View from Seed

NOVEMBER 18, 2020

So even before you get to product development (20% of revenue) or G&A (14% in 2019), you’re already looking at a narrower potential margin than you might expect from a marketplace or transaction platform. Source: Airbnb S-1. Airbnb’s Secret Sauce.

North America 401

North America IPO Prospectus Europe 401

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 10, 2020

by Zain Jaffer, serial entrepreneur and the Founder and CEO of Zain Ventures. sales to product development), the problems will continue to exist. As the previous Co-Founder and CEO of Vungle, Zain secured $25 million in funding and was an instrumental player in the major growth of the company.

Customer 347

Customer Development Team Review Advisory Board Private Equity 347

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 21, 2021

Serious investors expect founders to have their homework done before the first interaction – documented executive summary, business plan, and financial model. Product development. For a great idea person, the product details keep changing for the better, but nothing ever gets finished. Investor negotiations.

Technical Review 333

Technical Review Startup Software Review Retention 333

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2013

“Scope creep” (or feature creep) is an insidious disease that kills more good startups than any other, especially high-tech ones, and yet most founders (who may be the cause) never even see it happening. This term refers to the penchant to add just one more feature to the product or service before first delivery, just because you can.

Technical Review 275

Technical Review Startup Software Review Database 275

YoungUpstarts

MARCH 24, 2014

by Adam Root, founder and CTO of Hiplogiq. Adam Root has worked in development and design for Fortune 500 companies, midsize agencies, and startups. He’s the founder and CTO of Hiplogiq , makers of marketing technologies SocialCompass and SocialCentiv. Professionalisms Adam Root Hiplogiq product development startup'

Fractional CTO 228

Fractional CTO Product CTO Hire Merger 228

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

But the thing I am most proud of about Rob is that he has taken a company with a uniquely talented founder & CTO – Nick Halstead – and managed to build a very tight working relationship with Nick where we drive world-class product development without having the usual founder / CEO conflicts.

Advisory Board 365

Advisory Board CTO Hire Fractional CTO Los Angeles 365

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 6, 2011

“Scope creep” (or feature creep) is an insidious disease that kills more good startups than any other, especially high-tech ones, and yet most founders (who may be the cause) never even see it happening. This term refers to the penchant to add just one more feature to the product or service before first delivery, just because you can.

Technical Review 241

Technical Review Startup Software Review Database 241

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2020

For example, a software development startup raising $250,000 from angel investors better be able to operate on $25,000 per month. This could equate to two technical founders (with a minimal salary), funding two developers for a year.

Burn Rate 310

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Salary Angel Investor 310

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 16, 2013

Serious investors expect founders to have their homework done before the first interaction – documented executive summary, business plan, and financial model. Product development. For a great idea person, the product details keep changing for the better, but nothing ever gets finished. Investor negotiations.

Entrepreneur 275

Entrepreneur Technical Review Software Review Retention 275

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 21, 2018

by Saeju Jeong, CEO and Co-founder of Noom Coach. Here, I outline five principles all co-founders must agree on before working together. It’s important for co-founders to each have their own personal strengths in a business so they can divide the responsibilities and succeed in their respective roles.

Cofounder 217

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Software Engineering Startup 217

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 15, 2021

In the last decade, SaaS (Software as a Service) has become a very popular model for new software product development. The largest cost component of establishing a SaaS company is product development costs. This includes the design, development, launch, and enhancement of the SaaS application. .

Cost 158

Cost Developer Azure Churn Rate 158

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 6, 2011

Product development is stuck at that 90% mark, a key person leaves, and customers are talking but not buying. I challenge any startup to show me they have avoided all of these: One of the founders isn’t delivering. Besides, he is now more interested in designing the next product. But all too soon, reality sets in.

