View from Seed

JANUARY 13, 2021

What has happened is that over the last 10 years, the vast majority of successful startups have raised some sort of a seed round prior to a series A. That said, we definitely don’t bank on this as a firm, even though we do see ourselves playing a multi-turn game with all of our later stage coinvestors.

Dilution 399

Dilution Later Stage Portfolio Technical Review 399

Steve Blank

APRIL 23, 2014

For decades large companies have gone shopping in Silicon Valley for startups. What can companies learn from others’ failed efforts to integrate startups into large companies? The answer - there are two types of integration strategies, and they depend on where the startup is in its lifecycle. The Innovation Portfolio.

Acquisition 334

Acquisition Intellectual Property Silicon Valley Startup 334

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 27, 2022

In my role as an angel investor to startups, I’m struck by the broad variety of advisor strategies I see in investor presentations and business plans that cross my desk. If your startup team is highly technical, an advisory board member with a strong financial and business background clearly adds value.

Advisory Board 308

Advisory Board Angel Investor Startup Later Stage 308

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2020

One of the reasons that now is the time to be an entrepreneur is the explosion of startup assistance organizations, usually called incubators or accelerators. A few are still trying to make a profitable business out of nurturing startups, but it’s a challenge to make money when your customer startups don’t have many resources to give.

Incubator 398

Incubator Silicon Valley North America Startup 398

VC Cafe

MAY 16, 2023

LLMs leadeboard in ChatBot Arena High competition and no moat is giving investors jitters According to the State of AI Q1’23 report by CB Insights, during Q1 2023, AI startups raised $5.4B, a 66% drop from the previous year’s figure and a 43% decline quarter-over-quarter.

Artificial Inteligence 179

Artificial Inteligence ChatGPT Generative AI Open Source 179

YoungUpstarts

JULY 30, 2019

Startups and SCRUM. Why SCRUM for startups? Each sprint is reviewed to minimize the errors so that the confusions during the later stages are avoided. Employing SCRUM for startups. There is also a stand-up meeting for a maximum of 15 minutes where we have a sprint review. And here comes the role of scrum master.

SCRUM 113

SCRUM Software Review Hiring Agile 113

Up and Running

MARCH 31, 2021

The standard Seed round was once around $75,000 to $150,000 startup. This is because Angels make their money by investing in startups. With over one-half of small businesses closing their doors this year or last year, there is now far less competition for startups to gain an investor’s attention. It is now up to $300,000.

Small Business 116

Small Business Angel Investor Technical Review Elevator Pitch 116

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 11, 2023

pexels You need to have enough resources by having a seed-stage investor who will financially support your company in the long run. These investments are a tremendous help to your startup because they will serve as a stepping stone to reach your target eventually. With startup funding, these companies can get through this phase.

Seed Stage 125

Seed Stage Technical Review Early Stage Due Diligence 125

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 12, 2023

They fail to realize that the considerations are quite different for each, which can make or break their investment efforts, and ultimately their startup. Angels are more likely to fund new entrepreneurs, and early-stage or seed rounds, while VCs tend to focus on entrepreneurs with a successful track record, and later stage rounds.

Angel Investor 246

Angel Investor IRR Venture Capital Valuation 246

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 4, 2016

The number of startups rose in 2015 for the first time in five years, with the largest year-over-year increase in two decades. Who would not want to joint the unicorns (recent startups with a current valuation of over $1 billion)? Successful startup teams today have a mix of remote employees, freelancers, and contractors.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Startup Angel Groups Social Media 120

VC Cafe

APRIL 29, 2020

Source: NVCA , “Startup Ecosystem Faces Capital Crunch over Coming Months” USA – SBA Loans and PPP. The $349 billion aid package issued by the US Government and distributed in the form of SBA loans was quickly gobbled up by a large number of applications, many of which were from venture-backed or PE-backed startups.

Israel 124

Israel SBA Technical Review Startup 124

David Teten

DECEMBER 15, 2018

Consider approaching one of the small number of funds which acquire tech startups, e.g., Constellation Software , Think3; Vista Equity Partners. Here are a few articles I suggest reviewing: How to gracefully wind down a failing startup. How to close up shop on a failing startup. Is your startup failing?

