Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2016

Your goal is that magical breakeven point and hockey-stick profit-growth curve. Waiting until you have something to sell before bringing on a sales and operations staff. Getting a sales contract before manufacturing inventory. Raising money from professional investors, even friends and family, takes time.

Burn Rate 120

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Startup Salary 120

Up and Running

MARCH 14, 2018

Impress the investors with what you and your team have accomplished to date (sales, contracts, key hires, product launches, and so on). Customer acquisition: Marketing and sales strategy. If your financial chart shows “hockey-stick growth,” be sure to explain what happens to cause those inflection points.

Hockey Stick 164

Hockey Stick Exit Strategy Technical Review Angel Investor 164

Up and Running

JANUARY 2, 2013

Impress the investors with what you and your team have accomplished to date (sales, contracts, key hires, product launches, etc.). If your financial chart shows “hockey-stick growth,” be sure to explain what happens to cause those inflection points. Take some time to share the relevant traction you’ve had.

Hockey Stick 164

Hockey Stick Exit Strategy Technical Review Due Diligence 164

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 14, 2009

For a startup, having great sales DNA is a wonderful asset. This is the magic of sales: by learning about each customer in-depth, they can convince each of them that this product would solve serious problems. But here’s where a truly great sales artist comes in. They are closing orders.

Customer 167

Customer San Francisco Lean Hockey Stick 167

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2021

Traction is evidence that your product or service has started that “hockey- stick” adoption rate which implies a large market, a valid business model, and sustainable growth. A graph that shows a hockey-stick “up and to the right” curve with at least three data points per key indicator is a great visual assist.

Hockey Stick 304

Hockey Stick Early Stage Metrics Acquisition 304

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 19, 2020

Organic growth (reinvesting profits only) will not allow you to build the “hockey stick” growth curve desired by premium buyers at exit, or financial analysts positioning you for public stock sale. Document processes and build online training videos so new people can come online quickly and consistently.

Hockey Stick 386

Hockey Stick Intellectual Property Startup Non-Compete 386

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 26, 2013

Traction is evidence that your product or service has started that “hockey- stick” adoption rate which implies a large market, a valid business model, and sustainable growth. A graph that shows a hockey-stick “up and to the right” curve with at least three data points per key indicator is a great visual assist.

Hockey Stick 266

Hockey Stick Early Stage Metrics Acquisition 266

thebarefootvc

DECEMBER 16, 2011

Discovery, in contrast to search, took center stage as Pinterest displayed hockey stick growth (and raised VC money near a $200M valuation in late 2011). The viral nature of social media no doubt aided this growth, as did improvements in the online shopping experience. And Beyond….

Technical Review 110

Technical Review India Mobile Hockey Stick 110

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 14, 2023

Organic growth (reinvesting profits only) will not allow you to build the “hockey stick” growth curve desired by premium buyers at exit, or financial analysts positioning you for public stock sale. Document processes and build online training videos so new people can come online quickly and consistently.

Hockey Stick 339

Hockey Stick Intellectual Property Non-Compete Business Model 339

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 8, 2022

If you take investor money, expect a push for hockey-stick growth and a liquidity event, like going public (IPO) or sale (M&A), to get the payback. Transition to a specialist role, plan to exit, be prepared to be pushed out, or plan to fail. The control and growth dilemma.

Founder 325

Founder Hockey Stick Cofounder Liquidity Event 325

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2013

Organic growth (reinvesting profits only) will not allow you to build the “hockey stick” growth curve desired by premium buyers at exit, or financial analysts positioning you for public stock sale. Document processes and build online training videos so new people can come online quickly and consistently.

Hockey Stick 278

Hockey Stick Intellectual Property Startup Non-Compete 278

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 17, 2022

Every entrepreneur thinks he can relax a bit after his business model is proven, funding is in place, and revenues are scaling as projected up that hockey-stick curve. Thus even if unit sales keep increasing, revenues can lag due to the need for lower prices as the mainstream market takes over.

Hockey Stick 265

Hockey Stick Guerilla Acquisition Startup 265

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 26, 2014

Every entrepreneur thinks he can relax a bit after his business model is proven, funding is in place, and revenues are scaling as projected up that hockey-stick curve. Thus even if unit sales keep increasing, revenues can lag due to the need for lower prices as the mainstream market takes over.

