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Why Misunderstanding Startup Metrics Can Cost You Your Business

Both Sides of the Table

There has been a lot of public debate over the past several weeks about whether it’s a good thing to be “gross margin positive” or not and commentary always reminds me that some people at startups don’t quite understand financial metrics or even how to think about which ones are healthy. So here are some more details ….

Metrics 150
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Praying to the God of Valuation

Both Sides of the Table

And then in the late 90’s money crept in, swept in to town by public markets, instant wealth and an absurd sky-rocketing of valuations based on no reasonable metrics. It was a way to make it hard for your competition to compete. We wanted new things to exist and to solve new problems and to see our creations come to life.

Valuation 466
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Acting CTO Role in a Start-up

SoCal CTO

Then, I Review existing materials Business Plan Marketing Plan Marketing Materials Product Plan / Roadmap Current and Projected Financials Business Pipeline Team Member Bios / Resumes Current Metrics Roadmap Normally there are crude documents for each of these areas that can be quickly read / scanned.

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Measuring Market Penetration with Brand Tracking (+ Metrics & Examples)

ConversionXL

In this article, we’ll share key brand tracking metrics and methods for how to measure and optimize your success. Key brand tracking metrics. Supplement brand loyalty metrics with qualitative measures such as brand associations and perceived quality, as these can give you insight into why customers intend to repurchase.

Metrics 157
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Why Startups Need a Well Articulated Strategy (And How to Think About Yours)

Both Sides of the Table

He calls this competing with “non consumption” It was the most profound business strategy book I had read and greatly influenced how I thought about company building and certainly how I think about investing. The team has stated it and has built metrics around key goals for future success.

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Choose Your VC Investor Carefully

Both Sides of the Table

One theme that I always get is, “I’ve gotten an offer from a VC, but they want me to do X, what do you think?&# X is always something non-standard that the entrepreneur knows in his gut isn’t right. In these many exchanges similar questions crop up. Trust your instincts – they will serve you well as an entrepreneur.

Pakistan 297
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It’s Morning in Venture Capital

Both Sides of the Table

They compete on features, price and execution. In an over-funding environment companies are encouraged to eschew revenues in a land grab to acquire eyeballs, clicks, page views or whatever other vanity metrics give VCs the false comfort that they’re sitting on a gold mine.