Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

At our mid-year offsite our partnership at Upfront Ventures was discussing what the future of venture capital and the startup ecosystem looked like. Should SaaS companies trade at a 24x Enterprise Value (EV) to Next Twelve Month (NTM) Revenue multiple as they did in November 2021? By 2021 we had to write a $3.5m

Venture Capital 416

Venture Capital Marketing Technical Review Seed Funding 416

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

Something happened in the past 7 years in the startup and venture capital world that I hadn’t experienced since the late 90’s — we all began praying to the God of Valuation. How might our next phase of the journey seem brighter, even with more uncertain days for startups and capital markets? What happened? And it changed the culture.

Venture Capital 466

Venture Capital Startup Marketing Pricing 466

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 30, 2021

Here are some key strategies that I recommend to prompt you when changes to your business may be required: Look for a changing customer sense of value. You may be getting killed today by customer expectations you never worried about just a few years ago. Establish and evaluate metrics at multiple levels.

Marketing 162

Marketing Social Media Metrics Customer 162

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 27, 2021

Most of the entrepreneurs I meet as an investor and advisor have no shortage of right-brain thinking, showing vision and creativity, but often don’t realize that their potential is being limited by a balancing focus on results, metrics, and customer specifics. Listen to customer feedback and tune your vision.

Technical Review 133

Technical Review Satisfaction Metrics Startup 133

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2023

The rate of new entrepreneurs increased between 2013 and 2021, from 280 to 360 out of 100,000 of the adult population. Building a minimum viable product, with customer validation. Before you bring on partners, develop intellectual property, raise capital, or generate revenues, you need to establish an official business entity.

Entrepreneur 104

Entrepreneur Startup Social Media News 104

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 21, 2021

In my experience, here are some of the key elements of that “second-stage” of entrepreneurship: Move from small investors to major venture capital. Explosive growth to an enterprise normally requires a scalable sales model, a well-documented process with incentives, training, and metrics for tracking and management.

Startup 151

Startup Course Sales Entrepreneur 151

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2021

I like the summary of the competitive reality in a new book, “ Rethinking Competitive Advantage: New Rules for the Digital Age ,” by Ram Charan, who relates a wealth of current experience from global clients: Customers expect a personalized experience. Marty Zwilling First published on Inc.com on 05/20/2021.

Competition 142

Competition Software Review Social Media Customer 142