Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 21, 2019

I cannot tell you how many times I have seen executive summaries of business plans in which the entrepreneur seeks $5,000,000 to build the business. Four reasons you should reconsider.

Startup 120

Startup Invest Summary Resource 120

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 5, 2023

I saw a good summary of the most effective ways to source prospective investors in a classic book, “ The Art of Startup Fundraising ,” by Alejandro Cremades, who has been there and done that, both as an entrepreneur and an investor. The right investor also changes as you move through the different startup stages.

Statistics 98

Statistics Entrepreneur Funding Social Media 98

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 6, 2023

For reference, here is a quick summary of key elements which most investors include in their due diligence process: Key personnel review. Startup equity investments imply a long-term business relationship, lasting an average of five years.

Technical Review 118

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Invest 118

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 22, 2020

I saw a good summary of the most effective ways to source prospective investors in a classic book, “ The Art of Startup Fundraising ,” by Alejandro Cremades, who has been there and done that, both as an entrepreneur and an investor. The right investor also changes as you move through the different startup stages.

Funding 173

Funding Tips Startup Statistics 173

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 30, 2017

The “venture capital” model is the only option they know, where they feel they get no mercy, giving up equity and control. The basic categories include equity, straight debt, convertible debt, services, and agreements for future equity. Document the investment types you are willing to consider.

Technical Review 88

Technical Review Equity Capital Entrepreneur 88

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 24, 2012

I cannot tell you how many times I have seen executive summaries of business plans in which the entrepreneur seeks $5,000,000 to build the business. First, few startups can use that much money today with all of the virtual services available and increasingly inexpensive methods of development, prototyping and marketing.

Resource 180

Resource Invest Summary Startup 180

SoCal CTO

MARCH 3, 2011

This overview (executive summary) needs to include: Product and Business What is the product? I'm looking for free (equity only) development, should I contact you? See Equity-Only CTO and Equity-Only Developers for more on this. How Does it Work? You need to send us an overview of what you are doing. Who's the customer?

CTO Hire 264

CTO Hire Startup Technical Review Development Team Review 264

SoCal CTO

MARCH 3, 2011

This overview (executive summary) needs to include: Product and Business What is the product? I'm looking for free (equity only) development, should I contact you? See Equity-Only CTO and Equity-Only Developers for more on this. How Does it Work? You need to send us an overview of what you are doing. Who's the customer?

CTO Hire 259

CTO Hire Startup Technical Review Development Team Review 259

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 1, 2021

Make sure your hiring practices include diversity, inclusion, and equity. In summary, business collaboration and “lead with we” is more than a new mindset. I recently saw that many companies were slow in adopting pandemic required virtual workplaces, plexiglass barriers, and restaurant tables outside. Practice your agility.

Examples 128

Examples Social Media Summary Satisfaction 128

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2021

I like the summary of the competitive reality in a new book, “ Rethinking Competitive Advantage: New Rules for the Digital Age ,” by Ram Charan, who relates a wealth of current experience from global clients: Customers expect a personalized experience. These tolerate negative cash flows for growth.

Competition 142

Competition Software Review Social Media Custom 142

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 12, 2015

Every investor in your startup, even friends and family, normally expects a share of your company (equity), which means your return for all your effort goes down quickly. This is at least double the time required for most equity investments, and may be a delay you can’t afford in keeping up with the market and your competitors.

Pricing 100

Pricing Equity Technical Review Research 100

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 25, 2022

You need to do the due diligence to make that decision before you sign away your equity. I support his summary of recommendations for what to look for in every candidate: Being around this person is a positive experience. Differences you find after the deal is consummated can be painful and expensive, just as in any marriage.

Technical Review 125

Technical Review Satisfaction Summary Startup 125

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 6, 2013

Quick summary: Be careful not to have too many co-founders. But not anal if one founder who shares equity graciously with early employees who are treated as “co-founders” My idea startup team is heaving on tech personnel but also has strong product management. There are no “right” answers – just opinions.

Startup 388

Startup Slides Outsource Development Sales 388

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 26, 2015

Investors, on the other hand, look at the money figure, and even the equity, as the easy part. 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. This is a loan with an option to convert to equity at a later date.

Demand 105

Demand Startup Equity Invest 105

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2021

For reference, here is a quick summary of key elements which most investors include in their due diligence process: Key personnel review. Startup equity investments imply a long-term business relationship, lasting an average of five years.

Technical Review 151

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Invest 151

socalTECH

DECEMBER 30, 2015

Today, we have the thoughts of Jeb Spencer of TVC Capital (www.tvccapital.com), a software focused growth equity fund which just raised a new fund, and has had some great success in the market. Jeb Spencer: For TVC, closing on our new $115 million software focused growth equity fund at the end of last year made for an exciting 2015.

Capital 100

Capital Beverly Hills Artificial Inteligence Equity 100

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 10, 2014

Professionals maintain that there is plenty of money and equity for qualified startups, and funding marginal startups via any source will only make more people unhappy. But safely seeking equity investments from the crowd via the Jobs Act of 2012 is problematic and has still not been defined.

Funding 101

Funding Equity Entrepreneur Invest 101

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 9, 2015

Yet many entrepreneurs rely on expensive outside services and outside money, rather than do the networking for a co-founder or two who have the right skills to work for equity. Here is a summary of the top four wrong reasons I see for looking for investors: A desire to start with an impressive infrastructure.

Startup 101

Startup Entrepreneur Equity Summary 101

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 12, 2010

Many of the growth equity firms have had outbound dialing programs for years. Growth equity firms typically target profitable businesses that are often not technical in nature. Perhaps outbound dialing / emailing programs worked well for growth equity firms in their core business. These kind of companies were seldom startups.

