Finance For Entrepreneurs | Community of 20K+

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[Finance For Entrepreneurs | Community of 20K+ @FinEntrepreneur]

Raising capital?

Make sure you know your metrics and how to benchmark.

This 15 minute video walks you through it...

https://t.co/GJpgZMG8TT

#startup #finance #founder #metrics #vc

[Finance For Entrepreneurs | Community of 20K+ @FinEntrepreneur]

If you want to win, find holes in what your competitors are doing.

Where are they falling short?

That's your opportunity.

[Finance For Entrepreneurs | Community of 20K+ @FinEntrepreneur]

@16vchq free money

[Finance For Entrepreneurs | Community of 20K+ @FinEntrepreneur]

@chriszeoli @elizalian Equinox vs walking meetings

[Finance For Entrepreneurs | Community of 20K+ @FinEntrepreneur]

@elizalian ivy league degree required vs applicable skills

narrow focus on annual bonus vs vision to build something

nepotism vs meritocracy

[Finance For Entrepreneurs | Community of 20K+ @FinEntrepreneur]

The best investment is from your customers.

If people are paying for your product/service, you're mitigating financial risk.

If people are paying for your product/service, you're proving you have something people want.

Focus on customer revenue.

https://t.co/fyqXqZrZII

[Finance For Entrepreneurs | Community of 20K+ @FinEntrepreneur]

@melroseadam @thesamparr only an ass would leave out the assumptions

[Finance For Entrepreneurs | Community of 20K+ @FinEntrepreneur]

@thesamparr Pro forma is Latin for 'please let this work out'

[Finance For Entrepreneurs | Community of 20K+ @FinEntrepreneur]

Layoffs

2022 = 154,843
YTD 2023 = 38,815

Stay close to your professional circle. Network. Help each other out.

Stay humble and grab a work from home customer service job, become a ghost writer, or file for unemployment.

If your basic expenses are covered, you'll make it!

[Finance For Entrepreneurs | Community of 20K+ @FinEntrepreneur]

Kim Kardashian went from Paris Hilton's assistant, to building two billion dollar companies, to running her own private equity fund.

Don't give up on your dreams.

Small steps lead to big outcomes.

[Finance For Entrepreneurs | Community of 20K+ @FinEntrepreneur]

2/ But my company needs venture capital to grow...

Angie Hicks owned 1.7% of Angie's List at exit.
Mark Zuckerberg owned 35% of Facebook at exit.

Focus on customer revenue and debt financing over venture capital.

[Finance For Entrepreneurs | Community of 20K+ @FinEntrepreneur]

1/ If you care about building personal wealth, raising venture capital should be the last thing you think of when you're building your company.

On average, a VC backed founder owns 15% of shares at exit.

A non VC backed founder owns 100% of shares at exit.

[Finance For Entrepreneurs | Community of 20K+ @FinEntrepreneur]

Investor: "What’s your CAC?"

Founder: “We’re pre revenue so we don’t track financials.”

This is the wrong answer.

Right answer = We acquired 10,000 emails by only spending $168 at a conference.

How you acquire users demonstrates how you operate.

[Finance For Entrepreneurs | Community of 20K+ @FinEntrepreneur]

@elileinkram @elizalian Some women are M&A material
Some are merely strategic partners

[Finance For Entrepreneurs | Community of 20K+ @FinEntrepreneur]

@IamGiaLiu @elizalian LTV/CAC ratio should be 3:1 or she's high maintenance.

[Finance For Entrepreneurs | Community of 20K+ @FinEntrepreneur]

@elizalian Don't commit early.

You want to compare several term sheets before you make it official.

[Finance For Entrepreneurs | Community of 20K+ @FinEntrepreneur]

@WizLikeWizard @Doc_D3mz Last 'check' in is a quick process.

Top investors provide confidence. Less diligence needed. 👏👏👏

[Finance For Entrepreneurs | Community of 20K+ @FinEntrepreneur]

One of the best things I learned from Ray Dalio as it relates to startup finance -- how to profit from mistakes. It's ok to make mistakes, but make sure you go back and learn from them.

https://t.co/jtycLIZRN4

[Finance For Entrepreneurs | Community of 20K+ @FinEntrepreneur]

- How YC alum Weebly found PMF and profitability
- 2 ways company culture leads to bigger payouts at exit
- The easiest way to prevent founder dilution

WATCH: https://t.co/U1WJeVF9eh #mondaymotivation #startup #entrepreneur #finance #exits

[Finance For Entrepreneurs | Community of 20K+ @FinEntrepreneur]

After selling, he restated financial results - deleting revenue - rendering shares worthless leading to bankruptcy.

https://t.co/pZIPhM1498

[Finance For Entrepreneurs | Community of 20K+ @FinEntrepreneur]

Silicon Valley founder agrees to pay more than $17M to settle fraud case.

Mattes overstated revenue and then sold his shares, making ~ $14M. Hid sales from board and told investors that he wasn't selling as “lots of great stuff coming up...be stupid to sell at this point.”