Oliwer Golinski

One reason the market for acquisitions might be closed if your sale valuation would be lower than your previous valuation is that your choices are: - Sell privately and the founders get killed by the preference stack, or - IPO and the pref stack gets wiped out (prefs don't survive IPOs). Theoretically, you could negotiate somewhere in between but it's hard and some VCs will have told their investors the investment has held its value because of the preference. #founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic More at unbundled dot vc.

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One of the funnest and intellectually entertaining podcasts I have heard in recent times. Riveting episode featuring many provocative quotes by Delian Asparouhov who says it like he sees it, and Harry Stebbings pushes back hard (the one on US v Europe was a highlight). I particularly enjoyed the passages on what a junior VC can do to succeed in venture (do the stuff a GP or senior VC cant do, says Delian), as well as on Founders Fund and how it is run incl decision-making on ICs. Delian seems to both hate and love Benchmark. He cant stand what Bill Gurley did to Travis Kalanick, yet the admiration for Benchmark, likely the closest in style to Founders Fund (small close-knit team, not Blackrock of venture that Sequoia and A16Z have become) comes through. Younger VCs will find the section where Delian describes how a junior VC can succeed in venture particularly interesting. Delian recalls how he flew to Portugal on short notice to meet the Sword Health founders, and did the deep research to understand their IPs and then convinced the Khosla Ventures team to back them. "Harry: What are your single biggest lessons on how to succeed in the world of junior VC? Delian: [00:23:00] if I, if I were to sort of boil down, I think what the success ultimately, you know, um, came down to, It was just a willingness to do things that the GPs weren't willing to do….one line mantra is extraordinary careers when you're a junior in venture do not get built sitting behind a desk in an office and, you know, behind a laptop. you have to be willing to go meet with founders in person, figure out how to, you know, sort of understand their businesses and how to convince them to even spend time with you when you're not, you know, one of the big generals.....And you have to be willing to do those types of things as a junior VC and gamble on this sort of top of funnel aperture, you know, on opportunities in a way that, the GPs are not, you know, I always say.” More notes of what I found interesting at https://lnkd.in/gzsvKdZU Link to episode: https://lnkd.in/g_C2Tzjj

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🚨You might never look at startup validation the same way after reading this.🚨 Hi am Nick, some of you know me as a seasoned Product Strategist and owner of axiomy - Product Validation and Design Studio, organizer of the Startup Activator 5.0 or even an owner of pizza places in Varna. I will share in a second, what unconventional techniques I use when validating business ideas (I have a lot), features or a whole software product. As It is just a LinkedIn post, I can't put everything I know in one piece but if you are interested in how I use these techniques, write a comment below and I will send you my case studies. My experience spans from FinTech to FoodTech, equipping me with a unique understanding of the diverse challenges faced by entrepreneurs. Having walked the challenging path of startup validation alongside numerous clients, I am well-versed in navigating the complexities of launching successful ventures across various industries. Long story short: We all know the orthodox ways to validate ideas but I've discovered some potent validation techniques that are often the least conventional. Here we go: 🔴 Wizard of Oz MVP - Don’t have the product yet? No problem. Create the facade of a functional product and manually handle the operations behind the scenes. It sounds deceptive, but it’s a goldmine for gathering user feedback without full-scale development. I’ve seen clients amass invaluable insights this way, shaping their products to precisely meet user expectations. 🔴 Prototyping on Social Media - This is where you turn likes, shares, and comments into a gold standard for product validation. I've worked with brands that crafted product mock-ups, shared them on social platforms, and gauged interest based on real-time user interactions. It's fast, it's public, and it can significantly pivot your product direction with minimal spending. 🔴 Fake Door Testing - Place a button for a non-existent feature and measure interest by the number of clicks it receives. This method helped one of my clients scrap a feature that would have wasted $200K in development costs. Turns out, not many were keen on clicking that shiny new button. 🔴 Sell Before You Build - Imagine selling your product before it even exists. Sounds tricky, right? But it's incredibly effective. This approach not only validates the market demand but also secures some initial funding. I’ve guided startups to use pre-sales as a litmus test for their product viability. 🔴 Letter of Intent - Nothing screams ‘market validation’ louder than a signed letter of intent from a potential buyer. It's a commitment that validates your idea like no other. Whether it’s a bulk purchase or a subscription before launch, these letters have helped my clients lock in demand and attract further investment. Whether it’s your first venture or the next big pivot, let’s validate your idea and pave the way for your startup’s success. #startup #ideavalidation #productdevelopment #strategies

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Higher Gross Margin = Higher Valuation, BUT... Only if you calculate it correctly! Since your Gross Margin (GM) has an impact on valuation, many founders (and even more so M&A brokers) often send us P&Ls with overstated GMs. You are free to do so, as GAAP does not clearly define what should be included in CoGS. But that doesn't necessarily mean that your split is correct and/or follows best practices. GM = (Total Revenue - CoGS) / Total Revenue x 100% Typical CoGS items of a pure-play SaaS: - Hosting - DevOps - Professional Services - Transaction / payment fees - Customer Support/Success - 3rd-party software included in your product Early stage SaaS may have a GM of 90% as there is only hosting and payment. However, if your SaaS business is beyond the early stages, it's unlikely you'll have a GPM of 90% . The most common mistake: Customer Success/Support is coded incorrectly. You can find more on this topic, benchmarks, and how to test whether you've put it in the right place in my last saas.wtf newsletter article. 💌 #saas #startups #valuation #finance #kpi #grossmargin #bootstrap #vc

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Is the Market Big Enough for an Exit? 💼📈 The VC philosophy: "Everything starts and ends with market size." 🌍 No matter how attractive your startup is or how fast you grow If the market potential isn't large enough, you won't be a candidate for VC funding. 🚀 No one will invest in a startup if they don’t see a significant financial reward for their risk. 💰 So, the job of founders is to convince VCs (and your team) that the market size is big enough to: i) Make the startup profitable: In a downturn, your startup needs to break even as soon as possible. ⚖️ This shows your business model works at a smaller scale and is ready to generate high profits when you scale up. 📊 ii) Ensure fast growth for the next 5-10 years: Aim to generate hundreds of millions of dollars or more. 💵 The typical growth pattern for a good startup is projected like this: Year 1: 1x Year 2: 3x Year 1 Year 3: 3x Year 2 Year 4: 2x Year 3 Year 5: 2x Year 4 Year 6: Growth starts to stabilize. 📉 If you need to build a roadmap for raising capital and growing your business from $1M -> $25M revenue in 03 years, you can check out this solution: https://lnkd.in/gu_ET-WY      

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