Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 18, 2014

He is regarded by many as the number-one authority on virtual staffing and personal outsourcing, and is himself a successful entrepreneur based in the Philippines. I was impressed with his summary of the top ten outsourcing mistakes made by entrepreneurs, followed by real guidance on how they can and should be avoided.

Outsource Development 92

Outsource Development Outsource Entrepreneur Startup 92

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2010

Every investment so far in this YC batch (and there have been a lot) has been done on a convertible note.&#. I’ve written about the topic of convertible debt at length before specifically about how angels & entrepreneurs should think about pricing. a priced/valued preferred stock financing)?

Equity 319

Equity Pricing Venture Capital Entrepreneur 319

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. For reference, here is a quick summary of key elements which most investors include in their due diligence process: Key personnel review.

Technical Review 151

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Invest 151

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 9, 2023

When entrepreneurs introduce new products to the market, their passion and conviction often leads them to assume that every potential customer will see the immediate need and value, and will quickly adopt the solution. In these cases, you need testimonials, usage details, and return-on-investment examples.

Case Study 89

Case Study Customer Custom Study 89

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 15, 2020

When entrepreneurs introduce new products to the market, their passion and conviction often leads them to assume that every potential customer will see the immediate need and value, and will quickly adopt the solution. In these cases, you need testimonials, usage details, and return-on-investment examples.

Case Study 174

Case Study Startup Customer Custom 174

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2022

With the current volatile economy, as an active startup mentor, I’m seeing a new surge of entrepreneurs and startups, with the commensurate scramble for funding. This approach is thus not viable for entrepreneurs already out of money. Increased jeopardy and less fun for the entrepreneur. Yet reverse mergers are not all bad.

Funding 104

Funding Summary Entrepreneur Acquisition 104

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 18, 2021

This is the last step of the process, where surprises in the evaluation of the management team, documentation, and personnel problems can derail the investment. If there are financial anomalies, or someone on the team doesn’t know the current strategy, or is unhappy with you or the company, the investment will be jeopardized.

Technical Review 152

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Summary 152

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 8, 2016

As a startup advisor and investor, I find that more and more entrepreneurs avoid using the term “profit” in pitching their new venture. Thus I was pleased and a bit surprised to see a new book, “ The Purpose Is Profit ,” by Ed “Skip” McLaughlin, an entrepreneur who has both succeeded and failed in starting multiple businesses.

Entrepreneur 58

Entrepreneur Ideas Pricing Customer 58

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 30, 2016

There is a general guideline of how much investors want to own in order to invest in your company and the norm is 15–30% with the most common range 20–25% per early stage round. Because investors need to imagine making a minimum of 10x their invested capital and early-stage investors are shooting for even higher multiples.

Startup 292

Startup Software Review Pricing Entrepreneur 292

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 12, 2015

Here is my summary of some major considerations that every entrepreneur needs to evaluate against the cost and effort to attract equity investors: Completing a grant application is real work. Some entrepreneurs become stuck in development, fixated on winning just one more grant, rather than moving on to marketing and real customers.

Pricing 100

Pricing Equity Technical Review Research 100

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 26, 2010

One of the toughest decisions for a startup is how to price their product or service. The alternatives range from giving it away for free (like Twitter), to pricing based on costs, to charging what the market will bear (premium pricing). Portfolio pricing. Tiered or volume pricing. Feature pricing.

Pricing 98

Pricing Product Startup Competition 98

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 25, 2015

He is regarded by many as the number-one authority on virtual staffing and personal outsourcing, and is himself a successful entrepreneur based in the Philippines. I was impressed with his summary of the top ten outsourcing mistakes made by entrepreneurs, followed by real guidance on how they can and should be avoided.

Outsource Development 104

Outsource Development Outsource Startup Summary 104

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2012

Many entrepreneurs still dream of “going public,” making billions of dollars, and playing with the big boys. I recently reviewed a good summary of the advantages and disadvantages of an IPO exit strategy for startups in a widely-used textbook “ Entrepreneurship ,” by Robert Hisrich, Michael Peters, and Dean Shepherd. Loss of control.

Entrepreneur 95

Entrepreneur Startup Report Summary 95

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. Plot Summary. Every entrepreneur is faced with making something out of nothing.

Entrepreneur 270

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital Resource 270

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 22, 2018

He is regarded by many as the number-one authority on virtual staffing and personal outsourcing, and is himself a successful entrepreneur based in the Philippines. I was impressed with his summary of the top ten outsourcing mistakes made by entrepreneurs, followed by real guidance on how they can and should be avoided.

Outsource Development 72

Outsource Development Outsource Summary Training 72

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2019

With the current strong economy, as an active startup mentor, I’m seeing a new surge of entrepreneurs and startups, with the commensurate scramble for funding. This approach is thus not viable for entrepreneurs already out of money. Increased jeopardy and less fun for the entrepreneur. Being a public company isn’t cheap or easy.

Summary 121

Summary Startup Entrepreneur Funding 121

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2014

When I meet other VCs I’m constantly asking how they decide which investments to make, when to pass, when to do follow-on rounds, when to sell a company vs. when to go long, etc. On investment strategies I have “ Deflationary Economics ” 6. I told him that a high price now wasn’t always the best solution.

Startup 407

Startup Framework CTO Coach Sales 407

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. on the entrepreneur side of the table) when I raised at too high of a price.

Venture Capital 282

Venture Capital Capital Startup Pricing 282

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 25, 2013

After all, I am no stranger to the publicly expressing the frustrations of dealing with the downside of this industry as I wrote about in 2006 when I was an entrepreneur. Most top tier VCs return about 3x invested capital and outlier funds (the best of a vintage) might return 6-8x. The best VCs don’t try to help entrepreneurs.

