage Software Review Los Angeles 325

ReadWriteStart

OCTOBER 20, 2023

New startups are created every day – each with fresh ideas and solutions. However, the reality is stark: up to 90% of startups fail, with the average failure rate for the first year standing at 10%. Understanding the Tech Startup Landscape The tech industry today is a mixed bag of opportunities and obstacles.

Technical Review 137

Technical Review Startup Silicon Valley Agile 137

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

When I was new at Venture Capital I was trying to figure out the business. So if I’m the guy in the audience feeling the power of that great baritone projection with that beautifully designed product and if I am able to fund that company I’m guessing it falls into Paul’s category of a bad startup looking good.

Early Stage 361

Early Stage Deal Flow Investment Bankers Technical Review 361

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 6, 2013

We got along and shared stories about the startup market. He wanted to work in venture capital and I was new to the industry and in no position to hire anybody. He turned to Mike Jones at Science who was newly set up as an accelerator of sorts or a venture studio. I’ll leave the year out. I saw it as win-win.

San Diego 344

San Diego Technical Review Seed Capital Sacramento 344