Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

Me: At what price? Him: It wasn’t priced. So you did raise with a price. It’s just a maximum price. Convertible notes have both features in them but for some reason entrepreneurs don’t understand it. It’s like we need a finance 101 course for entrepreneurs. We raised a seed round.

Venture Capital 417

Venture Capital Capital Pricing Doc 417

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2021

In my experience as an angel investor for new startups, I’m always surprised by how many entrepreneurs are looking for funding without outside advisors. An experienced Board can give them credibility, as well as advice on the many pitfalls of starting a new company. The cost of a co-founder is usually fifty percent of your equity.

Startup 142

Startup Technical Review Equity Entrepreneur 142

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2022

My first advice for new entrepreneurs is to pick a domain, such as online web sites and smart phone apps, that doesn’t have the sky-high up-front development costs. Nevertheless, it’s an option that doesn’t cost you equity. Now the price is closer to $100, if you are willing to do the work yourself. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 136

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 136

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 14, 2014

My first advice for new entrepreneurs is to pick a domain that doesn’t have the sky-high up-front development costs, like online web sites and smart phone apps. The hottest new way of funding startups is to use online sites, like Kickstarter , to request donations, pre-order, get a reward, or even give equity (coming soon).

Entrepreneur 113

Entrepreneur Funding Startup Technical Review 113

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 6, 2023

For the elite startups and entrepreneurs who manage to attract the investor they dream of, and survive the term sheet negotiation, there is still one more hurdle before the money is in the bank. My best advice is to stick to the middle ground. This is the mysterious and dreaded due diligence process, which can kill the whole deal.

Technical Review 118

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Invest 118

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 8, 2015

My first advice for new entrepreneurs is to pick a domain, such as online web sites and smart phone apps, that doesn’t have the sky-high up-front development costs. Nevertheless, it’s an option that doesn’t cost you equity. Now the price is closer to $100, if you are willing to do the work yourself. Marty Zwilling.

Entrepreneur 105

Entrepreneur Startup Technical Review Equity 105

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2022

My first advice for new entrepreneurs is to pick a domain that doesn’t have the sky-high up-front development costs, like online web sites and smart phone apps. The most effective new way of funding startups is to use online sites, like Kickstarter , to request donations, pre-order, get a reward, or even give equity.

Tips 104

Tips Startup Technical Review Equity 104

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 14, 2010

It’s meant to be a bit provocative but the reality is that I give this advice to entrepreneurs all the the time and I usually leave the “e&# off of the end. I normally offer this advice in the capacity of really wanting to help entrepreneurs so please bear with me. It is 2010. The list goes on.

Venture Capital 289

Venture Capital Capital Startup Pricing 289

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 25, 2010

When I first read Paul Graham’s blog post on “High Resolution&# Financing I read it as a treatise arguing that convertible notes are better than equity. As I’m generally a believer in ‘pricing rounds’ I initially didn’t agree with the premise of the post. Photo credit: D. rings true to me.

Venture Capital 286

Venture Capital Pricing Technical Review Startup 286

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 2, 2014

During its heyday, Tin Pan Alley musicians devised an inexpensive yet effective method to obtain free, expert advice – they played their songs to elderly doormen. The same factors that led to the effectiveness of the OGWT are relevant to an entrepreneur''s assessment potential Advisors. Group Think. Commandos Need Not Apply .

Startup 208

Startup Journal Course Equity 208

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 16, 2018

Greathouse: Your collective experiences have clearly made bootstrapping a viable option for you, more so than might be the case for a typical, younger entrepreneur who needs more direction, doesn’t have cash discipline, etc. When I was considering doing something, I reached out to Greg for advice.

Venture Capital 115

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Santa Barbara SaaS 115

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2010

a loan) that is later converted to equity at the time of the next financing. 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. Maybe the market views this as not worth the price you paid?

Startup 290

Startup Funding Venture Capital Pricing 290

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 1, 2015

Sometimes the end game or sale of the company is not a happy event for the early investors, including the entrepreneur or the founders. Promissory notes come before any equity, and most late equity investments come before early equity investments, even of the same class of security. Don’t be greedy even if you can.