Startup 60

Startup Later Stage Technical Review Software Review 60

View from Seed

JULY 8, 2020

Today I’m excited to announce the relaunch of our most popular resource ever: board meeting deck templates for seed-stage startups, now in conjunction with an investor update email template. We first released a version of the board meeting deck template template back in 2014 and then a revised version a couple of years later.

Email 331

Email Seed Stage Syndication Syndicate 331

VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 22, 2022

Tech12, an Israeli news publication, embarked on a special project to highlight the 32 Israeli startups that reached a Centaur status. Sorry for the humbrag, but I’m proud to see Minute Media , our Remagine Ventures portfolio company (and our only later stage investment) on this prestigious list. Meet the Israeli Centaurs.

Software Review 109

Software Review Israel B2C Open Source 109

Steve Blank

MARCH 17, 2020

With the Covid-19 virus a worldwide pandemic, if you’re leading any startup or small business, you have to be asking yourself, “What’s Plan B? If you’re running a startup or small business, your first priority (after your family) is keeping your employees and customers safe. “Winter is coming.”. And what’s in my lifeboat?”.

Burn Rate 436

Burn Rate Startup Valuation Sales Cycle 436

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 17, 2018

 —  @msuster 8/ Don't spend undue time advising other people's startups until your business is successful, scaling & stable. Negative employees affect others like a disease and you can't ever turn them around. There's never a perfect time - except now. Usually a terrible idea as runway extension.

Founder 242

Founder Dilution Software Review Later Stage 242

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 1, 2015

In the old days, every entrepreneur dreamed of easily taking their startup public, and making it big. Today the rate of startups going public (IPO – Initial Public Offering) is up from the dead zone, but is still less than half the rate of 15 years ago. Startups going public are laid open to competitors and critics.

IPO 120

IPO SEC Prospectus Startup 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2022

In the old days, every entrepreneur planned on taking their startup public, and making it big. Today the rate of startups going public (IPO – Initial Public Offering) is finally up from the dead zone of the last two decades, and is now double the rate back in 1999. Startups going public are laid open to competitors and critics.

IPO 245

IPO SEC Prospectus Startup 245

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 31, 2019

He’ll be speaking at this year’s Lean Startup Conference , and also has a new book (for which I very happily wrote a short foreword) coming out next month: Secrets of Sand Hill Road: Venture Capital and How to Get It. It used to be that startups went public about 6-7 years from founding; that number is now 10-12 years.

Lean 108

Lean Venture Capital Conversion IPO 108

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2017

In the old days, every entrepreneur dreamed of easily taking their startup public, and making it big. Today the rate of startups going public (IPO – Initial Public Offering) is up from the dead zone, but is still half the rate of 15 years ago. Startups going public are laid open to competitors and critics.

IPO 218

IPO SEC Prospectus Technical Review 218

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 24, 2011

And normally the rest of the team are young & inexperienced because that’s all the startup could afford to bring on. The “team beneath the team&# was as talented as any top team that pitches me startups. Who are the key hires we need to make?&# Management, SVP North American Sales and SVP European Publishing.

Later Stage 310

Later Stage South America Mobile Silicon Valley 310

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2014

They often create the biggest tensions between investors who are investing at different stages in the business. These tensions seep out in some angels or seed funds publicly or semi-privately deriding later-stage VCs for their “bad” behavior. I have seen bad behavior from later-stage VCs, believe me.

Technical Review 336

Technical Review Later Stage Early Stage LP 336

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

View from Seed

JANUARY 5, 2016

I realize sports analogies for startups can feel trite, but as you think about the different phases of team-building in a startup, this one is actually pretty spot on. At the beginning, a startup team is typically just a couple of co-founders. Basketball or football? Below, I take a look at each. Below, I take a look at each.

Founder 120

Founder Cofounder Startup Early Stage 120

Gust

JANUARY 4, 2012

Last month we covered the basics of intellectual property (IP) for startups, including a simple taxonomy, some common issues and related documents for entrepreneurs to use when forming a new startup. The amount of investment in IP in any direct sense is generally small for early stage startups.

