Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2021

No matter how passionately you believe that everyone needs one, and positive feedback from friends and early adopters (false positives), before you invest in scaling the business, make sure you set and meet good metrics in cost of customer acquisition, recurring sales, and margin. Mergers and acquisitions also require new skills.

Technical Review 131

Technical Review Case Study Mentor Software Review 131

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 13, 2019

When you are starting a new business, every resource is precious, including time, funding, and people. Some chaos is normal in every new business, but many wait far too long before they install metrics based on “best practices,” and fail to attack obvious bottlenecks with a vengeance. Use multiple small orders at first.

Outsource Development 122

Outsource Development Outsource Metrics Technical Review 122

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2022

For example, if you are working on a great social networking idea to replace Facebook, and need funding, you probably won’t find any interested and focused VCs or angel investors in Arizona, where I live. But it is an important metric for firms in pursuit of explosive growth. get the attention of the market they choose.

Technical Review 123

Technical Review Oracle Software Review Ideas 123

socalTECH

JANUARY 2, 2020

While it was a good year for our merger and acquisition practice in the SaaS and fintech space, our most exciting news is in our merchant banking sector where we invest in and advise growth companies often for several years. Socaltech has partnered with Sutton Capital Partners with their Recurring Revenue Conference for several yars.

Capital 100

Capital SoCal Southern California SaaS 100

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2021

Even when orders are clearly on the upswing, you need more funding to cover inventory and lagging accounts receivable. You never have the time and resources for International expansion, acquisitions, venture capital investors, or going public. Persistent profit and cash flow shortages appear.

Entrepreneur 174

Entrepreneur Search Engine Optimization Satisfaction Social Media 174

socalTECH

MARCH 5, 2012

TestFlight's product provides iOS developers with information on an app's audience, revenue, engagement, and other metrics. funding round in November. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed. Burstly is backed by GRP Partners, Rincon Venture Partners, and SoftBank, and announced a $5.5M READ MORE>>.

GRP Partners 154

GRP Partners Metrics Advertising Mobile 154

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2021

To keep you on a positive track with potential investors, I recommend the following logic principles, to balance your passion in presenting your vision of a new business: Make sure your plan includes some business metrics. For example, if you have ever watched the Shark Tank show on TV, they always ask about the cost of customer acquisition.

Entrepreneur 162

Entrepreneur Social Media Examples Metrics 162

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

We caught up with co-founder Joey Flores on the story behind the company's brush with death, and its recent acquisition by You42, which was announced last week. Joey Flores: Yeah, we spend the earlier part of 2014 exploring acquisition options, because we had a pretty hard time raising money. Joey, thanks for the time today.

Software Review 100

Software Review Startup Metrics Content 100

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2020

It’s your job as a leader to be the model high performer, quantify the team view with metrics, and expand awareness to the best outside competition and new tools. Distinguish growth opportunities from survival efforts, and make sure they are adequately funded, rewarded, and measured. Attract, train, and reward only the best leaders.

Technical Review 124

Technical Review Layoffs Social Media Metrics 124

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 9, 2019

For example, if you are working on a great social networking idea to replace Facebook, and need funding, you probably won’t find any interested and focused VCs or Angel investors in Arizona, where I live. But it is an important metric for firms in pursuit of explosive growth. get the attention of the market they choose.

Startup 97

Startup Technical Review Oracle Software Review 97

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 14, 2015

Funding is only one of the critical resources you need to start a business. Define metrics to keep on track for the journey. Common financial metrics include burn rate, gross margin, revenue growth and net profit. You also need a sales pipeline, customer acquisition costs and marketing costs as a percent of revenue.

Startup 101

Startup Metrics Resource Mentor 101

socalTECH

JANUARY 24, 2011

For this morning's company profile, we thought we'd connect with ShareSquare (www.getsharesquare.com), a newly funded Los Angeles startup focused on QR barcodes -- 3D barcodes -- focused on musicians and entertainers. In that market, there are literally no ROI metrics. The best metrics are estimated impressions.

Startup 220

Startup West Hollywood Metrics Entertainment 220

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2018

Allocate funds for intrapreneurship and acquisitions. Set metrics and rewards specifically for innovation. Metrics can be used to change ingrained behavior, as well as build revenue. People work on what they get measured on.

