ReadWriteStart

OCTOBER 7, 2010

As a thumb rule, try to get enough validation so that you can get to at least a $2 million pre-money valuation before raising equity capital. That is debt financing that converts into equity at the Series A valuation once the price for that is set. (I Sub-$2 million pre-money, it is better to bootstrap.

Valuation 119

Valuation Silicon Valley Pre-Money Valuation Bootstrapping 119

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2012

Yes, it’s true that FOMO (fear of missing out) is driving some irrational behavior and valuations amongst uber competitive deals and well-financed VCs. In 1997, the year the Kauffman Report begins its analysis; there were 70 million users online globally. There are 20x more consumers online. thank you to Kidlandia for the chart].

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Technical Review LP Mobile 347

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 30, 2011

A normalization of the venture capital market will bring more rational valuations over time but should produce more stable companies and better returns for VCs and LPs. It doesn’t feel like that now because we’ve entered a mini bubble in pre IPO valuations for a segment of the tech market but this, too, shall pass.

Venture Capital 289

Venture Capital Early Stage Valuation Angel Investor 289

Steve Blank

JUNE 27, 2017

As more and more companies face disruption from globalization, new technology, and startups that have more capital than the incumbents, the continuing cry from Wall Street investors is, “Why can’t companies be as innovative as startups?”. Tesla – current valuation $50 billion – sells cars directly through its own distribution channel.

Startup 306

Startup New York City Valuation Distribution 306

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2018

How could Bird really be worth the reported $2 billion valuation that I read about in this press? While I promised not to comment on the exact valuation you can assume that it is very large and perhaps the fastest rise from zero to what some have called a “unicorn” valuation. Forget the valuation?—?I

San Francisco 256

San Francisco Valuation Los Angeles Technical Review 256

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 18, 2019

The valuations were too high! We’re at a new watermark because there are now global assets deployed and as the sun peeks out so to do the riders and the revenue. It’s truly staggering to realize that just a year ago we really hadn’t begun nationalizing let along globalizing. We are now in Act IV. But springtime is here.

South America 250

South America Global New York City Software Review 250

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2022

Every business owner and entrepreneur I meet in my consulting rounds dreams of finding that “ disruptive ” innovation that will supercharge their business and move it into the ranks of business unicorns (billion-dollar valuations), such as SpaceX and Apple. If you don’t keep it top of mind today, then you are going to be left behind.

Technical Review 252

Technical Review Silicon Valley Software Review Metrics 252

View from Seed

NOVEMBER 18, 2020

Airbnb’s bookings have rebounded to roughly 70-80% of what they were in 2019 pre-COVID whereas global hotel companies like Marriott and Hilton are operating at roughly 35-40% of where they were in fall 2019. Uber is an $85B+ market cap company today but is essentially flat to its IPO price and late private round valuations.

North America 401

North America IPO Prospectus Europe 401

VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 30, 2024

billion in earn out targets) and Wiz, Israel’s fast growing cybersecurity startup is talks on raising funding at $20 billion valuation, after turning down a Google acquisition offer for $23 billion. With attractive valuations and immense growth potential, the Israeli tech ecosystem remains resilient—no matter the circumstances.

Israel 183

Israel Technical Review Startup Generative AI 183

Gust

OCTOBER 19, 2014

I always advise software startups to file patents to protect their “secret sauce” from competitors, and to increase their valuation. The good news is that a patent can scare off or at least delay competitors, and as a “rule of thumb” patents can add up to $1M to your startup valuation for investors or M&A exits (merger and acquisition).

Software Review 173

Software Review Software Technical Review Intellectual Property 173

Steve Blank

MARCH 31, 2014

Your time at ESADE has trained you to become a global business leader. Just look at the disruptive challenges that businesses face today– globalization, China as a manufacturer, China as a consumer, the Internet, and a steady stream of new startups. Look at the valuations of companies like Tesla, Illumina, and Twitter.

Private Equity 330

Private Equity Metrics China Intellectual Property 330

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 26, 2013

There is additional encouraging news for aspiring entrepreneurs on many fronts, just in case you are thinking about joining the existing ranks: Valuations of successful startups have hit an all-time high. Entrepreneurs now can think globally about the opportunity, from day one but start locally.