Startup 245

Startup Software Developers Software Development Business Model 245

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2023

But for founders who do their homework, the cost of entry is lower and the opportunity is higher than ever. Excellent detailed resources are everywhere, including a classic book, “ The Startup Checklist ,” by serial entrepreneur and founder of the New York Angels, David S. Establishing your brand with interactive social media.

Intellectual Property 261

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Angel Groups Social Media 261

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 26, 2011

And just as my gut feel about the likely success of startups is often determined by looking at their velocity of product development and market progress of their product, so too is recruiting a factor in my assessment. Attitude over Aptitude. Only Hire A+ People. Hiring at a Startup. Age and experience are irrelevant.

Hiring 335

Hiring Technical Review Startup Framework 335

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2014

For example, a software development startup raising $250,000 from angel investors better be able to operate on $25,000 per month. This could equate to two technical founders (with a minimal salary), funding two developers for a year.

Burn Rate 262

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Entrepreneur Salary 262

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 24, 2012

Product development is stuck at that 90% mark, a key person leaves, and customers are talking but not buying. I challenge any startup to show me they have avoided all of these: One of the founders isn’t delivering. Besides, he is now more interested in designing the next product. But all too soon, reality sets in.

Software Developers 229

Software Developers Software Development Business Model Product Development 229

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 14, 2023

For example, a software development startup raising $250,000 from angel investors better be able to operate on $25,000 per month. This could equate to two technical founders (with a minimal salary), funding two developers for a year.

Burn Rate 258

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Management Salary 258

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 15, 2010

Serious investors expect founders to have their homework done before the first interaction – documented executive summary, business plan, and financial model. Product development. For a great idea person, the product details keep changing for the better, but nothing ever gets finished. Investor negotiations.

Entrepreneur 237

Entrepreneur Technical Review Software Review Retention 237

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2010

I see way too many startup founders who don’t have experience in selling and probably don’t feel that comfortable going to customers and asking for orders. This is probably because many founders are product or technology people. I often hear early stage founders telling me about their initial sales successes.

Hiring 346

Hiring Sales Startup Early Stage 346

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 2, 2019

Most of you aspiring entrepreneurs have no idea how dramatically your own role has to evolve as you develop a solution, start a business, and expect it to scale into a successful self-managed company. Thus my job as a small business advisor really is really more about getting you developed than perfecting the business.

Leadership 248

Leadership Technical Review Cofounder Social Media 248

View from Seed

NOVEMBER 6, 2014

Isaac Cambron is co-founder and CTO of Zensight.co , whose pre-launch product enables sales reps to find and use their best content to close more deals. Below, he answers questions about developing products from scratch, as well as the difficult technology choices and tradeoffs CTOs must make.

Technology 334

Technology Ruby Startup Engineer 334

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2012

“Scope creep” (or feature creep) is an insidious disease that kills more good startups than any other, especially high-tech ones, and yet most founders (who may be the cause) never even see it happening. This term refers to the penchant to add just one more feature to the product or service before first delivery, just because you can.

Technical Review 187

Technical Review Startup Software Review Database 187

Steve Blank

APRIL 23, 2018

If you’re following Tesla, you might be interested to know that Sloan wasn’t the founder of GM. Where are the charitable foundations, business schools, and hospitals named after the founder of GM? The founder of what became General Motors was William (Billy) Durant. And a founder of Neuralink a brain-computer interface startup.

Michigan 301

Michigan Cofounder Stock Forecast 301

Duct Tape Marketing

OCTOBER 29, 2019

Bringing Marketing and Product Development Together written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing. On this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, I visit with author and product and marketing executive Jill Soley. Marketing Podcast with Jill Soley. Podcast Transcript.

Product Development 61

Product Development Developer Product Marketing 61

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2009

We couldn’t cut product development (we had 23 people!) because we had made product commitments to a large customer who was about to agree to a nationwide rollout. On Street Smarts / Working with customers: I had coffee with another startup founder yesterday. Really nice guy and clearly smart.

