Tom Tunguz

OCTOBER 7, 2021

As later stage investors permeate venture capital, they are amassing index funds of startups. Investors assume board seats and shoulder governance responsibility for the company, advise on strategy, introduce potential employees and prospective customers to the business, among other things.

Venture Capital 363

Venture Capital Investment Government Startup 363

Tom Tunguz

APRIL 1, 2020

The key open question is whether the affiliation rule will admit venture-backed startups. Historically, startups haven’t been able to access SBA programs because of this affiliation rule. For startups, this means every employee of every startup for every investor.

Headcount 329

Headcount Payment Services Government Innovation 329

Tom Tunguz

APRIL 16, 2023

In 2022, startups raised about $75b from VCs. – [1] The Fed Funds rate is the interest rates banks pays to borrow from the government overnight. The 2-year Treasury (the rate which the government pays to borrow money for 2 years) is around 3.8%. according to PitchBook data, which would imply about $55b for the full year.

Venture Capital 297

Venture Capital Government Marketing Banking 297

Tom Tunguz

NOVEMBER 19, 2020

Despite the economic backdrop, startups continue to plow ahead. If the government lends at a low rate, then the cost of capital is less, so companies should be able to invest more at the same cost, and grow faster. What impact are we seeing in the market? We should expect four outcomes: More money should enter venture capital funds.

Venture Capital 352

Venture Capital Government Pricing Investment 352

SaaStr

APRIL 23, 2024

Like many SaaS startups, Databricks had a big vision from the beginning, when people believed that no one cared about a unified data platform. Serverless compute Unified data governance They were massive changes. It’s very common with good founders and can drive a startup team crazy. It isn’t copying and pasting.

Technical Review 292

Technical Review Government Innovation Engineering 292

Scytale

MARCH 12, 2025

As the UKs tech startup ecosystem continues to thrive, visionary founders are driving innovation across various industries, shaping the future of technology , finance , healthcare , and beyond. In this article, we highlight the top 10 tech startup founders in the UK for 2025 (who you should be following if you arent already!),

Startup 59

Startup Scale Cybersecurity AI Search 59

SaaStr

MAY 19, 2021

Many SaaS startups that start outside the U.S. C-corp later, for a variety of governance and tax reasons. Rather, Monday has until very recently relied mainly on 14 day free trials. Not all SMB leaders have to be freemium to win. #7. Didn’t “flip” to a U.S. “flip” legally to a U.S.

Scale 361

Scale SMB Government Enterprise 361

Tom Tunguz

FEBRUARY 25, 2019

Since that trip, when I visited RenRen, Autonavi and a few other blossoming startups, the Chinese startup ecosystem has grown tremendously. Chinese startups raise nearly half of all venture capital dollars and nearly 100 are valued at $1B. To me, the Chinese and US startup ecosystems differ because of their history.

AI 168

AI Startup Machine Learning Artificial Intelligence 168

Tom Tunguz

MARCH 26, 2016

Sales velocity is the equation that governs the effectiveness of your SaaS startup’s sales team. Often, sales teams use the word sales velocity to refer to the number of signed contracts in a given month or quarter. But sales velocity classically defined is a different concept.

Government 123

Government Scale Outsourced Development Venture Capital 123

Tom Tunguz

MAY 10, 2022

VCs revel in the short term liquidity reminiscent of the late 1990s when startups went public in fewer than 4 years. Tokens and DAOs remain distinct from stocks and boards because of the regulatory arbitrage that enables startups to go public in half the time of the classic route. Spectacular booms and busts continue. Regulation.

Banking 261

Banking Government Construction Startup 261

Neil Patel

DECEMBER 2, 2020

It’s around this time that some businesses start to consider startup funding. All of this sounds great, but it brings up important questions: How on earth are you supposed to get startup funding? Does your business need startup funding? How Do I Get Startup Funding for My Business? Do you know what I don’t see?

Startup 145

Startup Underperforming Technical Team Government Investment 145

SaaStr

JULY 14, 2022

I see too many startups resist going upmarket because it’s more work. The most enterprise vendor in a space can often charge twice what other do, and tap into customer segments (regulated, government, etc) that others can’t. Many startups that are strong on the Salesforce platform expand into Microsoft, HubSpot, etc.

