Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 26, 2021

Investors know that operational and employee expenses are always higher than anticipated, not to mention customer acquisition costs, capital expenses, and ongoing competitive initiatives. Convince me that you understand your competition. Most investors admit that they invest in the people, as much as the solution.

Funding 132

Funding Template Resource Competition 132

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 26, 2020

Many successful crowdfunding campaigns, just like many startups funded by angels and VCs, fail miserably due to normal business challenges, including inventory buildup, marketing, competition, and customer support. Thus crowdfunding is clearly not the panacea for funding and success that many entrepreneurs envision. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 151

Startup Equity Funding Demand 151

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 26, 2010

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. Marty Zwilling.

Acquisition 85

Acquisition Startup Organization Competition 85

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2021

If there are conflicts within the team, or differing views of the strategy, or evidence of missing processes and tools, the investment process will likely be terminated. Make yourself available to answer any questions, show your enthusiasm, and explain both the positives and negatives of the external investment process.

Technical Review 151

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Invest 151

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 15, 2023

Investors invest in people, more than ideas. 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. Grab investor attention in the first couple of minutes.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Sample Ideas Custom 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

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 8, 2019

Responding to Elizabeth Warren’s call to regulate and break up some of the nation’s largest technology companies, the venture capitalists that invest in technology companies are advising the presidential hopeful to move slowly and not break anything. — 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? Sometimes, the person on the other side must keep to a minimum price you cannot understand or afford.

Pricing 120

Pricing Sales Tool Equity 120

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. Thus investors are investing in you and your team, so you need to highlight the skills you have mastered, past accomplishments, and the connections you have established in your industry.

Entrepreneur 162

Entrepreneur Social Media Examples Metrics 162

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 14, 2020

Investors invest in people, more than ideas. 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. Grab investor attention in the first couple of minutes.

Entrepreneur 127

Entrepreneur Sample Ideas Custom 127

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

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.

Organization 100

Organization Startup Competition IBM 100

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

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 12, 2010

Spark Capital is relatively new to VC (founded in 2005) yet has become one of the hottest new VCs having invested in Twitter, Tumblr, AdMeld, Boxee, KickApps and many more companies. New funding will be applied toward user acquisition and to expand into new product categories (gourmet food, wine and new services).

Venture Capital 217

Venture Capital Capital Metrics Competition 217

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 10, 2010

If you don’t know Montgomery & Co it is one of the premier technology & media focused investment banks in the country (and as Michael corrected me they also have a strong Healthcare / Med tech practice). Should you use investment banks to raise venture capital? We discussed: 1. This is often in the 5-7% range.

Venture Capital 242

Venture Capital Mission Ventures Capital Help 242

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.

Entrepreneur 99

Entrepreneur Organization Startup Competition 99

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

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. Calculate cash-burn rate and investment timing.

Pricing 57

Pricing Startup Entrepreneur Invest 57

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. Project revenues, costs and investment expectations. Focus on a specific market segment to match your solution.

Summary 101

Summary Patents Technical Review Competition 101

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2015

Competitor positioning and sustainable competitive advantage. Immediate investment requirements and use of funds. 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.

Product 103

Product Slides Custom Customer 103

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

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.

Startup 93

Startup Organization Competition IBM 93

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. Project revenues, costs and investment needs.

Startup 65

Startup Writing Patents Competition 65

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 17, 2015

If there are conflicts within the team, or differing views of the strategy, or evidence of missing processes and tools, the investment process will likely be terminated. Make yourself available to answer any questions, show your enthusiasm, and explain both the positives and negatives of the external investment process.

Technical Review 108

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Entrepreneur 108

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

Tech Zulu Event

MAY 9, 2013

Speaking of the new investment, CapLinked CEO Eric M. Jackson said, “We’re using the proceeds from our financing round to invest in our technology, build new features, and increase sales and support.”. Jackson funding Google Inflection Ventures Investing Lee Essener' Over $3M Raised. million in the Series A round.

Draper 68

Draper Google Software Engineering Invest 68

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 10, 2015

Investors invest in people, more than ideas. 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. Grab investor attention in the first couple of minutes.

Entrepreneur 106

Entrepreneur Sample Ideas Custom 106

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. In addition to paying the consultant, you must invest time to educate them. During those same 25-years, I also made innumerable mistakes.

Startup 242

Startup Outsource Development Outsource Sales 242

InfoChachkie

JUNE 4, 2012

In addition to paying the consultant, you must invest time to educate them. In many instances, it is difficult to gain an adequate return on this time investment, as the knowledge transferred is lost once the consultant moves on to their next client. Fallacy: An entrepreneur’s two most precious assets are time and money.

Entrepreneur 272

Entrepreneur Outsource Ideas Technical Review 272

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 16, 2015

Many successful crowdfunding campaigns, just like many startups funded by angels and VCs, fail miserably due to normal business challenges, including inventory buildup, marketing, competition, and customer support. Thus crowdfunding is clearly not the panacea for funding and success that many entrepreneurs envision. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 53

Startup Equity Entrepreneur Demand 53

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

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

otherwise I prefer to invest less and risk less). We want money to make some acquisitions (investors would prefer to fund M&A if they know specific deals – not to encourage bad behavior. So money spent should add equity value or create IP that eventually will. We want a strong balance sheet (um, ok.

Startup 383

Startup Company Companies .Net 383

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 11, 2016

Investors invest in people, more than ideas. 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. Grab investor attention in the first couple of minutes.

Startup 57

Startup Entrepreneur Sample Ideas 57

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 16, 2018

Without taking a dime of outside capital, the company has achieved impressive success in a competitive, SaaS market segment, landing companies such as Nike, Intuit, NASA, AutoDesk and PBS. We both made personal investments in the company. Metrics related to customer acquisition, lifetime value and churn.

Venture Capital 115

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Santa Barbara SaaS 115

From the Venture Trenches

MARCH 27, 2013

The recent firing of Groupon’s CEO Andrew Mason is a cautionary tale of the increased scrutiny and heightened expectations that come from accessing increasingly larger amounts of investment capital. It can give you a foundation from which to launch, but usually requires subsequent rounds of capital from larger investment sources.

Venture Capital 45

Venture Capital Capital Anthem Startup 45

socalTECH

MAY 21, 2013

I''ve grown from driving part of the technology within the company, to driving all of the product development side, and also picking up product management and business development, around traffic acquisition and third party products. We also know we''re not a startup, and don''t have equity to offer. How big is YP?

Technical Review 223

Technical Review Glendale Advertising Google 223

socalTECH

MAY 21, 2013

I''ve grown from driving part of the technology within the company, to driving all of the product development side, and also picking up product management and business development, around traffic acquisition and third party products. We also know we''re not a startup, and don''t have equity to offer. How big is YP.com?

Technical Review 211

Technical Review Glendale Advertising Google 211