The 'Rule of 40' is popular among investors and analysts because it provides a simple, easy-to-understand metric for evaluating the financial health of software companies. As with any metric, there are pros and cons. It combines two important metrics, revenue growth and profit margin into a single number that can be used to quickly assess… Continue reading The Rule of 40
Tag: Valuations
Early Stage Company Nomenclature + Rounds
Two things are popping up more and more in 2021: 1) I get a fair amount of questions about equity and where it should land for first-money-in through the mentoring I do for early stage companies. Unfortunately, it’s not a straightforward answer. 2) Round inflation is real. It really doesn’t matter if you mark your… Continue reading Early Stage Company Nomenclature + Rounds
FinTech Subscription Metrics (Acorns)
There is a lot of capital being poured into the consumer fintech space. And there seem to be an ever increasing number of larger scale unicorns who have yet to go public. More and more companies are waiting to ‘exit’ and the average time staying private has been increasing. This means that there are a… Continue reading FinTech Subscription Metrics (Acorns)
Quick Backwards Valuation Methodology
There are a few ways to create a valuation when looking at a company to acquire regardless if you're an incumbent or scaling growth company debating your first acquisition. On the other hand, as a founder, you can have your FP&A team to run this as an exercise before you approach any potential acquirers or… Continue reading Quick Backwards Valuation Methodology
Navigating Termsheets
Termsheets are (1) used by founders raising capital and (2) investors looking to deploy capital. Most all termsheets are different in some slight way (unless you're using a SAFE or KISS note), they usually require lawyers, and all are time-consuming where neither party usually gets 100% of what they want. For a founder, it's about obtaining capital without giving… Continue reading Navigating Termsheets
Pandemic Valuations (?)
"We've" been waiting for a market correction over the past few years and I believe it has come. Hard stop. Regardless of when this global pandemic settles, the markets won't pop back and reset to what it was. With that, I am curious where startup valuations will land. Right now most high-growth B2B SaaS companies… Continue reading Pandemic Valuations (?)
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