Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 3, 2012

I got a call from a VC friend of mine who said, “we’re looking at this deal but can’t write the full check. But I had just seen the company present at a recent tech event and thought highly of what they were building. I was interested in the company but I wasn’t chasing the deal.

Venture Capital 356

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Writing 356

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 3, 2011

How did you determine the right price points for your product? Like many companies they experimented with many pricing models. They tried lots of price points – $13.99, $9.99 When they increased price from $9.99 My key take away – frame of reference in pricing is important. Gregg says at $9.99

Startup 303

Startup Venture Capital Pricing Writing 303

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 15, 2010

Like it or not – finance is a major job function in any company – startup or public company. The profile of one of the hottest companies I met was as per the graph below. But I really think this company has a good shot at becoming a monster. Investors are writing checks for dots.

Invest 411

Invest Technical Review Venture Capital Startup 411

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

What price? Because entrepreneurs often went to lawyers at their earliest stages to get their company registration done. I tapped my friends at big tech companies (Salesforce, Google, Oracle). The only way for a company to be overvalued is if there’s someone willing to pay that price. What stage? I hustled.

Startup 361

Startup Venture Capital Pricing Technical Review 361

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

What price? Because entrepreneurs often went to lawyers at their earliest stages to get their company registration done. I tapped my friends at big tech companies (Salesforce, Google, Oracle). The only way for a company to be overvalued is if there’s someone willing to pay that price. What stage? I hustled.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Startup Pricing Invest 347

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2013

.” In the article I discussed the downside of raising capital at a too high of a price and referred people to a previous article I had written encouraging founders to raise “ At the Top end of Normal ” as opposed to stratospheric prices. First, a down round sends a signal that something is wrong with your company.

Pricing 302

Pricing Seed Funding Invest Venture Capital 302

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 14, 2012

…” I’ll write soon on my views of why I believe Instagram took off as a social network and what I think comes next. What I want to talk about today is one of the insider baseball discussions of our industry this past week: The odd fact of the $500 million financing round completed just before the company sold for a B.

Venture Capital 316

Venture Capital Pricing Social Network Acquisition 316

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 22, 2010

Back in 1999 when I first raised venture capital I had zero knowledge of what a fair term sheet looked like or how to value my company. Other founders, “as a privately held company we don’t disclose our valuation.&# Me, “dude, I’m not a journalist. The VC assumes you’ll have an option pool.

Venture Capital 405

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Funding 405

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

I find it amusing when a journalist writes an article about a prominent startup (either privately held or preparing for an IPO) and decries that, “They’re not even profitable!” Exec Summary: Most companies (98+%) in the world (even tech startups) should be very profit focused. One of them is profitability.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 2, 2010

Some objections are real and they end up becoming changes to your product, your service plan or your pricing / bundling. As a founder, when you’ve been dealing with these kinds of objections for a couple of years it becomes natural and you easily handle objections on price, product & competition without much thought.

Sales 289

Sales Startup Training Pricing 289

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2021

When you first start your career as an investor (or when you first start writing angel checks) your main obsession is “getting into great deals.” They sold 2 years later for $16 million In the financial crisis of 2008 we had a company that had jointly hired lawyers to consider a bankruptcy and also pursued (and achieved!)

Funding 294

Funding Startup Writing Invest 294

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 5, 2011

Nor do they exist in the investors of early-stage companies. I’ve started writing up some of those sales & marketing lessons and I plan to continue to build that section out over time. Many great ones don’t thrive in the early phase of a company where the sales is more consultative or evangelical.

Sales 316

Sales Startup Pricing Customer 316

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 25, 2011

Yesterday I saw a Tweet from Chris Sacca fly by that prompted me to want to write a blog post helping entrepreneurs understand why they should push back against VCs asking for “super pro-rata” rights. Obviously the situation is very different in companies where the company isn’t “killing it.”

