Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2022

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Bartering technically means exchanging goods or services as a substitute for money.

Intellectual Property 341

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 341

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 22, 2024

In March 2022 I wrote a description of the Quantum Technology Ecosystem. Just as a reminder, Quantum technologies are used in three very different and distinct markets: Quantum Computing , Quantum Communications and Quantum Sensing and Metrology. Different technical approaches (superconducting, photonics, cold atoms, etc.)

Technical Review 267

Technical Review Illinois Algorithm Software Review 267

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 13, 2020

The global lockdown, due to the pandemic, has forced companies to digitize their operations. As pointed out by McKinsey , corporate travel is a major revenue source for many airlines and hotel chains. The post Business Travel Decline Due To COVID And Environmental Concerns appeared first on Young Upstarts.

Technical Review 278

Technical Review United States China Cofounder 278

The Startup Magazine

JANUARY 21, 2025

The Shift to Sustainable Transport Transportation is changing quickly due to growing concerns about the environment. Entrepreneurs entering this field should consider adopting environmentally friendly technologies to stay competitive. The initial purchase price of electric and hybrid cars tends to be higher.

Technical Review 143

Technical Review Government Operations Demand 143

The Startup Magazine

JANUARY 19, 2025

Yet, most small businesses fail due to poor cash flow management. Image source Startups often face unpredictable revenue streams and mounting operational costs, making cash flow management particularly challenging. Setting aside a percentage of monthly revenue creates a financial buffer that can cover urgent expenses when needed.

Management 142

Management Startup Forecast Finance 142

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2019

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Bartering technically means exchanging goods or services as a substitute for money.

Finance 320

Finance Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 320

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2017

So how did a company that provides storage grow so fast (we’ll exit 2017 with 10’s of millions in recurring revenue), why is it so defensible and is it really a tech startup? If you buy that Amazon is a tech startup then essentially you’ve already answered the question. In short — how the hell did we raise $30 million?

Technical Review 268

Technical Review Los Angeles Software Review Artificial Inteligence 268

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 24, 2017

A version of this article is in the Harvard Business Review. — Unremarked and unheralded, the balance of power between startup CEOs and their investors has radically changed: IPOs/M&A without a profit (or at times revenue) have become the norm. 20th Century Tech Liquidity = Initial Public Offering.

Founder 281

Founder Technical Review CTO Hire IPO 281

VC Cafe

JANUARY 24, 2021

Covid-19 accelerated the adoption of entertainment tech, gaming and commerce. The move to remote work forced quick adoption of cloud technology and tools that were once having difficulties selling to large corporates, saw explosive growth – from Zoom to Hopin, new unicorns were born in record time. billion in revenue last year.

Technical Review 207

Technical Review Audio Forecast Social Media 207

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 22, 2012

Growth will slow, partly due to internal limits and partly because the company is starting to bump up against the limits of the markets it serves.” It might be for technical reasons or it might be for customer adoption reasons. That leverage technology or drive change. In revenue terms our first two years of sales were $2.1

Silicon Valley 390

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Startup Technical Review 390

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 24, 2020

For example, if your idea is so new and different that it implies real social or technological change is necessary before widespread acceptance, investors will define your market as nascent or unproven, and be very reluctant to fund you, no matter how convincing your projections may be. Typical valuations range from 3x-5x revenues.

Artificial Inteligence 436

Artificial Inteligence Marketing Valuation Startup 436

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

We had nascent revenues, ridiculous cost structures and unrealistic valuations. SEEING THINGS FROM THE VC SIDE OF THE TABLE While I was a VC in 2007 & 2008 those were dead years because the market again evaporated due the the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). Until we weren’t. Nobody cared about our valuations any more.

Valuation 466

Valuation San Francisco Ratchet Liquidation Preference 466

VC Cafe

JANUARY 16, 2022

It’s enough to look at the predictions from 2019 (that didn’t see Covid coming…) to understand how big trends can missed due to an unpredictable sequence of events. But Benedict Evans rightfully questions if it’s not premature to do so, in his excellent Tech questions for 2022.

Technical Review 187

Technical Review Mobile Merger IP 187

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 4, 2013

But when you create a product for a large segment of users who previously couldn’t afford products due to price or complexity and if that product can work at “Internet scale” you have the chance to do something truly amazing. I have written this up before if you’re interested – I call it Deflationary Economics.

Technical Review 401

Technical Review Startup Business Model Non-Compete 401

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 13, 2023

Some analysis and due diligence along the following lines should be performed on every idea, as a reality check, before committing your efforts and other people’s money to building a business: Look for places where competitors are few. Even good social causes need to bring in revenue to continue their worthy efforts.

Technical Review 267

Technical Review Due Diligence Intellectual Property Internet 267

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 26, 2023

Every one of you business owners I know periodically introduces new products and services to sustain growth, fight off competitors, or take advantage of new technologies. Target audience may be limited or new due to price. Don’t count on these as short-term solutions to a growth problem. Incent these early.

Product 354

Product Technical Review Artificial Inteligence Dividend 354

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2022

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Bartering technically means exchanging goods or services as a substitute for money.

Intellectual Property 261

Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator Bootstrapping 261

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 16, 2022

They couldn’t possibly understand the new social media culture, new technologies, or have the determination to beat their younger counterparts in the market. In fact, they are well-qualified overall, having worked with high technology and computers for at least 20 years, are highly educated, and highly motivated.

Advisory Board 368

Advisory Board Dividend Angel Investor Cofounder 368

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JANUARY 4, 2018

The Silicon Valley-oriented technology press outlets don’t cover us because we’re not in San Francisco, even though we’re more successful than most of the startups they cover. Late last year we passed $100M in annual recurring revenue. This week we closed $250M in financing from Silver Lake , the premier technology private equity firm.

