Steve Blank

APRIL 9, 2009

And it was going to mention the two words that SuperMac marketing needed to live and breathe: revenue and profit. And the results weren’t the traditional PR metrics of number of articles or inches of ink. We were constantly creating metrics to see the effects of different PR messages, channels and audiences on end-user purchases.

Silicon Valley 272

Silicon Valley Technical Review RSS PR 272

The Next Web

FEBRUARY 27, 2014

As an example, a new restaurant may get valued at 3-4x EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) and a hot dot com business with meteoric traffic growth could get valued at 5-10x revenues. revenue, cash flow or net income multiples from recent M&A transactions in your industry.

Valuation 167

Valuation Forecast Seed Stage .Net 167

Gust

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014

Me: Raising convertible notes as a seed round is one of the biggest disservices our industry has done to entrepreneurs since 2001-2003 when there were “full ratchets” and “multiple liquidation preferences” – the most hostile terms anybody found in term sheets 10 years ago. There were no metrics. Him: On metrics.

Liquidation Preference 153

Liquidation Preference Valuation Term Sheet Stock 153

K9 Ventures

OCTOBER 10, 2017

I’ve been an avid reader of Dan’s Term Sheet while he was at Fortune , and now Pro Rata at Axios. If the Micro-VCs are looking for Series A-like metrics, what does a company do when it’s just getting started? Seed is the new Series A. (~$2M used get for building product, establishing product-market fit and early revenue).

Seed Stage 82

Seed Stage Finance Later Stage Equity 82

reidhoffman.org

NOVEMBER 12, 2013

we had no revenue. As a result, we knew that our pitch would need to steer into investors’ biggest concern: the lack of revenue. Instead, our strategy was to steer immediately into the revenue question because that was the top concern of investors in 2004. We made the mistake of listing three different revenue streams.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Viral Revenue Networking 111

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 26, 2020

There are two reasons to raise money: You have a killer idea that is only partially validated, that you think can get to $50M+ of revenue in 5 years with 80%+ gross margins (if margins are lower, you need a lot more revenue)and you need money to get to product-market fit, or. Not all startups need outside investment to grow.

Cofounder 433

Cofounder Seed Stage Valuation Metrics 433

Pascal's View

NOVEMBER 15, 2011

Dan Primack posted an article in Term Sheet last week titled Yelp This: IPO Market Is Killing It. Dan’s second post did make it clear that there is considerable confusion over the relevant metrics to determine the health of the IPO market for small cap companies. In that case, what say you dissenters?’

IPO 31

IPO Term Sheet Marketing United States 31

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

Lean Case provides standard business models & metrics, so you can apply a standard approach to business planning, modeling, and profitability tracking. Founders are often disadvantaged in their negotiation vs. investors because they’re less familiar with the long-term implications of different structural options.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

A Progress Graph on the right visually shows how far you’ve come (in whatever units of goodness you’re tracking – revenue, units, users, etc.) Good if you have your own money, better if the cash comes from investors, but best if it’s revenues from customers. Did the VC’s like your team ? Get back up and running.

Customer Development 270

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 270

abovethecrowd.com

APRIL 20, 2016

A high performing, high-growth SAAS company that may have been worth 10 or more times revenue was suddenly worth 4-7 times revenue. Anything that hints of a down round brings questions about the success metrics that have already been “booked.” The Sharks Arrive With Dirty Term Sheets. Who are the Sharks?

IPO 40

IPO Term Sheet Silicon Valley Valuation 40

Austin Startup

MAY 19, 2018

Just don’t do reference checks ever until the term sheet has been issued and you’re almost ready to fund. I would be inclined to accept slightly worse terms from an investor who made me feel good and spoke using the phrases “we” and “us”. There is no such thing as “not right now” there is just “yes” and “no”.

Founder 75

Founder Early Stage Software Review Deal Flow 75

NZ Entrepreneur

JULY 8, 2019

Soon after that first investment, I started my first business, and am now on my fifth (all $1m+ in revenue, but not all ‘successful’). Closing out, there are other things I just consider basic hygiene factors, like term sheets, shareholder agreements, personal guarantees, etc. to-date, since we launched in 2017.

New Zealand 42

New Zealand Entrepreneur Valuation Dilution 42

Hippoland

AUGUST 31, 2018

Then I asked him about his metrics, which are good, but they are were not at series A level. And companies typically have $2m-$3m revenue runrate at this point. I have a few founders I’ve backed who are just on the border of post-seed / series A metrics and are able to get term sheets from both series A and post-seed investors.

Pre-Money Valuation 90

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Silicon Valley Early Stage 90

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 5, 2023

Tailor investor proposals and term-sheets. They watch for formal follow-up to questions, demonstration of real product, and revenue results. Managing marketing metrics and the sales pipeline. Passionate reiteration of the idea won’t close funding. Communication to the team suffers, and productivity is low.

Cofounder 389

Cofounder Startup Term Sheet Acquisition 389

Hippoland

AUGUST 31, 2018

Then I asked him about his metrics, which are good, but they are were not at series A level. And companies typically have $2m-$3m revenue runrate at this point. I have a few founders I’ve backed who are just on the border of post-seed / series A metrics and are able to get term sheets from both series A and post-seed investors.

Pre-Money Valuation 48

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Silicon Valley Early Stage 48

grasshopperherder.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

As such, you should make sure to think of the proposals as an investor and get a reasonable term sheet. I think it’s difficult, if not impossible, to value a pre-revenue company with any reasonable accuracy. Unseen Metrics. Would you invest in a company that didn’t know it’s own metrics?

Sweat Equity 41

Sweat Equity Equity Cofounder Non-Compete 41

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 5, 2020

Tailor investor proposals and term-sheets. They watch for formal follow-up to questions, demonstration of real product, and revenue results. Managing marketing metrics and the sales pipeline. Passionate reiteration of the idea won’t close funding. Communication to the team suffers, and productivity is low.

Entrepreneur 307

Entrepreneur Cofounder Term Sheet Acquisition 307

VC Cafe

MAY 18, 2022

For many investors it’s not business as usual – and term sheets are getting pulled (normally a big no-no). I’ve seen more term sheets pulled in the last month than in the last decade. Round sizes will likely get smaller in the short term. Down rounds are coming. Source: Pitchbook NVCA Venture Monitor.

Term Sheet 190

Term Sheet Startup Valuation Ukraine 190

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 15, 2016

Tailor investor proposals and term-sheets. They watch for formal follow-up to questions, demonstration of real product, and revenue results. Managing marketing metrics and the sales pipeline. Passionate reiteration of the idea won’t close funding. Communication to the team suffers, and productivity is low.

Cofounder 120

Cofounder Term Sheet Acquisition Metrics 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 9, 2015

Tailor investor proposals and term-sheets. They watch for formal follow-up to questions, demonstration of real product, and revenue results. Managing marketing metrics and the sales pipeline. Passionate reiteration of the idea won’t close funding. Communication to the team suffers, and productivity is low.

Cofounder 120

Cofounder Startup Term Sheet Acquisition 120