Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2022

Do real tests with real pricing to see if customers will pay you, without being pushed. Don’t forget a viable financial model of costs, margins, customer acquisition, and break-even. Nail the solution. Neither breakthrough technology nor maximum features will assure that “if we build it, they will come.” Nail the business model.

Technical Review 143

Technical Review Customer Custom Entrepreneur 143

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 8, 2021

“Intrapreneurs” are entrepreneurs inside big companies, who do corporate spin-offs. Unlock shareholder value , which the spin-off can do as an independent entity. Grow faster , which a spin-off can do outside the parent company. Yet spin-offs seem to most often fail to launch in the real world.

Company 125

Company Companies Startup Examples 125

Tech Zulu Event

JANUARY 13, 2016

There are many factors to consider when your company is ready to embark upon an acquisition. If you believe your business is valuable to somebody and you want to sell or get acquired by a larger organization there are a few steps you can take to increase your value and negotiate for favorable terms. Setting the Price.

Acquisition 40

Acquisition Pricing Statistics Tips 40

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 1, 2015

when a technology startup, its investors or the market believe in robust growth rates writ large. “the ecommerce company gained fauxmentum by raising artificially high amounts of venture capital and spent lavishly on customer acquisition despite long payback periods and questionable LTV” __. __. faux·men·tum.

Startup 150

Startup Marketing Customer Custom 150

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2013

He had an idea for a startup that would help consumers better book service jobs and would take on Service Magic, which he believed had a business model that could be disrupted. RedBeacon went on to sell to HomeDepot in what was considered a very successful acquisition on all sides. But Ethan had left by the time of the acquisition.

CTO Coach 359

CTO Coach Google CTO Hire Yammer 359

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

In it I talked about how I believe that Netflix has a very strong lead in the battle for the “head end&# of the digital living room. If you haven’t read his book please do yourself a favor and buy it. Very few companies ever do this. So it wouldn’t be a surprise to see price increases in Qwikster in the future.

Netflix 329

Netflix Evite Pricing Hulu 329

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 28, 2018

Of course the VC is looking to have specificity in how you plan to spend the money you’re going to raise and plans that show a pie chart that says, “25% on marketing, 30% on technology and R&D, 20% on infrastructure, 25% on G&A” do not get funded. Yes, I see plans this pedestrian. This is a red flag for VCs.

Venture Capital 247

Venture Capital Capital Funding Demand 247

socalTECH

JANUARY 28, 2013

How do you go about trying to completely disrupt the entire telecom industry? Over the last three months, we've been figuring out the model of wireless Internet, and doing the same thing with broadband Internet access, where we're rolling out and launching a home device with a similar freemium model, but with more data.

Startup 245

Startup IP Networking Encino 245

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 11, 2014

He believes that the term “growth hacking” is misleading and potentially dangerous and in stead endorses good old fashioned online marketing techniques. I believe growth hacking is about all of this. We’ve been doing this online marketing stuff for years and we know what we’re doing.

Technical Review 384

Technical Review SEM SEO Marketing 384

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 6, 2020

We're really focused on the consumer getting the right car at the right price. There are lots of transaction costs which occur both on acquisition of customers and on returns, and those costs are real, and must be considered in how we price the products. Let's talk about this deal with Honda, how did that come about?

Startup 124

Startup Pricing Platform Study 124

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 20, 2014

I was an early and tireless advocate for the growth of the Internet video ecosystem and as virtually every article I wrote made clear I believe the 800-pound-gorilla is YouTube and will remain so for the foreseeable future. The Internet works best on Deflationary Economics. So Why MiTú? Indeed we are already seeing that online.

Invest 291

Invest Content Media Networking 291

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 28, 2018

If a consumer will pay a fixed price for a product or service then the battle over who gets the margin in any sale is between the person who merchandises a product and the person who manufactures it. If you can’t out-Amazon Amazon, then move on and do something else. Here are some ideas of what I believe matters. Not so much.