IPO 273

IPO Entrepreneur Social Media Startup 273

VC Cafe

JANUARY 14, 2022

2021 Tech Trends: Israel is winning the global race for tech funding. Part of a global trend. Records were broken globally as well, both in terms of funding and number of unicorns. To put things in context: startup fundraising 2021 Global: $643 billion ??US: Global tech correction. US: $330 billion ??China:

Israel 158

Israel Technical Review Lock-up Period South Korea 158

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

The IMF just raised its global growth forecast from 2.5% This has a tangible impact on the valuation of start-ups and the pace of investment. Eventually it becomes self healing, but I don’t believe consistent growth will happen too quickly. That said, the IMF (international monetary fund) is more bullish.

Technical Review 269

Technical Review Stock Hawaii Early Stage 269

VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 26, 2022

ValuatIon should be a function of value, not ego. Kawasaki’s Law of Pre-Money Valuation: for every full-time engineer, add $500,000; for every full-time M.B.A., As I recently shared in my post on the 32 Israeli Centaurs , the rare breed of SaaS companies that reached $100 million in ARR, there are now over 1,000 unicorns globally.

Founder 187

Founder Startup Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 187

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 21, 2018

There is additional encouraging news for aspiring entrepreneurs on many fronts, just in case you are thinking about joining the existing ranks: Valuations of successful startups have hit an all-time high. Entrepreneurs now can think globally about the opportunity, from day one but start locally.

Entrepreneur 166

Entrepreneur Valuation Incubator Initial Public Offering 166

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 25, 2018

Those that do it right also have the unprecedented opportunity to join the elite ranks of 250 unicorns (relatively new companies with a current valuation of over $1 billion). Execute a pilot rollout before attempting to scale globally. Thus you have to do your homework to stay ahead of the crowd.

Technical Cofounder 184

Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property Silicon Valley LLC 184

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 24, 2017

Visionary CEOs have always been the face of their company, but today with social media, it happens faster with a much larger audience; boards now must consider what would happen to the valuation of the company without the founder. Sandberg had been the vice president of global online sales and operations.

Founder 281

Founder Technical Review CTO Hire IPO 281

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 16, 2016

As of January 20, 2016, based on the “CrunchBase Unicorn Leaderboard,” there are 157 unicorns (companies with $1 billion+ valuations) which have not IPOed or been acquired—and more start-ups reaching unicorn status every day. Global Fashion Group (3x HBS, 2x Wharton). Key Insights. as ranked by U.S. Red Ventures (HBS, Wharton).

Programming 120

Programming St. Louis Cofounder India 120

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 29, 2020

Assistive Devices : Global Market Insights, Inc. estimates in their recent report that medical products will have a very high global market valuation, crossing 30 billion US dollars by 2026. One of the significant factors that boost this specific demand is the growing geriatric or aging population.

Demand 173

Demand Product Artificial Inteligence Software Review 173

VC Cafe

JANUARY 24, 2021

billion gamers worldwide will help the global games market generate revenues of $189.3 ” Let’s meet in the virtual world – Even as IRL events return, expect these virtual destinations to continue as a way to make events more accessible to a global audience, according to Ketchum. Fortnite alone made $1.8

Technical Review 207

Technical Review Audio Forecast Social Media 207

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 27, 2016

I still generally advise software startups to file a patent as a barrier to entry from competitors and to increase their valuation by investors, but every entrepreneur needs to understand the tradeoffs. Every business is global, but patent rules differ around the world. There is no such thing as a world-wide patent.

Software Review 120

Software Review Intellectual Property Software Technical Review 120

VC Cafe

JUNE 10, 2022

According to new research by Pitchbook , the trickle down effect has already started in seed and series A startups with round sizes and valuations shrinking in size compared to 2021. But recently those round sizes and valuations have tumbled to about $10 million and $50 million, respectively, he said. Lemkin #????????????

Valuation 151

Valuation Marketing Israel Venture Capital 151

The Startup Magazine

MAY 27, 2020

For the first time in a century, the world has to deal with a global pandemic, a factor influencing how investors allocate capital. In terms of volatility, the cryptocurrency market should remain very active throughout the year, given the unprecedented conditions in the financial industry.

Technical Review 150

Technical Review Offshore Sweden China 150

VC Cafe

OCTOBER 31, 2022

The top 20 tech billionaires globally have lost $480 billion on paper in the past year. This is largely due to several major stock market crashes and global economic uncertainties. Tiger, Softbank and other crossover funds are slowing down significantly and valuations overall are down significantly.

