Tom Tunguz shares a different way to think of startup valuations closely tied to growth rates. If a startup is growing at 100%, 90% and 80% in the next 3 years, that means 85% of the value of the business will be created during those years. | learn more
The valuation vs traction matrix
Jason Calacanis explains early stage tech company valuations and demystifies some of the craziness we see. If you’re a founder, employee, or investor at early stage tech companies this is a worthwhile read. | learn more
Redefining expensive for bay area housing
Alex Rampell, partner at a16z, suggests a unique way of looking at bay area housing prices. What if you compare increasing housing cost to an index of valley tech stocks? Well, the housing market looks stable or even deflationary based on that. | learn more
50 future unicorns
“In collaboration with the New York Times, [CB Insights] put together a list of 50 future unicorns (companies that we think will eventually be valued at $1B or more).” | learn more
Arguments for and against Blitzscaling
In January I reviewed Blitzscalingby LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman and Chris Yeh. Tim O’Reilly, a successful founder and investor, had a different (more negative) opinion of the book’s message (read this first!). The authors respond to O’Reilly and double down on why they feel that Blitzscaling is both a necessary and appropriate strategy nowadays. | learn more
Kraft Heinz and why the d2c revolution may be bigger than you think
Venture Capitalist Ezra Galston makes an interesting point about the billions in legacy brand value that’s sitting on public company balance sheets in the form of goodwill, and the startup brands coming to displace it. | learn more
How the tech giants make their billions
This infographic breaks down revenue by source for the big five tech companies: Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft and Google. | learn more
Where art thou startup exits?
From Pardot founder David Cummings, reminding us that exists are few and far between, so focus on building a great business: “Too many investors ask about an exit strategy, when, in reality, the world doesn’t work that way. Companies are bought, not sold. Build a great business and acquirers will come knocking; everything else is conjecture.” | learn more
Which types of startups are most often profitable?
“When we try to control for founder skill and funds raised, the types of startups that first reach profitability do so in this order: E-commerce, Chrome extensions, Mobile apps, Enterprise SaaS, Small-to-medium business SaaS.” | learn more
Do people read privacy policies?
Axios and SurveyMonkey did a poll of about 4,000 people on the topic of privacy policies. One question: “How often would you say you check the ‘I accept’ or ‘I agree’ box on a company’s privacy policy/terms of service without reading it?” 13% of respondents say they never do this, meaning they always read the privacy policy. I’d like to take this opportunity to call BS on them. | learn more