Intellectual Property 143

Intellectual Property IP Startup United States 143

NZ Entrepreneur

SEPTEMBER 7, 2022

Want to tap in to the best startup advice from entrepreneurs who are out there doing it? Welcome to ‘500 Founders’ where we ask innovators from around New Zealand for their top insights for first time startup founders. Startup founders should connect with other founders at similar stages to them, and ones who are a few steps ahead.”.

Founder 108

Founder Cofounder New Zealand B2C 108

The Equity Kicker

OCTOBER 14, 2014

———————————– If you ask most VCs what they look for in a startup they will say great team, great product and great market. The post below first appeared as a guest post by me on the Web Summit Blog. Marc Andreessen wrote about this once.

Early Stage 123

Early Stage Institutional Investors Startup Venture Capital 123

VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 28, 2023

You know the adage that 90% of startups fail in their first 3 years of existence? According to a startup genome report from 2019 , that figure is actually a bit higher, 11 out of 12 startups fail (which is 91.6%). In raw numbers, 87 startups that had raised at least $10 million ended up closing down.

Valuation 104

Valuation Startup Angel Investor Dilution 104

VC Cafe

JANUARY 24, 2012

” the Economist observed that there has been a change in the Israeli startup landscape. However, Israeli startups are slowly making a transition – building larger companies and establishing brands. Mid and later stage companies attracted $1.48 In “ What next for the start-up nation?

Israel 111

Israel Technical Review IPO Startup 111

NZ Entrepreneur

FEBRUARY 27, 2020

Building a tech startup? While capital to large tech companies is increasing, smaller rounds for early-stage companies is drying up. This decline has also become evident in startup accelerator programs shifting their focus on later-stage scale-ups that provide higher returns.

Developer 72

Developer Early Stage Later Stage Acquisition 72

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

If you’re a startup and you don’t have a close relationship with a few law firms you’re really missing one of the most important relationships that any entrepreneur can have. I write about some of the lessons in my post on Startup Mistakes. Every town has firms that focus on startups – find them.

Southern California 318

Southern California Silicon Valley IP Stock Options 318

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 15, 2015

He may have been named by Silicon Valley thought leader Paul Graham as one of the five most interesting startup founders since 1979, but Sam’s curious penchant for wearing t-shirts over long-sleeve shirts suggests that he’s definitely too young for me. What I fell in love with was Sam’s How To Start A Startup class at Stanford.

Cofounder 100

Cofounder Delaware Startup Technical Review 100

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 22, 2020

Startups require nurturing, monitoring, and sustained investments to get off the ground. How will your startup benefit from well-crafted and valuable content? Good content offers the ability to generate leads, warm them, and transit them into the later stages of the sales journey. Can Great Content Help Startups?

Affiliate 230

Affiliate Startup Later Stage Search 230

The Startup Magazine

SEPTEMBER 18, 2020

Crosscutting will ensure it is impossible for prying eyes to glue the pieces back together at a later stage. The post 5 Crucial Security Features for Your Home Office appeared first on The Startup Magazine. Household cameras are an absolute must for any home, especially one with a home office.

Security 120

Security Later Stage Technical Review Mobile 120

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 19, 2017

There is a thin line between success and failure for startups, and that is usually determined by capital. The more capital a startup has, the easier it is to get off the ground and ramp up growth. In turn, this leads to the development of a thriving startup ecosystem which paves the way for technology and innovation.

Venture Capital 196

Venture Capital Asia Later Stage Artificial Inteligence 196

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 3, 2023

One of the reasons that now is the time to be an entrepreneur is the explosion of startup assistance organizations, usually called incubators or accelerators. A few are still trying to make a profitable business out of nurturing startups, but it’s a challenge to make money when your customer startups don’t have many resources to give.

Incubator 231

Incubator Silicon Valley North America Small Business Administration 231

The Equity Kicker

AUGUST 19, 2015

In the words of an alum from the 2006 cohort: Companies are joining YC at a much later stage. Today, there are six YC companies worth over a billion dollars, and as a result new startups aim much higher. That marks a shift in the YC investment strategy which used to focus on younger businesses.

Later Stage 60

Later Stage Private Equity Venture Capital Valuation 60