Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 15, 2023

Investors want to hear a quantified problem, a simple solution description, opportunity size, competition, traction, team qualifications, how much money you need, and what equity you are willing to give. Skip the background story and customer pitch, which every investor has heard all too often.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Sample Ideas Customer 111

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 6, 2022

Most founders and CEOs will not voluntarily establish a formal Board of Directors, unless they are trying to attract a major investor, preparing for an IPO, or planning for an acquisition. It’s a resource that you can’t afford to ignore if you intend to stay competitive today. How much are you willing to spend on your board?

Allegis 139

Allegis Startup Acquisition Entrepreneur 139

Xconomy

JUNE 14, 2019

Is one of the bigger biopharma acquisitions of the year in trouble? The US Federal Trade Commission wants yet more information about the buyout, and overseas, the UK Competition and Markets Authority opened a separate investigation. This past week, antitrust regulators once again delayed Roche’s planned $4.8

News 97

News Competition Acquisition Report 97

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 6, 2023

A smart investor will take an independent final reading in the market on barriers to entry, active competition, demographics, and price sensitivity. Sales and distribution channel activity will be analyzed, as well as cost of customer acquisition, to make an independent assessment of your financial projections.

Technical Review 118

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Invest 118

socalTECH

AUGUST 6, 2019

Ian talked to us about the rewards and challenges of being an entrepreneur, plus how important it is to manage lifetime value (LTV) of a customer versus customer acquisition cost (CAC) in making a successful company. (We Ian Chen: In my previous life, I was working in private equity in LA. What is Discotech?

Startup 113

Startup Equity Customer Custom 113

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 20, 2010

Los Angeles-based Internet Brands , which operates a suite of online, advertising driven websites across a wide range of verticals, said Monday that it would go private in a $640M, private equity deal, bucking the trend of Southern California companies filing to get to the public markets. Internet Brands had gone public just three years ago.

Internet Brands 190

Internet Brands Westlake Village Woodland Hills Beverly Hills 190

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2021

For example, if you have ever watched the Shark Tank show on TV, they always ask about the cost of customer acquisition. Postulate competitive reactions and your responses. Equity investors realize that they won’t see any real return until an exit occurs, such as a sale, merger, or IPO.

Entrepreneur 162

Entrepreneur Social Media Examples Metrics 162

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2015

Non-organic growth would include OEM relationships, finding strategic partners, “coopetition,” as well as acquisitions. Even mergers and acquisitions (M&A) came quickly. These relationships need not require cash investments; often they are done with exchanges of equity or assets. Economies of scale. New management skills.

Organization 100

Organization Startup Competition IBM 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 14, 2020

Investors want to hear a quantified problem, a simple solution description, opportunity size, competition, traction, team qualifications, how much money you need, and what equity you are willing to give. Skip the background story and customer pitch, which every investor has heard all too often.

Entrepreneur 127

Entrepreneur Sample Ideas Customer 127

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 8, 2019

Warren’s plan called for regulators to be appointed to oversee the unwinding of several acquisitions that were critical to the development of the core technology that make Alphabet’s Google and the social media giant Facebook so profitable… and Zappos. — Balaji S.

Technical Review 144

Technical Review Startup Chief Technology Officer Social Media 144

Berkonomics

JANUARY 26, 2017

The most striking example was the one hundred–million–dollar purchase of one of my companies by a New York private equity investor using only five million of its cash. Offering too little in an acquisition to satisfy the seller? But I learned it again and again in my various business lives. It’s an easy rule to remember. What power!

Pricing 120

Pricing Sales Tool Equity 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2021

A smart investor will take an independent final reading in the market on barriers to entry, active competition, demographics, and price sensitivity. Sales and distribution channel activity will be analyzed, as well as cost of customer acquisition, to make an independent assessment of your financial projections.

Technical Review 151

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Invest 151

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2016

This is also the place to first mention patents and any other differentiators that put you ahead of competition. Every new offering has competition and alternatives, so it’s not credible to claim no competitors. How big is the funding request, and how much equity will you give? Who are your competitors, and how do you win?