Hockey Stick 263

Hockey Stick Guerilla Acquisition Revenue 263

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 14, 2014

If you take investor money, expect a push for hockey-stick growth and a liquidity event, like going public (IPO) or sale (M&A), to get the payback. Transition to a specialist role, plan to exit, be prepared to be pushed out, or plan to fail. The control and growth dilemma.

Hockey Stick 268

Hockey Stick Cofounder Entrepreneur Liquidity Event 268

Steve Blank

JANUARY 4, 2010

Not only did their sales curve look like a textbook case of a VC-friendly hockey stick, but their Lessons Learned funding presentation was an eye-opener.). For its first year IMVU had funded itself with money from friends and family. Now with customers and early revenue, it was out raising its first round of venture money.

Hockey Stick 303

Hockey Stick Venture Capital Startup Cofounder 303

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 16, 2010

In my last post I described what happened when a company prematurely scales sales and marketing before adequately testing its hypotheses in Customer Discovery. The VC’s were very concerned that the revenue the financial plan called for wasn’t being delivered by the sales team. They don’t. All this takes time.” What went wrong?

Revenue 232

Revenue Balance Sheet Hockey Stick Burn Rate 232

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 19, 2013

If you take investor money, expect a push for hockey-stick growth and a liquidity event, like going public (IPO) or sale (M&A), to get the payback. Transition to a specialist role, plan to exit, be prepared to be pushed out, or plan to fail. The control and growth dilemma.

Founder 245

Founder Hockey Stick Cofounder Liquidity Event 245

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 8, 2010

By 1992 Research in Motion (RIM) had been in business for eight years, had 16 employees, sales of about $500,000 a year, and three or four business lines. Their intent: initial sales would come from users who already understood what the product could do so adoption would occur rapidly. RIM sales were $15 billion in 2010.

Hockey Stick 279

Hockey Stick Customer Development Silicon Valley Networking 279

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2019

If you take investor money, expect a push for hockey-stick growth and a liquidity event, like going public (IPO) or sale (M&A), to get the payback. Transition to a specialist role, plan to exit, be prepared to be pushed out, or plan to fail. The control and growth dilemma.

Hockey Stick 243

Hockey Stick Cofounder Liquidity Event Startup 243

SoCal CTO

MAY 19, 2010

More likely, you'll be back for more money in less than 2 years, saying what everyone says: "it's taking longer than we thought" Investors won't believe your numbers anyway, so your over-sized hockey stick betrays your naiveté. See investment criteria #1 from TCA.

Hockey Stick 205

Hockey Stick NPV IRR Valuation 205

Up and Running

AUGUST 21, 2014

You need to get to a point in your funnel where you have enough people coming in that you can get to that conversion rate that will get you the sales that you need to drive your business forward. Sales is obviously the company’s paycheck. As I was mentioning, sales aren’t free. There’s tools to do all of that.

Metrics 84

Metrics Startup Churn Rate Forecast 84

Up and Running

APRIL 24, 2014

So for me, what makes a sales forecast credible? I want to see a sales forecast with drivers. And I’m also going to look outside of the sales projection for credibility in the projected marketing spend. Well then, that helps makes a sales forecast credible. Sales and Marketing Writing a Business Plan'

Forecast 85

Forecast Hockey Stick Sales Business Plan 85

Up and Running

FEBRUARY 12, 2018

Business forecasting is essentially guessing (or predicting, or estimating) future numbers such as future sales, cost of sales, and operating expenses, by month, quarter, year, and so on. A forecast is more common for projecting sales, and budget more common for projecting spending. How is forecasting different from budgeting?

Forecast 114

Forecast Hockey Stick Angel Investor Sales 114

Up and Running

FEBRUARY 13, 2017

When I asked the standard “How are you,” he answered: “If I see another hockey stick forecast this week, I’m going to throw something at somebody.”. That was so long ago that I had to ask him to explain the hockey stick metaphor. ” See Also: How to Forecast Sales. Growth is good.