Angel 120

Angel Sales Pricing Equity 120

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2022

Yet every entrepreneur I meet wants to talk about the idea, and rarely mentions the team. Thus I was happily surprised when I found the classic book, “ The Tech Entrepreneur’s Survival Guide ,” by Bernd Schoner, PhD, and cofounder of ThingMagic, which leans heavily on the people side of the equation. The industry veteran.

Technical Advisors 123

Technical Advisors Startup Outsource Development High Tech 123

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2019

My first advice for new entrepreneurs is to pick a domain, such as online web sites and smart phone apps, that doesn’t have the sky-high up-front development costs. Nevertheless, it’s an option that doesn’t cost you equity. Now the price is closer to $100, if you are willing to do the work yourself. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 128

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 128

InfoChachkie

JUNE 27, 2011

I recently answered the question “ What are good ways to raise your children to be entrepreneurs? ” I believe that you cannot teach someone to be an entrepreneur, but that you can teach entrepreneurs. More valuable, hands-on startup advice can be found in this slim volume than in the entire Harvard Business School library.

Entrepreneur 270

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital Resource 270

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2021

For the elite startups and entrepreneurs who manage to attract the investor they dream of, and survive the term sheet negotiation, there is still one more hurdle before the money is in the bank. My best advice is to stick to the middle ground. This is the mysterious and dreaded due diligence process, which can kill the whole deal.

Technical Review 151

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Invest 151

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 11, 2010

This past December I spent a week in Boston to try to get to know some of the local VC’s and entrepreneurs a bit better. I believe that first-time entrepreneurs also benefit hugely from working in close proximity to other companies. We know prices of deals, compensation, who’s doing well / poorly, etc.

Startup 285

Startup Venture Capital Incubator Entrepreneur 285

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 11, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series Startup Advice. It’s mostly done by first-time entrepreneurs who want to persuade (bribe?) They are usually offered around 0.25% of the companies equity in exchange for their role and I’ve seen many companies hand out a total of 2% to advisers. It’s very tempting.

Startup 306

Startup Venture Capital Equity Technical Review 306

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 15, 2010

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. If you’re an entrepreneur, all else equal you prefer convertible debt because the deal is priced at a later stage when you’re worth more.

Venture Capital 210

Venture Capital Seed Funding Pricing Southern California 210

InfoChachkie

JULY 11, 2011

As Fred points out, many entrepreneurs hear the word “debt” and promptly run the other direction. By combining our equity investment with a tranche of venture debt, the company has avoided a larger equity round, which would have significantly diluted the Founders’ ownership share. Go ahead, I will wait…. welcome back.

Equity 235

Equity Startup Invest Funding 235

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2019

My first advice for new entrepreneurs is to pick a domain that doesn’t have the sky-high up-front development costs, like online web sites and smart phone apps. The hottest new way of funding startups is to use online sites, like Kickstarter , to request donations, pre-order, get a reward, or even give equity. Use crowd funding.

Startup 87

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 87

Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

In future weeks, we’ll add the voices of other well-known professionals in the field of exits to my own, and try to give you a compendium of useful advice in the process. . Most entrepreneurs wait too long to start thinking about their exit. In contrast, this local company had been built on something around $1 million in equity.

Newsletter 120

Newsletter Startup Entrepreneur Blogging 120

InfoChachkie

DECEMBER 5, 2011

Note: This is an installment in the Iconic Advice series. Mark Cuban is a lifelong serial entrepreneur, launching his startup career with a variety of teenage schemes, including buying and selling collectable stamps to pay for college. I easily could have included 50-comments that provide insight and inspiration to entrepreneurs.

Tips 274

Tips Startup Entrepreneur Ideas 274

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 9, 2020

Yet every entrepreneur I meet wants to talk about the idea, and rarely mentions the team. Thus I was happily surprised when I found the classic book, “ The Tech Entrepreneur’s Survival Guide ,” by Bernd Schoner, PhD, and cofounder of ThingMagic, which leans heavily on the people side of the equation. The industry veteran.

