a good time to start a company?
It’s amazing how things appear before you when you are looking…You know that cliche’ about being blind to a new car on the road until you start shopping for cars, and then it seems the car you are looking at is everywhere? The blogosphere seems like that sometimes.
I have been dialoging with a client of mine the past week or so on topics surrounding the pros and cons of starting a software/internet today and how to structure the company. Sure enough, while checking out new posts tonight I came accross this excellent post on the topic of The New Dual Track by Josh Copelman of Redeye VC on incredibly relevant topics. The essence of the post is that new funding and valuation models are emerging, and that the old “dual track” has been replaced by a new one thanks to lower technology and development costs, and a changing venture mindset. There goes that new car…
Here are some of the topics I’ve been discussing with my client this week;
- Angel or VC money? How much do we really need and what does it “cost” and “buy”?
- Technology Platforms - I’m a LAMP proponent for getting web apps online quickly and cheaply. It used to be proof-of-concept meant mock-ups and demos, today you can actually launch an online application or web service usable by a real audience in the same amount of time and get away with calling it a “beta”. <-- more on this later
- Structures and Valuations - too many tech businesses have been started with the founders or investors having pre-ordained exits in mind. Yes, starting companies designed to be sold to one of the 500lb gorillas has worked in the past. Today, you have to build a business on a solid foundation with a real product that generates revenue and does something useful. Not to say this is the rule, but it should be…
The tough thing about starting technology companies is that the answer to many of the fundamental questions is the same: “It Depends”. It used to be really tough to find any guidance or commentary of this sort online; it is great to see good posts (and comments!) on these topics sprouting everywhere in the blogosphere.
Sphere: Related Content