Metrics 58

Metrics IBM IBM Competition 58

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 16, 2018

We spent a lot of time talking about what type of company we wanted to create, how many employees we’d eventually have, whether we would take funding, our lifestyle, and a dozen other things that had nothing to do with writing software. Semick: We’re a very metrics driven company, and we have been from the beginning. I’ve been there.

Venture Capital 115

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Santa Barbara SaaS 115

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 18, 2014

MuckerLab is one of a number of accelerators who have managed to scoop up venture funding for its companies, with such portfolio companies Surf Air, Retention Science, Wallaby, Chromatik, and others. From your experience, given that many of your companies have gone on to find funding, what gets those companies funded?

Incubator 187

Incubator Southern California Startup Ideas 187

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 23, 2016

Failure to react quickly often leads to funding freezes and founder replacements. Initiate new strategic partnerships and investigate acquisitions versus in-house changes. Define and use market metrics to tune your plan. You need metrics to spot these changes, and regular new initiatives to test new and old alternatives.

Social Media 67

Social Media Metrics Startup Technical Review 67

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2015

These don’t get funded, nor bought by customers. How the solution and business model work to fund the business. Of course, these should never be in a customer pitch, but investors expect an overall strategy with specific budgets, milestones and metrics. Immediate investment requirements and use of funds.

Product 103

Product Slides Customer Custom 103

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 16, 2015

For example, if you are working on a great social networking idea to replace Facebook, and need funding, you probably won’t find any interested and focused VCs or Angel investors in Phoenix, Arizona, where I live. But it is an important metric for firms in pursuit of explosive growth. get the attention of the market they choose.

Startup 109

Startup Technical Review Oracle Software Review 109

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 26, 2013

Almost every early-stage startup who has approached investors for funding has heard the innocuous sounding rejection “I love your idea, but come back when you have more traction.” Customer acquisition cost. What does traction really mean to investors, and how much is enough? First of all, a definition.

Startup 106

Startup Metrics Customer Custom 106

socalTECH

MARCH 6, 2017

Los Angeles-based Maple Media (maplemedia.io) recently announced a big, $30M funding from Shamrock Capital, to assemble a collection of mobile applications in the utility, productivity, games and entertainment verticals. A lot of what we've been looking at are the metrics. We have a huge acquisition pipeline.

Media 153

Media Mobile Startup Acquisition 153

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 2, 2017

For example, if you are working on a great social networking idea to replace Facebook, and need funding, you probably won’t find any interested and focused VCs or Angel investors in Arizona, where I live. But it is an important metric for firms in pursuit of explosive growth. get the attention of the market they choose.

Sites 59

Sites Startup Technical Review Oracle 59

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

Any thoughts on my recent post Startup Metrics ? The Startup Metrics post is a good example of what I call “holocognics.” Startup Metrics discusses what a Startup needs to consider before “going live.” Right now we have a lot of Intellectual Property and Cyberlaw work that crosses over between the two facets of our firm.

Startup 150

Startup SEO Pepperdine Blogging 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 3, 2015

Even when orders are clearly on the upswing, you need more funding to cover inventory and lagging accounts receivable. You never have the time and resources for International expansion, acquisitions, venture capital investors, or going public. You only expected that kind of a challenge from your competitors.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Search Engine Optimization Satisfaction Social Media 111

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 17, 2007

What I really liked in my conversations with The Hive is that they are willing to work with and fund ventures that would never get VC dollars. What can they do for funding, where can they go for help? Technology Advisor Technology Roles in Startups Pricing Customer Acquisition Sunk Costs and More -.

Incubator 150

Incubator CTO Coach Southern California CTO Hire 150

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 7, 2013

For example, if you are working on a great social networking idea to replace Facebook, and need funding, you probably won’t find any interested and focused VCs or Angel investors in Phoenix, Arizona, where I live. But it is an important metric for firms in pursuit of explosive growth. get the attention of the market they choose.