Entrepreneur 306

Entrepreneur Burn Rate Cofounder Sales 306

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 17, 2014

I’ll try to do a future blog post on some of my insights in watching Nanea enter the role and how the founders enabled her success. Feedback driven product development versus visionary (Steve Jobs) driven development. I’m sure I would speak for the entire board and management team in asserting this.

Technical Review 315

Technical Review Leadership Engineer RSS 315

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

Jeff Katzenberg has a great track record – head of the studio at Paramount, chairman of Disney Studios, co-founder of DreamWorks and now chairman of NewTV. It has to find product-market fit before running out of cash. Lean was designed to inform the founders’ vision while they operated frugally at speed. The result?

Lean 335

Lean Burn Rate Startup IPO 335

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 29, 2018

For example, a software development startup raising $250,000 from angel investors better be able to operate on $25,000 per month. This could equate to two technical founders (with a minimal salary), funding two developers for a year.

Burn Rate 223

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Startup Salary 223

Steve Blank

MARCH 16, 2016

To most founders a startup is not a job, but a calling. But startups require money upfront for product development and later to scale. Founders can now access the largest pool of risk capital that ever existed –in the form of Private Equity (Angel Investors, family offices , Venture Capitalists (VC’s) and Hedge Funds.). (BTW,

Liquidity Event 120

Liquidity Event Founder Liquidation Preference Private Equity 120

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

It should go without saying that this post is not advice, nor is it recommendation of what you should do, it’s simply my observation of how companies using Customer Development positioned themselves to successfully raise money from venture investors. Is there a profitable business model? Can it scale?” Just as a refresher. Great post!

Customer Development 270

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 270

VC Cafe

FEBRUARY 27, 2024

A founder asked me what makes a $2M round “pre-seed”? especially if the startup already has a product and revenue? Not only the bar for seed rounds has gotten higher (as less seed rounds get done) but also the founders prefer to build their company based on milestones. who’s talking to customers?)

Valuation 186

Valuation Software Review Generative AI Technical Review 186

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JULY 19, 2010

During a lull in her practice she got a serendipitous opportunity to shift gears completely and ended up leading software product development teams. P.S. If you're raising money, investors love to see a co-founder or even just an advisor who has been successful before. The Dream Team. Existing customers.or

Software Review 325

Software Review Technical Review Development Team Review Bolivia 325

View from Seed

JULY 5, 2022

Founder: Connor Cash. Get to know the founder. I’m Connor Cash, the founder of Caesar and I grew up outside of Boston but currently live in DC! RH: What’s your favorite thing about being an early-stage founder? CC: Being a founder is a rollercoaster ride. . Company: Caesar Sustainability. ” – Lee Hower.

DC 156

DC Software Review Government Boston 156

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 24, 2018

Plan to and assemble the right team, including co-founders. You need skills in finance, operations, and marketing to supplement product development, and more hours of work than one person can manage. Building and running a business is not a solo operation.

Angel Investor 249

Angel Investor Cofounder Finance Operations 249

Version One Ventures

SEPTEMBER 17, 2013

And often, enhanced business services – such as custom product development or professional installation and consulting – are involved to complete the sale. Both approaches can create large and important companies, but they require different kinds of founders and investors that understand the nuances of each approach.

Fractional CTO 154

Fractional CTO Software Review Viral Sales Cycle 154

YoungUpstarts

APRIL 17, 2018

by Felix Winstone, Co-Founder and Managing Director at Talkative. As a startup co-founder with a growing team, here are the recruiting tips I’ve learnt over the last couple of years. Robert Metcalfe, co-founder and CEO of 3Com, says you need to think about it as “recruiting, not hiring”. Hiring = Sales. Be Specific.

Cofounder 164

Cofounder Elevator Pitch Hiring Dividend 164

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. He wrote: When startups die, the official cause of death is always either running out of money or a critical founder bailing. Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Andrew Montalenti.

Cofounder 155

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Technical Review Software Review 155