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Invest Funding 374

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 26, 2015

Most entrepreneurs looking for an investor can tell you how much money they need, but few have given much thought to what they are willing to give up for it. Here is a summary of the key terms to expect on the term sheet, or the contract between the founder and investor: Consideration given for the money invested.

Demand 105

Demand Startup Equity Invest 105

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 22, 2010

And for some strange reason entrepreneurs didn’t share this information. I’ve started from day one trying to build total transparency into my process with entrepreneurs. This starts with understanding how VCs and entrepreneurs often see valuation differently. Back then VentureHacks didn’t exist.

Venture Capital 405

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Funding 405

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 5, 2011

Many entrepreneurs still dream of “going public,” making billions of dollars, and playing with the big boys. I recently reviewed a good summary of the advantages and disadvantages of an IPO exit strategy for startups in a widely-used textbook “ Entrepreneurship ,” by Robert Hisrich, Michael Peters, and Dean Shepherd. Loss of control.

Startup 94

Startup Entrepreneur Report Summary 94

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 27, 2019

Perhaps sparked by the now forgotten recession, I’m seeing a new era of the entrepreneur, with startups springing up all around. Based on my own mentoring and investing experience, the best entrepreneurs are pragmatic problem solvers. Real entrepreneurs always look ahead and learn from problems resolved.

Mentor 85

Mentor Entrepreneur Technical Review Summary 85

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2014

One of the toughest decisions for a startup is how to price their product or service. The alternatives range from giving it away for free, to pricing based on costs, to charging what the market will bear (premium pricing). In this more traditional product pricing model, the price is set at two to five times the product cost.

Startup 114

Startup Pricing Customer Custom 114

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2010

Most entrepreneurs tend to avoid this area of the business, and as a result are badly surprised by cost realities, and investor expectations. Secondarily, it will be required by potential investors to validate how much money you need to get started, and how much return they can expect on their investment. Marty Zwilling.

Invest 71

Invest Startup Sample Summary 71

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 1, 2010

Short summary of my posts: 1. There is a structural reason that VCs are investing at early stages, 2. I’ve done 4 seed investments in the past year and they are 100% referenceable. I’ve done 4 seed investments in the past year and they are 100% referenceable. million is “follow on&# seed investment.

Seed Funding 298

Seed Funding Funding Venture Capital GRP Partners 298

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

” I mention journalists here because they perpetuate the myth that focusing on profits is ALWAYS the right answer and then I hear many entrepreneurs (and certainly many “normals”) repeating the same mantra. Exec Summary: Most companies (98+%) in the world (even tech startups) should be very profit focused.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

If you truly believe that you, your company and your products are exceptional and your company will be valuable then you’re actually doing them a FAVOR by helping them invest in your startup. If you don’t believe in your bones that you’re amazing then it’s no wonder you don’t want to sell them on making the investment.”

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2010

Things that make it investment-grade for outside investors will also benefit you, since you are the ultimate investor. Many entrepreneurs scare away potential investors by claiming that their technology represents “truly disruptive technology.” Investors invest in people - not just ideas. Marketing, sales, and partners.

Invest 74

Invest Tips Competition Metrics 74

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 1, 2017

I was mentoring some graduate students at a local university recently, and I sensed again that profit seems to be a dirty word these days to many aspiring entrepreneurs. The alternatives range from giving the product away for free (revenue from ads), to pricing based on costs, to charging what the market will bear (premium pricing).

Pricing 66

Pricing Customer Custom Advertising 66

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 17, 2015

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. For reference, here is a quick summary of key elements which most investors include in their due diligence process: Key personnel review.

Technical Review 108

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Entrepreneur 108

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 19, 2011

Or read the quick, informative summary below the image! Matt’s commitment to re-investing in tech startups is reminiscent to this great Fred Wilson post of “recycling capital. &#. Here’s a summary of our interview. Backstopping is when banks feel they are protected by VC’s investing in the company.

Acquisition 304

Acquisition Startup Customer Custom 304

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2013

Too many entrepreneurs still believe the urban myth that you can sketch your idea on a napkin, and investors will throw money at you. Notice that I didn’t say anywhere that a good business plan has to be at least 20 pages, or have ten sections, or must start with an executive summary. entrepreneur startup business plan business'

Sample 92

Sample Writing Startup Summary 92

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2013

Most entrepreneurs tend to avoid this area of the business, and as a result are badly surprised by cost realities, and investor expectations. Secondarily, it will be required by potential investors to validate how much money you need to get started, and how much return they can expect on their investment. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 101

Startup Sample Summary Pricing 101

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2018

With the current strong economy, as an active startup mentor, I’m seeing a new surge of entrepreneurs and startups, with the commensurate scramble for funding. This approach is not for entrepreneurs already out of money. Increased jeopardy and less fun for the entrepreneur. Being a public company isn’t cheap or easy.

Summary 79

Summary Startup Entrepreneur Funding 79

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 18, 2016

When entrepreneurs introduce new products to the market, their passion and conviction often leads them to assume that every potential customer will see the immediate need and value, and will quickly adopt the solution. In these cases, you need testimonials, usage details, and return-on-investment examples.

Product 95

Product Case Study Customer Custom 95

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 21, 2012

One of the toughest decisions for a startup is how to price their product or service. The alternatives range from giving it away for free (like Twitter), to pricing based on costs, to charging what the market will bear (premium pricing). Portfolio pricing. Tiered or volume pricing. Feature pricing.

Pricing 112

Pricing Competition Customer Custom 112