Venture Capital 294

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Email Equity 294

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 12, 2011

I think you’ll really enjoy this video , but as always I have summary notes for those with less time. If you like the quick summary notes, please check out Adam’s blog on tech, entrepreneurship & VC as a thank you. Hopefully it will entice you to come back and watch the show at a later time!

Technical Review 281

Technical Review Venture Capital Startup Artificial Inteligence 281

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 17, 2011

Dilute your cash, equity or both. In summary, tons of early-stage M&A is driven by only one thing: CEO ego. Focus the most senior person in the company’s time away from critical decision making on daily business. Create hassles for post-merger integration of technology or teams. Lead to bad blood on your existing team.

Startup 292

Startup CTO Hire Sales Email 292

socalTECH

JUNE 21, 2013

Instead of equity, the company is aimed at profiting profitable small businesses with business debt funding from investors, to help those businesses grow and get to the next level. Why did you decide to focus on debt, not equity? You can show them what your growth is like, give them a financial summary, and they can interact with you.

Startup 247

Startup Software Review Entrepreneur Equity 247

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 17, 2013

Professionals maintain that there is plenty of money for equity in qualified startups, and funding marginal startups via any source will only make more people unhappy. But safely seeking equity investments from the crowd via the Jobs Act of 2012 is problematic and has still not been defined.

Funding 106

Funding Equity Entrepreneur Sample 106

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 6, 2016

With one of the new free tools and a dose of sweat equity, you can create a website for almost nothing -- and you are on your way to success with ecommerce, your latest invention or personal services. Use your equity for key executives and business partners. Bootstrapping doesn’t mean that you don’t share equity.

Social Media 60

Social Media Startup Equity Entrepreneur 60

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 9, 2011

Here is a quick summary of my POV: When you start a company a 50/50 partnership seems obvious. Give them a large sum of equity. It is not uncommon to see startup founders walk before raising capital and take large pieces of equity with no vesting. Hire your co-founder. Vested over 4 years. I talk about that in more detail here.

Startup 393

Startup Equity Funding Summary 393

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 11, 2016

Prepare an executive summary and investor presentation. Angel investors expect to review a short executive summary before booking time to hear an investor presentation or taking the time to analyze a full business plan. Investors are not interested in “me too” businesses.

Angel 65

Angel Startup Technical Review Social Media 65

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 24, 2012

The corporate entity lends itself best to the concept of “sharing” equity required by investors, and unincorporated entities don’t get funding. Build an investor presentation and summary. Investors expect a one or two-page executive summary sheet for the initial screening, backed up by a ten-slide Powerpoint investor presentation.

Angel 104

Angel Screening Summary Startup 104

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

The corporate entity lends itself best to the concept of “sharing” equity required by investors, and unincorporated entities don’t get funding. Build an investor presentation and summary. Investors expect a one or two-page executive summary sheet for the initial screening, backed up by a ten-slide Powerpoint investor presentation.

Invest 99

Invest Angel Technical Review Summary 99

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 24, 2018

You company is the product and you’re selling an equity ownership in your company but much more broadly you’re selling trust & confidence that you’re going to build something enormously valuable and that you’re going to be enjoyable to work hand-in-hand with over the coming decade of each other’s lives.

Venture Capital 314

Venture Capital Technical Review Invest Slides 314

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2018

The buyer is shopping for equity in startups and the seller is looking for cash in exchange for equity and shared governing control of his or her company. Summary I hope I’ve been able to persuade you that data rooms are waste. So WTF am I supposed to do when an investor asks for access to my data room if I don’t have one?

Funding 336

Funding Venture Capital Startup Email 336

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 3, 2014

Bootstrapping avoids all the cost, pain, and distractions of finding angels or VCs, and allows you to keep control and all your hard-earned equity for yourself. In summary, watch your costs, trust your gut, and drive forward with all the passion in your dream. The growth may be slower with bootstrapping, but it’s all yours.

Organization 111

Organization Startup Summary Entrepreneur 111

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 19, 2011

Or read the quick, informative summary below the image! Here’s a summary of our interview. If you need money to even hire a developer [means you cannot even excite one person to put in some sweat equity – not a good sign about your ability to motivate people.]. Passion is infectious – people respond to it.

Acquisition 304

Acquisition Startup Customer Custom 304

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 28, 2018

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. Summary Raising money is a daunting process. Every VC knows that the amount you raise is often a proxy for your valuation.

Venture Capital 247

Venture Capital Capital Funding Course 247

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

The corporate entity lends itself best to the concept of “sharing” equity required by investors, and unincorporated entities don’t get funding. Build an investor presentation and summary. Investors expect a one or two-page executive summary sheet for the initial screening, backed up by a ten-slide Powerpoint investor presentation.

Angel 89

Angel Funding Technical Review Startup 89

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 31, 2012

Sales people aren’t always motivated only by cash – especially in early-stage business you need to focus on equity because cash won’t be plentiful. In Summary. Feedback isn’t always an excuse – and often sales people can provide the best feedback to your product teams.

Startup 319

Startup Sales Course Competition 319

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 16, 2015

Expect to be diluted by 20-25% with each equity round. They’re typically issued at a 10-20% discount to equity depending on the timeframe; higher range is for longer timeframes. Build your financial model from the bottom-up showing what your average sale looks like and how it feeds into your top level summary financial picture.

Startup 40

Startup Venture Capital Equity Funding 40

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2019

As a result that company is now as valuable as Invoca ( last round raised >$70 million ) so Jason ended up with two very valuable equity positions and has now raised an early-stage seed fund. Some start, some scale, some can do both.

Venture Capital 223

Venture Capital IP Startup Google 223