Product 296

Product Course Customer Custom 296

socalTECH

APRIL 13, 2020

Our interview today is with Greg Martin , co-founder of LiquidStock (www.liquidstock.com), an investment fund which offers up a way for employees of private companies to exercise their stock options before an IPO or acquisition. We have a really elegant solution to do that. Tell us what you're up to now?

Startup 113

Startup Paramount Invest Capital 113

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 29, 2010

We received so much positive feedback from our This Week in Venture Capital show walking through valuation calculations & term sheets that we decided to do a Q&A show this week to address topics that entrepreneurs want to learn about. We will continue to do more of this. As a result I had to do a down round.

Venture Capital 282

Venture Capital Capital Startup Pricing 282

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

Conversely if you’re burning $600,000 per month (yes, some companies do) then you only have 5 months of cash left. At a minimum I encourage you to spend some time preparing for that question, which phrased another way is, “What do you plan to do with $6-8 million when you raise it.”

Startup 383

Startup Company Companies .Net 383

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 25, 2013

The top 2% do not drive 98% of the returns. So if you take 6 very strong performing firms of $250 million and assume they do 5x each that is $1.25 The better way to think about VC returns is, do the firms consistently beat alternative asset clases on an IRR basis to adjust for the increased risk and lack of liquidity?

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Invest Funding 374

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 8, 2010

I’d embed the video but it doesn’t seem to allow you to do this so here’s the link the This Week in Startups, Inaugural show. We covered the following and much more: - FourSquare ( rumors of both an $80m pre money or a $100 million acquisition ). I was asked if I would pay $80 million. now (or ever).

Venture Capital 232

Venture Capital Capital SEO Yahoo 232

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 8, 2009

I’m not against MBA’s (I have one myself from University of Chicago and my lovely wife was graduated from Wharton – she loves to remind me that they usually score higher in the rankings than we do). Not hard-core, just the stuff you’d do if you were in jr. MBA fine, but not required. So back to MBAs.

Startup 337

Startup Venture Capital Study Course 337

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

So when Sam Rosen came to me with the idea of disrupting storage with a product that is priced cheaper than existing incumbents and he could build a product that is a better service I was intrigued. And how much do others providers make? But not doing basic research makes no sense. MakeSpace provides physical storage.

Startup 150

Startup Marketing Study SEO 150

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 15, 2019

Do real tests with real pricing to see if customers will pay you, without being pushed. Don’t forget a viable financial model of costs, margins, customer acquisition, and break-even. Nail the solution. Neither breakthrough technology nor maximum features will assure that “if we build it, they will come.” Nail the business model.

Startup 98

Startup Technical Review Customer Custom 98

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 14, 2015

As a serious entrepreneur, you have more invested than any outsider, so you should be looking for the same evidence and not believing your own hype. You should be counting only those people who fit your target customer demographic and paid full price for the product or service, without any prior connection to you or the business.

Acquisition 100

Acquisition Entrepreneur Customer Custom 100

socalTECH

MAY 8, 2015

We spoke with the two on their plans to own the on-demand home services area; why Amazon.com's home services marketplace is a partner, not a competitor; and why they believe single segment on-demand startups are missing the mark. We also set pricing, and are pioneering getting pricing upfront, and have a low price guarantee.

Services 100

Services ReachLocal Demand Startup 100

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 27, 2011

as his "retail" price. I also believe that early employees should be bringing higher value than early investor dollars as they can and should contribute to the concept greater than an investor. I believe that Paul Graham's core formula takes that into account. Let's run through an example. and we have 11.1%

Equity 391

Equity CTO Hire Startup Examples 391

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2018

A dockless eScooter solution is only compelling if you believe that you’ll always be able to find a scooter in a relatively short walking distance or it defeats the purpose. As the scooters are electronic, they do require charging at the end of the day. How do they make money? Do you buy one? How do you get access?”