Technical Advisors 123

Technical Advisors Outsource Development Startup High Tech 123

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2010

I’ve seen too many entrepreneurs try to do things on the cheap. Let’s assume that the $2 million buys 25% of your company, which is the norm in an equity financing. Tags: Entrepreneur Advice Raising Venture Capital Start-up Advice Startup Advice. But the lower end also has risks.

Startup 319

Startup Venture Capital Capital Competition 319

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

This was an audience of mostly first-time entrepreneurs. It is great for entrepreneurs and great for VCs. So here is what I have been telling entrepreneurs privately for the past 6 months. But that doesn’t mean that people are paying rational prices as investors based on intrinsic value. I believe that.

Pricing 309

Pricing Marketing Startup Venture Capital 309

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 21, 2010

This is part of my ongoing series on Startup Advice. As startup entrepreneurs we all want to work with them because having their name as reference clients makes it so much easier for marketing, PR, selling to other customers, fund raising and even recruiting. Large companies can be strange sometimes. You want them to earn.

Startup 298

Startup Sales Slides Metrics 298

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

We spent our future since the equity was artificial. If these factors impact earnings the stock market may be headed South – If unemployment rises housing prices won’t. Bad stock markets mean less IPO’s and lower prices for M&A. My advice : if you’re raising a $750,000 round and you have demand for $1.2

Venture Capital 269

Venture Capital Startup Funding Technical Review 269

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

I recently read a post over on VentureHacks titled, “ Top Ten Reasons Entrepreneurs Hate Lawyers &# written by Scott Walker (who blogs on legal issues for entrepreneurs ). You never got around to agreeing exact equity splits but you had many conversations about it. Much of this is unfounded – some is not.

Startup 318

Startup IP Southern California Entrepreneur 318

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 5, 2011

My advice to founders out there is to not volunteer too much, but be open and honest in the face of direct questions like the following: What is your burn rate and runway today? Real customers are ones who have paid full price for the product, have it installed and in use, and are still satisfied.

Entrepreneur 95

Entrepreneur Startup Invest Patents 95

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 3, 2010

There is a telltale sign of an inexperienced startup entrepreneur. I can save tons of development time and I think I can buy it for all equity. I’m doing due diligence on a company of another entrepreneur in LA whose company was apparently doing very well. Want to cut prices and go for market share? Your choice.

Technical Review 276

Technical Review Startup Press Pricing 276

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

This is part of a series of advice for founders who need to raise money from venture capitalists. The most important advice I could give you before you set out in fund raising mode is to understand that fund-raising a sales & marketing process and needs to be managed. Remember, I was an entrepreneur for 10 years before a VC).

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2011

A great recent example of this was a successful group of entrepreneurs who had created a company that will do $10-12 million in revenue at their system integration business (read: services business) in 2011 after having done $5 million or so in 2010 and $2-3 million in 2009. They wanted advice. This team is talented.

Services 332

Services Venture Capital IP Startup 332

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2017

My first advice for new entrepreneurs is to pick a domain that doesn’t have the sky-high up-front development costs, like online web sites and smart phone apps. The hottest new way of funding startups is to use online sites, like Kickstarter , to request donations, pre-order, get a reward, or even give equity. Use crowd funding.

Develop 70

Develop Development Product Startup 70

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2013

My first advice for new entrepreneurs is to pick a domain that doesn’t have the sky-high up-front development costs, like online web sites and smart phone apps. The hottest new way of funding startups is to use online sites, like Kickstarter , to request donations, pre-order, get a reward, or even give equity (coming soon).

Startup 123

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 123

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 28, 2018

One entrepreneur refrain I sometimes hear is “We want to raise some extra money for M&A activities.” It’s true that some later-stage private equity firms like to fund “roll ups” (a company that acquires many related companies in it sector), but this is seldom the domain of VCs. This is a red flag for VCs. Happy raising.

Venture Capital 247

Venture Capital Capital Funding Demand 247