Invest 108

Invest Startup Slides Equity 108

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 17, 2012

Non-organic growth would include OEM relationships, finding strategic partners, “coopetition,” as well as acquisitions. Even mergers and acquisitions (M&A) came early. These relationships need not require cash investments; often they are done with exchanges of equity or assets. Economies of scale. New management skills.

Entrepreneur 99

Entrepreneur Organization Startup Competition 99

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 17, 2014

Projecting the financials should be the last step of your business plan preparation, since it assumes you already know the opportunity size, customer buying habits, pricing, costs, and competition. Here are some basic “rules of thumb” that every Angel or venture capital equity investor uses, to help you anticipate their reactions.

Equity 99

Equity Venture Capital Invest Pricing 99

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2015

Include your sustainable competitive advantage. Patents or other intellectual property are a real competitive advantage for a startup, but first to market and working harder are not sustainable. The best way to do this is to highlight a recent similar company payback to investors, via going public or acquisition exit.

Summary 101

Summary Patents Technical Review Competition 101

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 8, 2019

Most founders and CEOs will not voluntarily establish a formal Board of Directors, unless they are trying to attract a major investor, preparing for an IPO, or planning for an acquisition. It’s a resource that you can’t afford to ignore if you intend to stay competitive today. How much are you willing to spend on your board?

Startup 98

Startup Allegis Entrepreneur Acquisition 98

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 28, 2013

Projecting the financials should be the last step of your business plan preparation, since it assumes you already know the opportunity size, customer buying habits, pricing, costs, and competition. Here are some basic “rules of thumb” that every Angel or venture capital equity investor uses, to help you anticipate their reactions.

Startup 97

Startup Equity Entrepreneur Venture Capital 97

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 15, 2011

Non-organic growth would include OEM relationships, finding strategic partners, “coopetition,” as well as acquisitions. Even mergers and acquisitions (M&A) came early. These relationships need not require cash investments; often they are done with exchanges of equity or assets. Economies of scale. New management skills.

Startup 93

Startup Organization Competition IBM 93

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 13, 2015

Focusing on the key elements that larger brands examine when they consider an acquisition is crucial for obtaining the best price and for establishing a corporate brand that distinguishes itself from its competitors as a valuable asset. As reported by Reuters in the article, Bain to buy Blue Coat for about $2.4

Startup 40

Startup Acquisition Outsource Development Outsource 40

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 16, 2015

That’s why all those so-called million dollar ideas I hear about as an investor don’t get me excited, and entrepreneurs find that working twenty hours a day often generates nothing more than sweat, instead of the desired sweat equity. Watch that patent provide a real barrier to competitive entry.

Satisfaction 101

Satisfaction Entrepreneur Customer Custom 101

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2017

Opportunity segmentation and competitive environment. List key competitors and alternatives, highlighting your sustainable competitive advantages, such as patents and trademarks. No mention usually means no plan and not competitive. This is your elevator pitch hook, which you must be able to deliver in 30 seconds.

Startup 65

Startup Writing Patents Competition 65

Xconomy

JUNE 3, 2016

But billions of dollars in acquisitions will be left by the side of the road. Merck also saw some expected fruits of its 2014 big-ticket acquisition of Cubist Pharmaceuticals wither away this week, as the Supreme Court wouldn’t reverse a decision that shaved years off the patent life of the top-selling antibiotic daptomyicin (Cubicin).

San Diego 62

San Diego Patents Acquisition News 62

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 14, 2012

“it’s smart to use an impending investment valuation to drive a higher acquisition valuation” I would like to amend her statement slightly to read, “it’s smart to use an impending investment valuation to drive an higher acquisition.” You are either bought for stock or for equity.

Venture Capital 316

Venture Capital Pricing Social Network Acquisition 316

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 10, 2010

Michael is a very accomplished corporate executive in his own right having run Sega Gameworks and helped IPO EuroDisney as well as having been on the founding team of DreamWorks SKG (where he helped them raise their first $900 million in equity). How to investment banks help with the M&A (mergers & acquisitions) process?