Santa Monica 256

Santa Monica Funding Startup Course 256

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2015

Even if you work every day in the world of new-venture funding, as I do, the options are confusing, and their meanings seem to change on a regular basis. These funders often offer convertible notes, rather than the traditional priced equity. Yet, knowing this distinction is important. Here they are: A crowdfunding campaign.

Funding 104

Funding Venture Capital Startup Seed Funding 104

InfoChachkie

FEBRUARY 23, 2018

That sounds like an incredibly entrepreneurial thing to do, irrespective of a company’s size. It’s not easy, but I believe that every time you look to open an office for your business you have to look at it as truly an investment in your business. I believe you saved the company tens of millions of dollars annually with this effort.

Entrepreneur 113

Entrepreneur Design Acquisition Sales 113

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. Eleanor Roosevelt – US Diplomat & Wife of President Franklin Roosevelt. During those same 25-years, I also made innumerable mistakes.

Startup 242

Startup Outsource Development Outsource Sales 242

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 31, 2011

And we do that at a tenth of the cost of the traditional job boards.”. I think the biggest problem Monster, HotJobs, and CareerBuilder face right now is that they are charging premium prices for what is an increasingly commoditized product. Do you like learning new things at a detailed low level? Become a Founder!

MyLife 160

MyLife CitySearch Web Technical Review 160

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 31, 2011

And we do that at a tenth of the cost of the traditional job boards.”. I think the biggest problem Monster, HotJobs, and CareerBuilder face right now is that they are charging premium prices for what is an increasingly commoditized product. Do you like learning new things at a detailed low level? Become a Founder!

MyLife 157

MyLife CitySearch Web Technical Review 157

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 15, 2010

I’m loving doing the show and I think that Jason and I have pretty good banter and rapport. It was the first company to do “paid search&# back when Larry & Sergey were saying they would never do it. In fact, their affiliate partners dissuaded them from doing so. Because GoTo.com was his idea.

Venture Capital 271

Venture Capital Capital Google Platform 271

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. Most entrepreneurs, with no experience, believe that they can make good money with lower margins than competitors.

Equity 99

Equity Venture Capital Invest Pricing 99

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 12, 2010

In the technology world there are a few websites that most startups track to keep up with the latest financings, acquisitions, product announcements and gossip: BusinessInsider, TechCrunch, Mashable, GigaOm, etc. He’s been a tireless champion for causes that he believes in (reform of VC carry taxation being one of them).

Venture Capital 232

Venture Capital Slides Seed Funding Google 232

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 27, 2013

One way they do this by bringing cutting edge technology to churches and non-profits at a price that fits into almost any non-profits limited budgets. The first iPhone had a lot to do with it and so did SXSW. I’ve always had the question, How do you leverage technology for good? What inspired you to start ROAR?

Mobile 92

Mobile Social Media Startup Media 92

Tech Zulu Event

JULY 24, 2014

How do you distinguish between the two? Whether you targeted an industry with plenty of existing competitors, or believed that your business would be the only one focusing on this previously unaddressed market opportunity, things have drastically changed. 1) Your market has changed. In any case, it’s time to retool.

Startup 98

Startup Competition Examples Customer 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. Most entrepreneurs, with no experience, believe that they can make good money with lower margins than competitors.

Startup 97

Startup Equity Entrepreneur Venture Capital 97

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 19, 2015

Yesterday I wrote about the need to “ do fewer things, more often ” in which I described that frenzied world we live in and why the shiny objects and distractions stop us from living up to our true potential. Business leaders have many tasks to accomplish and prioritizing stuff can be hard. Opening is easier than closing.

Startup 150

Startup Framework Sales Venture Capital 150

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 20, 2013

“Intrapreneurs” are entrepreneurs inside big companies, who do corporate spin-offs. Unlock shareholder value , which the spin-off can do as an independent entity. Grow faster , which a spin-off can do outside the parent company. Yet spin-offs seem to most often fail to launch in the real world.

Startup 85

Startup Entrepreneur Examples Services 85