Founder 173

Founder Technical Review Down Round Liquidation Preference 173

Haystack

DECEMBER 29, 2018

Technology is, like water, flowing and seeping into nearly every sector and eventually into most of the global economy. Also during this time, the underlying metrics in that business can change positively, potentially trapping companies to accept the initially-agreed upon valuation. 4/ Global Trade Wars Are For Real.

Technical Review 165

Technical Review Venture Capital Russia China 165

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2014

He couldn’t have imagined power users would be global political figures, dictatorships, small factions of people standing up to the Iranian army or every sports figure & celebrity in the world. I know – I was there when the first people debating funding it at less than a $5m valuation. Lots of it. Online education.

Technical Review 362

Technical Review America United States Partner 362

Austin Startup

APRIL 25, 2017

In summary: Snap’s current business doesn’t justify a $20B valuation. How can one justify a $20B valuation for Snap? The product that could most likely justify Snap’s $20B valuation is Spectacles. Global smartphone revenue is about $420B. Snap is asking investors to bet on its ability to innovate its way into revenue.

Valuation 48

Valuation Technical Review Social Network Forecast 48

Cracking the Code

FEBRUARY 23, 2011

Detailed SaaS Spreadsheet (Valuation and CAC benchmark). SaaS 13 Index Valuation. Global warming: a plague for humanity? Global Warning! Thoughts from a Venture Capitalist on Software, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Cloud Computing, Internet and more. Wednesday, February 23, 2011. SaaS Multiples: Recovery or Bubble?

Software Review 101

Software Review Technical Review Valuation Europe 101

David Teten

DECEMBER 8, 2010

financial probe digs into a murky industry , "So far there is exactly one person [Don Chu of Primary Global] who works for an expert network with any specific allegations against them." However, as I said to the Globe and Mail in their piece on the topic, U.S. Lastly, I’ve blogged frequently about expert networks.

Networking 122

Networking Private Equity SEC Software Review 122

Agile VC

JANUARY 13, 2016

A realignment of valuations by late stage investors? Potential for instant global distribution (mobile app stores, Facebook, etc). People started thinking of startup unicorns like this: Illustration for WSJ: Chris Silas Neal. What happened? Was this simply a shift in sentiment among the tech & business media?

Technical Review 157

Technical Review .Net Revenue Software Review 157

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 23, 2017

PC and mobile interfaces dynamically display portfolio valuations and exposures, along with system-generated investment recommendations tailored to a specific client’s financial goals and risk appetite. Another fund preparing to launch, Global Public Offering Fund, in a piece from CNBC.com last month boldly proclaimed that “the U.S.

Technical Review 154

Technical Review Artificial Inteligence Software Review IPO 154

VC Cafe

FEBRUARY 7, 2025

The company is in talks to raised $40 billion, at $300 billion valuation (2x). This reflects strong global confidence in Israeli diverse innovation. It cloned an open-source version of OpenAI’s deep research in 24 hours from its debut. OpenAI launched a new model, o3 mini , pushing the frontier of cost-effective reasoning.

Israel 78

Israel Technical Review Open Source China 78

The Startup Magazine

SEPTEMBER 4, 2020

It is first on the global list of the largest stock exchanges for a reason. ’ Its valuation is $13.8 TSE has approximately 3,575 listed firms that have taken their market valuation to 5.67 Its total valuation is 4.9 Its market valuation is 4.4 It is now being regarded as a highly regarded US stock exchange.

Stock 106

Stock Initial Public Offering New York China 106

Version One Ventures

OCTOBER 15, 2020

If you want to feel bullish on how Lightning can be used as global payments rails, read this comprehensive essay by Nicolas Burtey of Galoy. TL;DR: The best analogue for Bitcoin itself is a global settlement layer like Fedwire (run by the Federal Reserve for interbank settlements with an average transaction size of $2 million).

Networking 168

Networking Global OTC Security 168

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 24, 2018

As I highlighted in a recent blog post , digitally mature companies derive more revenue from their physical assets (+9%), are more profitable (+26%) and have overall higher market valuations (+12%). But to extract the most value out of a digital transformation, companies need to be obsessed by their customers.

Internet 150

Internet Demand Software Engineering Channel 150

VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 22, 2022

Today there are over 1,000 unicorns globally. But becoming a Unicorn, or receiving a billion dollar valuation is no longer an indication of growth. billion in 2021, and so far the fears of a recession haven’t materialised in 2022 despite the global slowdown in venture activity. ” Bessemer. Israeli startups raised $1.1

Software Review 109

Software Review Israel B2C Open Source 109