Entrepreneur 310

Entrepreneur Venture Capital Writing Invest 310

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 29, 2010

I explain in the video what happened in my first company (e.g. on the entrepreneur side of the table) when I raised at too high of a price. Down rounds are psychologically really difficult on companies and can make it harder to do later rounds. Pricing high also takes exit options off the table.

Venture Capital 282

Venture Capital Capital Startup Pricing 282

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 11, 2012

As a result I’ve really resisted writing about negotiations. Sometimes I even say, “I will change price / terms if I need to. If I forget to write, “Don’t Negotiation Piecemeal” after that then remind me. Your job is to offer a price (or terms) and walk. submitting term sheets.

Pricing 305

Pricing Startup Examples Writing 305

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 Companies Company Venture Capital 150

InfoChachkie

DECEMBER 8, 2011

Brad is also the Co-Founder of TechStars , an acclaimed startup boot camp which has spawned a number of promising companies. Of the 80 companies that have completed the program since its 2007 inception, 49 have received funding, 8 have been acquired and 8 have ceased operations. Writing a book is very different from writing a blog.

Venture Capital 224

Venture Capital Writing Entrepreneur Blogging 224

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 27, 2014

I wrote my version here and Scott wrote an excellent write-up of his views here. We both agree that the later-stage valuations are being driven up to a point that feels irrationally priced [he uses b-round SaaS valuations as an example and I am willing to be even more broad based]. Each of the two videos is about 10 minutes long.

Venture Capital 309

Venture Capital SaaS Writing Funding 309

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2010

There is a transition in every company from a “seat of the pants&# kind of entrepreneurial company to a “process driven&# mechanized one. Frankly, I’m much more of the former kind of guy and I tire of the routine process & politics required to succeed in a big company. This seldom works.

Sales 296

Sales Pricing Startup Customer 296

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2010

I pointed to several Economist articles I had read that mapped historical prices of real estate for 400 years and how on average property values grow at no more 1.5% above inflation yet in many markets in the US & Europe prices were rising at 10-25% per year. And it’s driving up prices beyond their inherent value.

Invest 299

Invest Angel Technical Review Venture Capital 299

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 1, 2011

I started by writing 3-4 times / week. I didn’t have any grand ambitions other than to write, share ideas and try to build awareness of who I am through my thoughts. I agreed to finance a company today. If I get a holiday bump I’ll raise a round at whatever price I like. I’ve kept it up for 2 years.

Startup 391

Startup Blogging Venture Capital Writing 391

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 3, 2011

The truth is I have been thinking a lot about the topic, I just haven’t been writing about it. AWS helped lower the cost of starting a company by 90%. When I started my first company at 31 year’s old I had to raise at least $5 million. million to launch a SaaS software company and we took $2.5

Entrepreneur 341

Entrepreneur Venture Capital Startup Blogging 341

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2010

This happens when the company has been making steady progress but hasn’t built enough “ proof &# to raise its next round of financing from external investors. If no financing happened then this “note&# may not be converted and thus would be senior to the equity of the company in the case of a bankruptcy or asset sale.

Startup 290

Startup Funding Venture Capital Pricing 290

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

I will write more about this in the next 2 weeks. As any historian of bubbles will tell you – there were periods of bubbles in assets as arcane as tulips , South American trading companies , dot-com bubbles & housing bubbles. Ah, but today’s Internet companies have real revenue! I believe that. and profits!

Pricing 309

Pricing Marketing Startup Venture Capital 309

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2016

I was speaking recently to the team at NuOrder , an LA-based company we’re an investor in about “realism in startups” — an impromptu talk I have given to any of our portfolio companies who ask. I answered in the same way I always do so I thought I’d just write it publicly. “I I work with a few computer vision companies.

Invest 254

Invest Writing Pricing Metrics 254

Berkonomics

AUGUST 17, 2023

Preparing for the game… If you have been following our recent insights, you’ll be up to speed knowing that professional investors negotiate tough terms, from provisions of control over asset acquisition, eventual sale of the company, future investments, forced co-sale when others attempt to sell their shares and more.

