999 Posts Found

I tell our founders that there should always be a slide in their board decks that shows the five most likely acquirers of their business and what they’ve done to further those relationships since the last board meeting.

Content: Quotation | Author: Chris Fralic | Source: First Round Review | Subject: Entrepreneurship

Startup guru Guy Kawasaki explains why asking investors for money is like online dating.

Content: Article | Authors: Guy Kawasaki, Ian Chipman | Source: Stanford University | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital

Your round isn’t anywhere near closed unless you have enough investors who are very serious about investing. However, it can often be difficult to figure out if an investor is actually serious about investing or just being positive about your business. So how can you tell who is actually serious and who isn’t?

Content: Article | Author: Elizabeth Yin | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital

A four-part series that aims to guide you through the components necessary for building your own financial model from scratch:
Part 1: The Why and What of Financial Modeling
Part 2: Assumptions
Part 3: Income Statement and Custom Detail Tabs
Part 4: Cash Flow, Balance Sheet and Keeping the Model Updated

Content: Article | Authors: Troy Henikoff, Will Little | Source: Techstars | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Finance

A new study asked hundreds of VCs to rank the factors that drive their investment decisions.

Content: Article | Author: Martin J. Smith | Source: Stanford University | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital

Specific staffing choices and high investment levels can prolong the lifespan of corporate venture capital units.

Content: Article | Author: Vibha Gaba | Source: INSEAD Knowledge | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Venture Capital

Andy Sparks and Joshua Levy have assembled a list of reference pitch decks for founders to view when building their own. Some notable inclusions: YouTube, LinkedIn, Mint, BuzzFeed, AirBnB, Tinder, Foursquare, Moz, and Buffer.

Content: Online Resource | Authors: Andy Sparks, Joshua Levy | Source: Medium | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital

Startups need a simple test that can bring a go-to-market strategy into focus — one that can help smartly deploy limited resources when a product is first launched and a company has one chance to make a strong, first impression. For these inflection points, startups need a compass, and in my decades of working with them, I think this framework points them in the right … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Mark Leslie, Matt Heiman | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Marketing / Sales

Professor Eric Flamholtz says new leadership is needed as start-ups mature.

Content: Multimedia Content | Author: Eric Flamholtz | Source: UCLA | Subject: Entrepreneurship

The Silicon Valley startup factory that birthed Airbnb and Dropbox has grown even more ambitious under its new leader.

Content: Thought Leader | Authors: Max Chafkin, Sam Altman | Source: Fast Company | Subject: Entrepreneurship

In 2007 Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia were broke and looking to raise money to make their rent in San Francisco. They decided to rent out air mattresses in their apartment to attendees of a conference because all the hotels were booked. They called their service “Air Bed and Breakfast.” In a few years, this small experiment would create the hotel industry disruptor Airbnb. The … [ Read more ]

Content: Case Study | Author: Leigh Gallagher | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Industry Specific | Industry: Travel/Leisure | Company: Airbnb

Building a better mousetrap isn’t enough to set you apart. In fact, incumbent competitors have a number of advantages that could kill your startup, including entrenched distribution channels and consumer familiarity. Start to dethrone incumbents by making users a little uncomfortable; to make “better” matter — and users care. In many ways, your quietest, most steadfast competitor is indifference. The bottom line is you have … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Bret Taylor | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Innovation

Appcelerator was not my first startup and certainly I hope not the last. We learned a ton from it and we made a lot of great decisions and certainly a share of bad ones — like all startups.

Here’s some of things I’d like to do different for my next startup and hopefully some lessons learned that you might find helpful. (Obviously, each startup is different so this … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Jeff Haynie | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Management

In the abstract, economic sense, a 30% chance of making $3M is as good as a 3% chance of making $30M is as good as a 0.3% chance at making $300M. But in the concrete sense, you generally have to make your pick: Which coupon is the one for you?

The strategies employed to pursue the 30% for $3M are often in direct opposition to the … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: David Heinemeier Hansson | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital

People who make lots of little bets on many potential unicorns have christened themselves angels. Angels? Really? You’ve plucked your self-serving moniker from the parables of a religion that specifically and explicitly had its head honcho throw the money men out of the temple and proclaim a rich man less likely to make it into heaven than a camel through a needle’s eye. Okay then!

[…]

Angels … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: David Heinemeier Hansson | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital

Amy Chang, who ran product for Google Analytics before founding data-driven networking startup Accompany in 2013, counts dozens of luminaries among her advisors — including best selling authors like Chip Heath and Nir Eyal. Fielding this type of expertise seems like a nearly impossible feat, but her only secret is this: She spent years figuring out how to methodically build her network — and is … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Amy Chang | Source: First Round Review | Subject: Entrepreneurship

Ultimately, fundraising success requires:

fundraising execution + a compelling story/vision + evidence of traction + sheer determination + good fortune (luck)

This article focuses on the first of these five variables: fundraising execution. Below I lay out a 7 step framework to guide you through your fundraising process, and share some lessons learned having now successfully raised money for three separate ventures (and made plenty of mistakes … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Adam Healey | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital

He cofounded PayPal, helped launch Yelp, and his new startup wants to make the credit card obsolete.

Content: Thought Leader | Author: Austin Carr | Source: Fast Company | Subject: Entrepreneurship | Industry: Finance / Banking

The one thing you want as a founder of a startup are options. You’re going to die much much faster because you ran out of options. Options are really what it’s all about. Options give you a chance to control your own destiny. When the times get tough, if you have options, you can use them. Without optionality, you’re screwed.

Content: Quotation | Author: Jeff Haynie | Subject: Entrepreneurship

It is frankly very, very difficult to scale fast. At a startup, it’s close to impossible. You need a lot of things that are inherently a mismatch at a startup to make scaling fast work. […] How do you hire 50 people in the next two quarters when you’re only 40 people today? Those existing customers and existing roadmap? Forget it. You’ll turn 110% of … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Jeff Haynie | Subject: Entrepreneurship