Berkonomics

OCTOBER 10, 2013

Many CEOs have asked me if I felt an investment banker adds value if the buyer has already been identified. Investment bankers sometimes slow the process by requiring a “deal book” to be prepared containing considerable information about a company to help a buyer. Deal books are expensive to create.

Invest 207

Invest Competition Pricing Startup 207

Berkonomics

AUGUST 3, 2023

Bootstrapping: This term describes your ability to start a business with little investment and grow it using internally generated funds. Better yet, the valuation of your enterprise is often higher than if the same investment were taken from a professional investor.

Venture Capital 295

Venture Capital Startup Class Invest 295

Berkonomics

MARCH 15, 2012

In the creation of a new enterprise, there are five principal risks to be addressed by the entrepreneur. Professional investors will probe these five risk areas and make the decision to invest based upon comfort with each. And fifth: Competitive risk.

Outsource Development 200

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 200

Berkonomics

MARCH 25, 2012

For those of us who’ve invested in early stage companies, especially technology startups, we have confronted a universal problem. There are many ways to project the value of a company for purposes of pricing an investment, but all rely upon the revenue and profit projections of the entrepreneur as a starting point.

Invest 321

Invest Startup Email Competition 321

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

Below are five common questions an entrepreneur will encounter when seeking venture funding. Intent : Investor / entrepreneur conflicts often arise when a company contemplates an exit opportunity. Most venture firms target a 10x return on each investment, knowing that their average return across their portfolio will be far lower.

Entrepreneur 253

Entrepreneur Google Invest RSS 253

TechCrunch LA

JANUARY 26, 2020

The pair made a mix of early- and late-stage investments in Los Angeles-based companies like LegalZoom, Scopely, Art of Sport, The Honest Company, RingDNA, FocusMotion, DyshApp and Represent. Last year, the investment firm expanded with a $1.7 My heart goes out to the Bryant family during this incredibly difficult time.”

Venture Capital 359

Venture Capital Los Angeles Legalzoom Calabasas 359

Berkonomics

JULY 6, 2017

Know your market and competition, or don’t spend a dime on anything else. In 1994, (I know a long time ago), I invested over a million dollars into a company whose entrepreneurs had a vision that I bought into for many reasons, not the least of which was that I had industry experience and understood the need. Back to 1996.

Competition 266

Competition Research Summary Pricing 266

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 9, 2023

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. If there are enough of these, the CEO or founder can announce a valuation as high as double the actual negotiated enterprise value of the company. What power!

Pricing 156

Pricing Sales Examples Tool 156

TechCrunch LA

AUGUST 19, 2019

The startup has raised $1 million in seed funding from RXBAR founders Peter Rahal and Jared Smith, CXT Investments, and Lean Luxe founder M. ” He argued that the market has room for more than just “one winner or two winners or five winners.” Paul Munford.

Startup 217

Startup Seed Funding Los Angeles Competition 217

socalTECH

APRIL 12, 2017

Wallach on investments out of a new fund, Inevitable Ventures. How did you end up here in Los Angeles doing investments? Coincidentally, that was the exact same time in 2009 when I moved out, when Ashton Kutcher started first investing. Ron chose me to manage those investments. We brought in a third partner, Guy Oseary.

Invest 157

Invest Startup Hollywood Echo Park 157

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2016

Either of these qualms can ultimately sidetrack your startup as not worthy of investment, so it pays to do your homework on what you say and how to communicate effectively. This is also the place to first mention patents and any other differentiators that put you ahead of competition. Investors invest in people more than the idea.

Invest 108

Invest Startup Slides Equity 108

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 25, 2023

Google reached $1B in revenue within five years of incorporation, and now has a market capitalization of over $1 trillion. Twitter showed no focus on revenue in the first five years, but was able to parlay 500M users into a $53B public company, and now growing revenue. Re-investing profits to grow the business is organic growth.

Organization 94

Organization Invest Custom Customer 94

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 21, 2020

Google reached $1B in revenue within five years of incorporation, and now has a market capitalization of over $1 trillion. Twitter showed no focus on revenue in the first five years, but was able to parlay 500M users into a $35B public company, and now growing revenue. Re-investing profits to grow the business is organic growth.

Organization 173

Organization Invest Custom Customer 173

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 29, 2012

Below are five common questions an entrepreneur will encounter when seeking venture funding. Intent : Investor / entrepreneur conflicts often arise when a company contemplates an exit opportunity. Most venture firms target a 10x return on each investment, knowing that their average return across their portfolio will be far lower.

Entrepreneur 145

Entrepreneur Google Invest RSS 145

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 29, 2010

One of the most important questions you will be asked by potential investors is how your solutions beats the competition, not just today, but over the three to five year life of their investment. The concept is called “sustainable competitive advantage.” That implies competitive now, and the potential to stay in the lead.

Competition 89

Competition Patents IBM IBM 89

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 20, 2019

The feature illustrates how Postmates, one of the earlier entrants to the billion-dollar food delivery wars , is trying to remain competitive by appealing to price-sensitive customers. For now, the company’s party feature will only be offered in a handful of the nearly 3,000 U.S. cities in which it currently operates.

Orange County 200

Orange County Long Beach San Diego Los Angeles 200

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 6, 2023

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 118

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Invest 118

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 2, 2015

Don’t bash the competition. Every investor knows how vulnerable a new startup is to competitors, so investors always ask about your sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace. That says you are competitive today, have a real barrier to entry, and the potential to remain ahead of the competition for a long time.