Invest 296

Invest Capital Startup Entrepreneur 296

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 30, 2014

It’s true the some VCs have started writing so many checks that they resemble stock pickers but the majority of us still have less than 10 board seats at any time and tend to go pretty deep so the result is that we care deeply about where we commit our time. Could we produce this at cost? It was impressive. Upfront Ventures'

Technical Review 418

Technical Review Software Review CTO Hire IP 418

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

When to get a lawyer - If you plan to be a venture or angel backed technology company (what I mostly write about) the best time to start meeting and getting to know lawyers is long before you ever start your company. Many people start companies arse backwards. Shame about that pesky FAS 157 ruling.

Startup 318

Startup IP Southern California Entrepreneur 318

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 15, 2010

I give a sneak peek at a blog post I’m writing on the topic next week. Convertible debt is a loan to the company that doesn’t typically get paid back but rather “converts&# into equity when you raise a larger round at a later date. I’m going to make this a regular part of the show since it was really fun.

Venture Capital 210

Venture Capital Seed Funding Pricing Southern California 210

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2010

The prices of angel deals have recently crept up, VCs have also gotten their checkbooks out again, frothy deals are happening and people are feeling bullish. VCs have also gone back to writing checks because as an industry we can’t be seen as “sitting on the sidelines” for years at a time. VCs get paid to “put money to work.&#.

Entrepreneur 298

Entrepreneur Venture Capital Technical Review Startup 298

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 6, 2022

The Facebook parent-company saw its stock price get bludgeoned after a bad earnings report showcased that Apple’s ad-blocking changes are shaving billions off its books and the company’s crown jewel — the Facebook platform — has stopped growing and actually shrank this quarter.

Marketing 246

Marketing Newsletter Technical Review News 246

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 5, 2011

Will Price , October 11, 2010 Georgians Should Vote No - Force of Good: a blog by Lance Weatherby , October 28, 2010 Free Software for Managing a Lean Startup - Platforms and Networks , January 17, 2010 Purpose Driven Life - Journey of a Serial Entrepreneur , July 26, 2010 Two Decade-Defining Acquisitions?

Startup 378

Startup Venture Capital Blogging CTO Coach 378

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

If you know, VCs end up writing sizable checks into their own funds, which is important in better aligning interests. They will have to negotiate price and terms. M&A discussions (where your company is buying or being bought). million round I might write $1.8 – 2.2 This is the same way VC firms, by the way.

Venture Capital 356

Venture Capital Invest Course Technical Review 356

socalTECH

OCTOBER 6, 2016

The company said the software now supports automated check writing and electronic vendor or owner payments in the software, including full service check procesisng where it prints and mails checks for businesses. Pricing on the new features were not announced by the company. READ MORE>>.

Santa Barbara 138

Santa Barbara Writing Platform Pricing 138

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 12, 2014

We short-handed this marketing mix as “ the four P’s ” – product, price, promotion and place (distribution) – this was devised in 1960 and while a little bit dated is still a useful framework. Online marketing uses techniques for driving promotion and place. Look at Viddy & SocialCast.

Marketing 379

Marketing Startup SEM SEO 379

Berkonomics

JUNE 29, 2017

If you have been following our recent insights, you’ll be up to speed knowing that professional investors negotiate tough terms, from provisions of control over asset acquisition, eventual sale of the company, future investments, forced co-sale when others attempt to sell their shares and more.

Invest 243

Invest Entrepreneur Sales Startup 243

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 19, 2011

We had the final terms of our agreement fairly well boxed in within a range of about 5-7% on price and within 30 days on move-in date. I obviously preferred the lowest price and I wanted the latest move-in date. She told me, “start with the price you want but the move in date he wants.&#. I told my agent. She way annoyed.

Venture Capital 319

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Outsource 319