Gust

NOVEMBER 2, 2011

We recently started a series of posts on establishing the pre-money valuation of pre-revenue startup companies for purposes of investment by seed and startup investors. Dave’s valuation model first appeared in a book published by Harvard’s Howard Stevenson in the middle nineties. Product Rollout or Sales.

Valuation 79

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Intellectual Property Southern California 79

Lightspeed Venture Partners

OCTOBER 29, 2012

The company sought to raise $125,000 for 25% of the comapny, implying a $375,000 pre money valuation. It had done about $30,000 in sales in a little over a year, and had emerged from a natural trade show with interest but no orders. Unsurprisingly, all the sharks passed, based on market size and valuation expectations.

Pre-Money Valuation 97

Pre-Money Valuation Offshore Valuation Cofounder 97

Lightspeed Venture Partners

OCTOBER 7, 2012

The company has done $400k in sales in less than two years and had an early test deal with a local supermarket chain that they were massively overperforming on. He had been at it for 6 months and had no sales or distribution lined up yet. They won a design award at a trade show, but have no revenue and no orders.

Technical Review 110

Technical Review Technical Cofounder Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 110

VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 26, 2022

Sustainable growth: Prioritise sales efficiency over growth at all costs. Startups must grow to be successful, but the recent months have shown that simply throwing money at growth is not the solution. ValuatIon should be a function of value, not ego. In times of uncertainty, be like Scrooge McDuck! Our goals, their goals.

Founder 187

Founder Startup Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 187

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 19, 2017

That’s because obtaining a pre-money valuation for a concept level technology company in excess of $1 million is difficult, particularly for a startup founder without a proven track record. That is to say, they’d want to be able to control costs and revenues at a high level.

Private Equity 94

Private Equity Pre-Money Valuation Equity Startup 94

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 2, 2011

Bill Payne is an expert on how early-stage investors should look at valuation. He just post: Establishing the Pre-money Valuation of Pre-revenue Startups. Especially interesting is the Valuation Worksheet towards the end. If you've not had a C-level but have had experience in sales or tech.

Valuation 198

Valuation Revenue Pre-Money Valuation Early Stage 198

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 26, 2012

How much is NewCo worth to investors at this point (pre-money valuation)? What percentage of NewCo does the investor own after the $1M infusion (post-money ownership percentage)? On the other hand, if the pre-money valuation is $4M, the founders ownership remains at a healthy 80% level.

Valuation 270

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation NPV Intellectual Property 270

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2011

How much is NewCo worth to investors at this point (pre-money valuation)? What percentage of NewCo does the investor own after the $1M infusion (post-money ownership percentage)? On the other hand, if the pre-money valuation is $4M, the founders ownership remains at a healthy 80% level.

Pre-Money Valuation 246

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation NPV Intellectual Property 246

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 6, 2010

How much is NewCo worth to investors at this point (pre-money valuation)? What percentage of NewCo does the investor own after the $1M infusion (post-money ownership percentage)? On the other hand, if the pre-money valuation is $4M, the founders ownership remains at a healthy 80% level.

Valuation 234

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation NPV Startup 234

Tim Keane

JANUARY 12, 2010

It also assumes the entire value of the investment is captured for investors at a sale of the company in the time specified in the term-sheet.   On the last line on page two of the workbook, you see the resulting returns to the entrepreneur with a variety of terms and valuations and assumptions. Let’s start at the end.

Term Sheet 68

Term Sheet Valuation Dividend Liquidation Preference 68

Lightspeed Venture Partners

SEPTEMBER 21, 2013

Despite having over 500k downloads and making $450k in revenue over the last 21 months, he had only $185k left in the bank, which meant that he would be out of business in 90 days if he didn’t raise more money. pre money valuation and planned to use the money to market the app. pre money valuation).

Pre-Money Valuation 167

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Dilution Distribution 167

Gust

NOVEMBER 18, 2012

How much is NewCo worth to investors at this point (pre-money valuation)? What percentage of NewCo does the investor own after the $1M infusion (post-money ownership percentage)? On the other hand, if the pre-money valuation is $4M, the founders ownership remains at a healthy 80% level.