Startup 118

Startup Competition Patents Resource 118

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 9, 2010

Here are five good reasons for setting the strategy early, as summarized by Mark Thompson and Brian Tracy in their new book “ Now, Build a Great Business! Although their book is written for businesses of all sizes, I believe the principles apply especially to startups as follows: To increase return on equity invested.

Startup 92

Startup Competition IP Patents 92

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2016

There is much discussion online and also in small, private groups, about why the price of technology companies – public and private – are falling. Valuing any company can be difficult because it requires a degree of forecasting future growth & competition and ultimately the profits of the organization.

Startup 150

Startup Company Companies Venture Capital 150

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 20, 2020

More than ever before, people want to buy from, work for, and invest in companies that matter. Your company and team members have to be seen as going above and beyond to solve the problems of internal and external customers. Companies that matter focus beyond the buy/sell transaction view of the world.

Custom 167

Custom Customer Satisfaction Marketing 167

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 18, 2016

I see it happen often in my angel investment group, and you can see it happen almost every week on the Shark Tank TV show. If you have a proven business model with some sales, it’s credible to apply a multiplier of five to 10 times this number for the first element of valuation. First priority is real revenue, customers and contracts.

Startup 71

Startup Patents Invest Blogging 71

Berkonomics

JUNE 8, 2017

Email readers, continue here…] Bootstrapping: This term describes your ability to start a business with little investment and grow it using internally-generated funds. Strategic partner” investors: If you can find a strategic partner willing to invest in your enterprise, consider it a blessing.

Venture Capital 266

Venture Capital Class Invest Equity 266

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2014

Don’t bash the competition. Every investor knows how vulnerable a new startup is to competitors, so investors always ask about your sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace. That says you are competitive today, have a real barrier to entry, and the potential to remain ahead of the competition for a long time.

Entrepreneur 110

Entrepreneur Competition Patents Resource 110

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

What you don’t realize is these famous investors only deal with entrepreneurs who sold their last company for a $100M dollars or more. A business plan is the outward facing definition of the business you hope to drive with your hardware solution, with a hardware overview in the intro to highlight customer value and competitiveness.

Product 169

Product Summary Startup Examples 169

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 31, 2021

Tech companies have spent the past decade or more developing innovations that can be applied to old-world industries like agriculture, construction, energy, education, manufacturing and transportation and logistics. ” Climate resiliency . Given the steady drumbeat of climate disasters that hit the U.S.

Startup 229

Startup Technical Review Invest Research 229

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 6, 2022

Advisory Board members often serve for a nominal retainer, or one percent of the equity, whereas Directors for even a small company would expect at least a five-digit retainer, plus meeting expenses. Do you expect involvement in company operations? How much are you willing to spend on your board? Marty Zwilling.

Allegis 139

Allegis Startup Acquisition Entrepreneur 139

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 15, 2016

More than ever before, people want to buy from, work for, and invest in companies that matter. Your company and team members have to be seen as going above and beyond to solve the problems of internal and external customers. Companies that matter focus beyond the buy/sell transaction view of the world.

Company 62

Company Companies Custom Customer 62

Tech.Co

MAY 25, 2018

The barriers to entry when it comes to launching a company require less tension and a lot less capital. In 2006, a passion to help startups grew into Tech Cocktail , a company whose mission was to showcased burgeoning companies in bars around the country. BlackTech Week (Miami, FL). The Case Foundation (Washington, DC).

Startup 140

Startup Technical Review Competition Software Review 140

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

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 20, 2018

Why are you so strongly sold on royalty licensing as the most effective way to finance a tech-based early stage company? I asked him five important questions, which he answered, and I’ve summarized below. So here goes: How would I find companies willing to license my intellectual property or to invest in a royalty stream from licenses?

IP 136

IP Product Equity Tool 136

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 26, 2012

Once you have a potential investor excited about your team, your product, and your company, the investor will inevitably ask “What is your company’s valuation?” This time I’ll use a hypothetical health-care web site company named NewCo as an example to illustrate the points. 500K might be a low estimate.

Startup 108

Startup Invest Patents Outsource Development 108

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 5, 2021

Based on their work in CleanTech and sustainability, Heck and Rogers outline five strategies for existing companies to apply to current practices and processes for dramatic efficiency improvements in the use or production of resources. Mature companies often lose sight of scrap and changeover time in existing systems.

Startup 162

Startup Resource Entrepreneur Social Media 162

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 17, 2010

Know your market and competition, or don’t spend a dime on anything else. I have stated previously that I love absolutes – statements with no wiggle room for gray-area responses. Hotels were installing the system; guests were satisfied and the company was growing. Back to 1996.

Marketing 247

Marketing Competition Research Summary 247

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 27, 2018

Don’t bash the competition. Every investor knows how vulnerable a new startup is to competitors, so investors always ask about your sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace. That says you are competitive today, have a real barrier to entry, and the potential to remain ahead of the competition for a long time.

Competition 51

Competition Patents Resource Entrepreneur 51

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 20, 2018

Why are you so strongly sold on royalty licensing as the most effective way to finance a tech-based early stage company? I asked him five important questions, which he answered, and I’ve summarized below. So here goes: How would I find companies willing to license my intellectual property or to invest in a royalty stream from licenses?

IP 120

IP Product Equity Tool 120

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Yet according to the latest data from Gust (formerly AngelSoft), only about 3 out of 100 companies who initiate the formal request process actually get funded. The Gust Deal Funnel from the last 12 months indicates is that 70% of the interested companies never make it past the initial screening process.

Invest 99

Invest Angel Technical Review Summary 99