Forecast 130

Forecast Hockey Stick Startup Sales 130

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

As a result, unfounded hockey-stick graphs and unicorn promises give way to financial fluency, realistic expectations, frank conversations about what a business can credibly achieve, and transparency. . Typically stable, high margins; repeatable sales model; clear path to profitability; and high growth potential.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

Gust

NOVEMBER 15, 2012

In my own portfolio I have companies that are generally perceived to be extremely successful with high profile customers and lots of sales…but they just happen to have a liquidation preference ladder of $25 million!

Seed Stage 131

Seed Stage Hockey Stick Cap Table Liquidation Preference 131

Up and Running

APRIL 19, 2017

When it comes to starting and managing a business, forecasting your sales is essential. Having a sales forecast can help you budget and manage your business’s funds, create a plan for expansion, and avoid unpleasant surprises. The basics of sales forecasting. How to Forecast Sales. Just Do a Sales Forecast.

Forecast 85

Forecast Curation Sales Hockey Stick 85

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 10, 2009

With that implicit assumption, startups hire a VP of Sales with a great rolodex and call on established mainstream companies while marketing creates a brand and buzz to create demand and drive it into the sales channel (web, direct salesforce, etc.) If they had done this, there would have been zero dollars in sales.

Customer Development 222

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 222

This is going to be BIG.

JULY 26, 2010

It’s a very different animal than an enterprise sales strategy. We experience good and bad sales tactics as customers, and that might make us better or worse salespeople. Although, a number of investors were so enamored with the revenue growth that they weren’t as interested in the cost of continuing up the hockey stick.

Acquisition 139

Acquisition Hockey Stick Customer SEM 139

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 6, 2018

We are trained to think of business as sales minus costs and expenses, which equal profits. Business plans can be different things: they are sometimes just sales documents to explain a new business. Hockey stick” shaped growth projections. Here’s how we suggest creating your sales forecast. We spend cash.

Business Plan 128

Business Plan Hockey Stick Lean Dilution 128

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2017

If you take investor money, expect a push for hockey-stick growth and a liquidity event, like going public (IPO) or sale (M&A), to get the payback. Transition to a specialist role, plan to exit, be prepared to be pushed out, or plan to fail. The control and growth dilemma.

Hockey Stick 144

Hockey Stick Cofounder Entrepreneur Liquidity Event 144

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2018

Every entrepreneur thinks he can relax a bit after his business model is proven, funding is in place, and revenues are scaling as projected up that hockey-stick curve. Thus even if unit sales keep increasing, revenues can lag due to the need for lower prices as the mainstream market takes over.

Hockey Stick 130

Hockey Stick Guerilla Acquisition Revenue 130

Ben's Blog

JULY 20, 2011

When I ran Opsware, we had the non-linear quarter problem also known affectionately as the hockey stick. The hockey stick refers to the shape of the revenue graph over the course of a quarter. Our hockey stick was so bad that one quarter, we booked 90% of our new bookings on the last day of the quarter.

Hockey Stick 74

Hockey Stick Management Employee Retention 74

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2016

Organic growth (reinvesting profits only) will not allow you to build the “hockey stick” growth curve desired by premium buyers at exit, or financial analysts positioning you for public stock sale. Document processes and build online training videos so new people can come online quickly and consistently.

Hockey Stick 120

Hockey Stick Intellectual Property Non-Compete Business Model 120

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 1, 2015

Every entrepreneur thinks he can relax a bit after his business model is proven, funding is in place, and revenues are scaling as projected up that hockey-stick curve. Thus even if unit sales keep increasing, revenues can lag due to the need for lower prices as the mainstream market takes over.

Hockey Stick 120

Hockey Stick Guerilla Startup Acquisition 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 11, 2015

Organic growth (reinvesting profits only) will not allow you to build the “hockey stick” growth curve desired by premium buyers at exit, or financial analysts positioning you for public stock sale. Document processes and build online training videos so new people can come online quickly and consistently.

Hockey Stick 120

Hockey Stick Intellectual Property Non-Compete Business Model 120

ConversionXL

FEBRUARY 19, 2016

You get more traffic, more conversions, more money – in an endless hockey stick shaped cycle. Remove the image and Google will remove it from the search results causing you to miss the 100 uniques (and probably decent sales because the visitor is searching for the product). Of course, it’s not so simple.

SEO 48

SEO Technical Review Algorithm Software Review 48