Venture Capital 242

Venture Capital Mission Ventures Capital Help 242

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 7, 2013

CapLinked also netted in new customers such as Thomson Reuters, Sun Capital, and Equity Partners, NextView Ventures and crowd-funding service AI Verified which will take advantage of its iPad compatibility, bulk uploading, and reporting tools. According to Eric M.

Mobile 91

Mobile Report Pricing Tool 91

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 2, 2016

That’s why all those so-called million dollar ideas I hear about as an investor don’t get me excited, and entrepreneurs find that working twenty hours a day often generates nothing more than sweat, instead of the desired sweat equity. Watch that patent provide a real barrier to competitive entry.

Satisfaction 61

Satisfaction Startup Customer Custom 61

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 10, 2015

Investors want to hear a quantified problem, a simple solution description, opportunity size, competition, traction, team qualifications, how much money you need, and what equity you are willing to give. Skip the background story and customer pitch, which every investor has heard all too often.

Entrepreneur 106

Entrepreneur Sample Ideas Customer 106

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 28, 2017

In the heat of scaling the business, it’s tempting to skip the cost and time of finding qualified job candidates, and enlist those close at hand, without paying them a competitive wage for the hard work and commitment you need. Retain maximum equity by requesting minimal funding. Remember the old adage that you get what you pay for.

Entrepreneur 72

Entrepreneur Competition Customer Custom 72

socalTECH

MARCH 6, 2017

It's very exciting to find these apps, and once we make those acquisition and changes, see if our expectations and projections are meeting up with what happens in reality, once we actually own the application. It seem that now, versus a few years ago, it's a lot more competitive to try to get out and acquire a user profitably for an app.

Media 153

Media Mobile Startup Acquisition 153

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2010

there may be major competitive changes in the market that makes your next funding round hard (e.g. Let’s assume that the $2 million buys 25% of your company, which is the norm in an equity financing. They can fund a deal if necessary and valid at the time you present an acquisition target to them. Should you take it?

Startup 319

Startup Venture Capital Capital Competition 319

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 3, 2017

Most founders and CEOs will not voluntarily establish a formal Board of Directors, unless they are trying to attract a major investor, preparing for an IPO, or planning for an acquisition. It’s a resource that you can’t afford to ignore if you intend to stay competitive today. How much are you willing to spend on your board?

Allegis 69

Allegis Startup Entrepreneur Acquisition 69

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2015

Competitor positioning and sustainable competitive advantage. No investor pitch should end without asking for a specific amount of money, providing some details on how that money will be used and what equity in the company you are offering in return. Potential investor return calculation and exit strategy.

Product 103

Product Slides Customer Custom 103

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2017

From my perspective, projecting financial returns is part of the homework every business person needs to do in sizing customer opportunity, product costs, pricing, competition and customer value, before expending their own resources in a highly risky venture. Be willing to give up 20 to 33 percent of your equity to support this.

Pricing 57

Pricing Startup Entrepreneur Invest 57

InfoChachkie

MAY 16, 2011

As an entrepreneur and startup investor, I have helped create companies which achieved two IPOs which collectively raised over $100 million, as well as two acquisitions which totaled $385 million. Ask them to accept equity in exchange for all or a portion of their overall compensation. Entrepreneurship is best learned experientially.

Startup 242

Startup Outsource Development Outsource Sales 242

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 11, 2016

Investors want to hear a quantified problem, a simple solution description, opportunity size, competition, traction, team qualifications, how much money you need, and what equity you are willing to give. Skip the background story and customer pitch, which every investor has heard all too often.

Startup 57

Startup Entrepreneur Sample Ideas 57

Tech Zulu Event

MAY 9, 2013

Essner added, “They have a beautiful, modern, workflow-friendly transaction management solution for corporate development teams, sell-side advisors, and private equity firms, as well as an extremely driven and impressive team that is perfectly positioned to take advantage of this big opportunity to disrupt the financial technology sector.”.

Draper 68

Draper Google Software Engineering Invest 68