Startup 102

Startup Technical Review Oracle Entrepreneur 102

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 7, 2021

We’ve worked with lots of startups at different points in the funnel, starting from the ground up and working with them through various rounds of funding, all the way through acquisitions, including two by unicorns. But these days, ground up is tougher.

Commerce 211

Commerce Content Marketing Startup 211

Tech Zulu Event

AUGUST 31, 2015

One question everyone asks is what investors look for when deciding whether or not to fund a startup. VCs are interested in funding companies with large potential markets…enough to provide them with a ten times return on their investment. Having a high-caliber team with a good track record and a clear value proposition are givens.

Seed Funding 40

Seed Funding Course Metrics Invest 40

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 27, 2013

How about mergers and acquisitions? There''s tons of activity, and lots of companies getting funded. There have been a lot of new angel investors coming out of the woodwork, and lots of companies getting pretty good funding and valuation. We invest globally, with 20 percent of our funds outside the U.S., READ MORE>>.

Southern California 124

Southern California SoCal Commerce Invest 124

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 1, 2010

But more importantly we talked in the video about fund raising and how Scott has become so efficient at it. And finally, Scott demonstrated his internal management tool for managing the metrics of his business. Rumored to have turned down acquisition offers from Yahoo and Facebook. It’s awesome. Foursquare. Foursquare.

Zag 248

Zag Truecar Venture Capital CarsDirect 248

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 20, 2007

LA is a vibrant community with a rich network of angels that fund early stage companies, lots of VCs, easy access to big media, lots of innovation in media, mobile content, games, green, health care, and many, many others. Technology Advisor Technology Roles in Startups Pricing Customer Acquisition Sunk Costs and More -.

CTO Coach 150

CTO Coach Southern California CTO Hire Social Media 150

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

To grow faster businesses need resources in today’s financial period to fund growth that may not come for 6 months to a year. You have to understand whether they’re likely to yield revenue growth in the near term OR whether you have access to cheap enough capital to fund your losses until your investments pay off.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 4, 2016

Even when orders are clearly on the upswing, you need more funding to cover inventory and lagging accounts receivable. You never have the time and resources for International expansion, acquisitions, venture capital investors, or going public. Persistent profit and cash flow shortages appear.

Search Engine Optimization 55

Search Engine Optimization Satisfaction Entrepreneur Social Media 55

Steve Reich

JUNE 11, 2012

Originally funded by the Pasadena Angels , the Company is now backed by “A” list VCs, and growing phenomenally, with tens of thousands of customers. MBO is very metrics driven, and their shareholder reports are dense with detailed, disciplined reporting that remind you that Rick is former Naval officer.

Customer 97

Customer Custom Software Review SaaS 97

LATechDigest

OCTOBER 26, 2016

Between keynotes, panel rooms were packed with startup funding and scaling advice from the likes of Paige Craig (Arena), Matt Mazzeo (lowercase), Mark Mullen (Double M), Kristina Shen (Bessemer) and Kerry Bennett & Greg Bettinelli (Upfront). — LATech Digest (@LATechDigest) October 25, 2016.

Snapchat 40

Snapchat Lootcrate Riot Games Downey 40

Jason Nazar

JUNE 1, 2016

Create scarcity ; let them know that this funding round is closing soon and we’re really here to see if we’re the right fit for each other. They should include stats like your growth rate (more important than your aggregate users), your cost per acquisition, user engagement and any early signs of conversion and monetization.

Slides 49

Slides Startup Entrepreneur Metrics 49

Tech Zulu Event

MAY 8, 2014

A quick glance at Crowdfunder provides a peek into an impressively large portfolio of funded startups and small businesses; to the tune of ~8,800 companies, 45,000 investors, and over $66M in deal flow across Startups, Social Enterprise, and Small Business. As an entrepreneur, this is a terrible and common mistake.

Invest 83

Invest Platform Entrepreneur Paramount 83

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 17, 2010

Last week, Los Angeles-based MOVIECLIPS.COM (www.movieclips.com) announced the firm's Series A funding round, worth $3M, from Shasta Ventures, First Round Capital, and a number of Silicon Valley angels. Our metrics show that when people watch chips, they increase their tendency to want to watch that feature length film.

Startup 190

Startup Los Angeles Content Hollywood 190