Engineer 152

Engineer Revenue San Francisco Security 152

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

When you think about the trends of faster-growing startups due to social networking, credit card enable and mobile first consumers – the reality is that many startups are becoming very large financially before needing to go public. From a technology perspective our journey is nowhere near over. 2007 was the watershed year.

Technical Review 398

Technical Review Venture Capital Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 398

The Startup Magazine

JANUARY 5, 2025

Whether you are trying to increase your revenue or improve your customer satisfaction, taking your business to the next level means looking at all of your strategic opportunities. Leverage Technology for Growth Technology is a powerful tool for driving efficiency and innovation.

Software Review 147

Software Review Technical Review Retention Campaign 147

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 23, 2020

But there is no magic formula on how to bring these together a second time, but I did see some good insights on the parameters in a classic startup business parable, “ Endless Encores ,” by Ken Goldstein, who advises startups and has built companies in technology, entertainment, media, and e-commerce.

Technical Review 324

Technical Review Entrepreneur Due Diligence Business Model 324

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

Nearly every successful tech startup I’ve observed over the past 20 years has gone through a similar growth pattern: Innovate, systematize then scale operations. An example of the systems companies build are pricing & revenue management tools to best help to optimize yield. Seriously, this happens.

Operations 286

Operations New York City Technical Review Startup 286

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2020

In the short term you need customers to find you at any price, and in the longer term you need revenue, profit, and return loyalty. In my experience, even in startups, longer-term strategy often gets pushed off the agenda due to current challenges. Hone your process for due diligence and integrating these new elements.

Technical Review 312

Technical Review Due Diligence Merger Social Media 312

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2022

You can review all the specifics of this approach in the classic book by Nathan Furr and Paul Ahlstrom, appropriately titled “ Nail It then Scale It: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Creating and Managing Breakthrough Innovation ,” but I will net it out here. Nail the solution. Process myth: Why building a product leads to failure.

Angel Investor 359

Angel Investor Technical Review Incubator Business Model 359

ReadWriteStart

OCTOBER 20, 2023

With so many startups facing a tough journey right from their inception, the pressing question becomes: How does one successfully navigate the tech industry? The key lies in having a groundbreaking idea and understanding the broader tech landscape and the forces shaping it.

Technical Review 137

Technical Review Startup Silicon Valley Agile 137

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 14, 2021

As a logical and data-driven business advisor, I have long focused on facts, technology, and quantifiable pain in guiding entrepreneurs. Most consumers now use their online access from smartphones and tablets to interact with social networks, product reviews, and monitor the videos of culture influencers around the world.

Customer 432

Customer Social Media Dividend Technical Review 432

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 15, 2019

This article previously appeared in the Harvard Business Review. Disruption today is more than just changes in technology, or channel, or competitors – it’s all of them, all at once. For the contractors, anything new offers the real risk of losing a lucrative existing stream of revenue. Between a Rock and A Hard Place.

Government 322

Government Technical Review Acquisition Metrics 322

The Startup Magazine

SEPTEMBER 30, 2020

Conversely, due to the lack of continuous monitoring, an unattended site means that a tank overflow could go unnoticed for hours. This technology allows customers to remotely monitor multiple tanks simultaneously with a single device that sits 50 feet away from any critical equipment. Extended IIoT Applications.

Revenue 179

Revenue Technical Review Cost Operations 179

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2019

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Bartering technically means exchanging goods or services as a substitute for money.

Intellectual Property 219

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 219

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2020

They couldn’t possibly understand the new social media culture, new technologies, or have the determination to beat their younger counterparts in the market. In fact, they are well-qualified overall, having worked with high technology and computers for at least 20 years, are highly educated, and highly motivated.

Advisory Board 312

Advisory Board Startup Dividend Angel Investor 312

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 19, 2021

There are few technologies in the world today that can make a Trillion-dollar impact on the global economy. Also, it can open up numerous business models and revenue channels that were earlier inaccessible for want of a suitable hardware and software solution. IoT (Internet of Things) is one of them. Source: Mckinsey.

Technical Review 215

Technical Review Software Review Cloud Vertical 215

VC Cafe

MARCH 1, 2024

In addition, founders thinking about starting a company can be overwhelmed by choice, as there are so many problems to tackle with technology, but it could be comforting to know that investors are interested in those areas in the first place.

Artificial Inteligence 176

Artificial Inteligence Technical Review Software Review Generative AI 176

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 26, 2018

But as impressive as its technology is, the Apple’s smartwatch has been a product looking for a solution. Large tech companies like Google, Amazon, Apple recognize that the multi- trillion dollar health care market is ripe for disruption and have poured billions of dollars into the space. Healthcare on Your Wrist.

China 67

China Technical Review Software Review Algorithm 67

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 26, 2022

According to a classic survey conducted by Dimensional Research for Zendesk , 90 percent of respondents asserted that positive online reviews influenced buying decisions, and 86 percent admitted buying decisions were influenced by negative online reviews. Bureaucracy can appear quickly in startups as well as large companies.

Agile 379

Agile Technical Review Leadership Social Media 379

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 1, 2017

This article first appeared on the Harvard Business Review blog. He sold off slower-growth, low-tech, and nonindustrial businesses — financial services, media, entertainment, plastics, and appliances. GE’s gross margin was 21% last year, compared with 28% at United Technologies and 30% at Siemens.

Institutional Investors 271

Institutional Investors Dividend Stock Technical Review 271

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 3, 2014

Most technology startups seem to be funded by product people or business people. They are the lifeblood of many companies yet they are different than the traditional technology startup DNA so the ways that you hire, motivate, compensate and assess performance of these individuals will be different. My first startup was no different.

Sales 382

Sales Startup Technical Review Matching 382