Valuation 187

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation NPV Intellectual Property 187

www.paulgraham.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

The woman in charge of sales was so tenacious that I used to feelsorry for potential customers on the phone with her. Stephen Hawkings editor told him that every equationhe included in his book would cut sales in half. A 10% improvement in ease of use doesnt just increase your sales 10%. Its more likely to double your sales.

Startup 105

Startup Cofounder Software Stock 105

Lightspeed Venture Partners

OCTOBER 1, 2012

The company did $1M in sales last year, 90% from wholesale, and had a 10% profit margin. They wanted to get to $10M in sales and then get bought by a big food company. pre money valuation). Cuban has interest in a gluten free diet, and claimed that he liked the company, but his only concern was valuation.

Pre-Money Valuation 158

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Participating Preferred Preferred Stock 158

www.paulgraham.com

APRIL 28, 2010

There never has to be atime when you have no revenues. For example, VCs generally write it into the deal thatin any sale, they get their investment back first. Some VCsnow require that in any sale they get 4x their investment backbefore the common stock holders (that is, you) get anything, butthis is an abuse that should be resisted.

Technical Review 76

Technical Review Startup Software Review Angel Investor 76

Lightspeed Venture Partners

OCTOBER 22, 2012

The company has gotten off to a fast start, $150k in revenue in the first two months, with all the marketing coming from social media. This implies a pre money valuation of $1.045M. See my breakdown of week 2 for more on how to calculate pre money valuation.). Tanya had invested $75k into the company.

Pre-Money Valuation 101

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Dilution Differentiation 101

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 18, 2016

As an entrepreneur looking for professional investors, one of the quickest ways to lose credibility and get rejected is to start with a ridiculously high pre-money valuation. First priority is real revenue, customers and contracts. Future revenue projections are not relevant at the pre-revenue stage.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Startup 120

Gust

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

In brief, a cap acts to place a limit on the conversion price of a convertible note such that investors are guaranteed a minimum number of shares for their bridge loans if the startup does a priced equity round at a high pre-money valuation – “high” meaning above the cap, which is often a heavily negotiated term. (The

Valuation 98

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Merger Vesting 98

Berkonomics

JANUARY 28, 2021

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked away from deals where the entrepreneur insists on a start-up pre-money valuation that is so high, no angel could expect to make a return upon the investment, even with a reasonable sales price for the company down the road. Here’s the “what.”. And here’s the “why.”.

Early Stage 62

Early Stage Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Cofounder 62

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 23, 2015

They''re at a similar stage to my investments now out of Brooklyn Bridge backing Tinybop pre-launch, Canary before their Indiegogo pre-sale, and VIXXENN with just an alpha site and a few stylists. We''ll ask for all the same metrics we used to in a Series A--some revenue, a full team, etc.,

Post-Money Valuation 60

Post-Money Valuation Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Seed Money 60

Lightspeed Venture Partners

SEPTEMBER 23, 2012

The entrepreneurs had made $150k in revenue running classes for four months at a gym in New York, selling out the classes at $35/class. The right number to focus on is pre money valuation as that is how an investor is valuing the company before the investment. Post money valuation = Pre money valuation + Investment.

Pre-Money Valuation 164

Pre-Money Valuation Post-Money Valuation Valuation Dilution 164

Hippoland

AUGUST 31, 2018

Another consideration here is that in the minds of pre-seed investors (who are very often small funds and will be allocating most of their capital in the first round or two), valuation matters a lot more to them than a larger fund who might invest in you at this stage as an option for later. This is typically a $6-10m round.

Pre-Money Valuation 90

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Silicon Valley Early Stage 90

Hippoland

AUGUST 31, 2018

Another consideration here is that in the minds of pre-seed investors (who are very often small funds and will be allocating most of their capital in the first round or two), valuation matters a lot more to them than a larger fund who might invest in you at this stage as an option for later. This is typically a $6-10m round.

Pre-Money Valuation 48

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Silicon Valley Early Stage 48