SMB 329

SMB Enterprise Government compliance 329

SaaStr

APRIL 21, 2023

Maybe it was a lot of startups just plain not having real boards of directors. What’s changed is the majority of startups that are venture-backed don’t seem to get the CEO’s and founders’ compensation packages approved by the board anymore. Maybe it was the investing craziness of late ‘20 through late ‘21. At least do it as a CYA.

Compensation 274

Compensation Government Finance Startup 274

Tom Tunguz

APRIL 6, 2022

What’s a startup to do? Because this technique is so new, startups have the upper hand: Innovator’s Dilemma redux. Twenty years ago, startups IPOed after 4 years. The fifth cluster of innovation benefits central banks, not startups. Compete on a different axis: reward users with tokens. Regulatory arbitrage.

Innovation 266

Innovation Banking Government Advertising 266

Tom Tunguz

JULY 7, 2022

At some point, startups tinker enough with the new technology to discover the applications customers value most. In a few years, data startups, consumer apps, and software vendors will rise and grow - the same as today. In a few years, data startups, consumer apps, and software vendors will rise and grow - the same as today.

AWS 238

AWS Government Innovation Cloud 238

The Daily Egg

OCTOBER 10, 2021

Business licenses and permits are government-led initiatives to protect consumers and keep operations transparent. That’s why business license registration is a prerequisite. The post 5 Easy Steps to Register for a Business License appeared first on The Daily Egg.

Business 302

Business Government Startup 302

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 24, 2022

Governance, risk and compliance consulting services. Zeni is the only startup bookkeeping solution engineered to power high velocity decision making. SOC for Cybersecurity examinations. SOC Readiness Assessments. ISO 27001 compliance services. HIPAA Security assessments. GDPR assessments. Risk Assessment based on NIST CSF.

Merchant Services 258

Merchant Services Cybersecurity compliance Finance 258

Tom Tunguz

MARCH 20, 2022

Six months ago, I wrote about how the cap tables of crypto companies have approached the structure of web2 startups. Governance token holders may vote to change the 50/50 split in the future. Recently, EVMOS , a web3 project, pushed forward an important innovation for the web3 ecosystem. This doesn’t happen today in web3.

Entertainment 256

Entertainment Government Innovation Banking 256

SaaStr

AUGUST 19, 2023

and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses. Find out if you qualify today at [link] Launch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada’s Startup Visa.

Software 245

Software Business Social Media Government 245

Tom Tunguz

JUNE 16, 2022

Apps could encode user metadata as an NFT governed by a smart contract that enforces royalties. But it’s ripe for startups to pursue. Imagine being able to segment and target based on millions of users’ purchasing history in real-time. Data collectors/sellers would be paid seamlessly with each use.

Blockchain 263

Blockchain Marketing Government Advertising 263

SaaStr

AUGUST 18, 2019

But if you hoped to sell to cool tech companies, and you end up selling to government somehow — embrace it. A bit more here: 15+ of The Top Sales & Marketing Mistakes SaaS Startups Make | SaaStr. The post What are the biggest mistakes first-time startup founders make, and how can they be avoided? So Should You.

Growth Hacking 154

Growth Hacking CTO Hire Startup Sales Hiring 154

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 15, 2021

How Should Startups in Growth Approach Self-Service? 1 Governance : With the massive amount of knowledge existing in your company across teams, it’s tricky to determine the right person to take ownership of the knowledge base and all that comes with its management. . Rozenfeld strongly recommends a focus on self-service from day one.

Strategy 284

Strategy Government Operational efficiency. AI 284

Tom Tunguz

NOVEMBER 8, 2023

Instrumentation and Governance Enable Many New Use Cases : Today’s data leaders are struggling. Meanwhile, regulation and compliance mean the governance burden only increases. Software startups are rising to meet the need. Executive teams and boards are demanding innovation with LLMs and data.

Artificial Intelligence 223

Artificial Intelligence Trends Data Software Review 223

Tom Tunguz

DECEMBER 3, 2023

The Typical Startup Saw a 24% Increase in Sales Cycle in 2023. The first two quarters of this year were rough for startups. Why Every Startup Needs an AI Strategy. Much like mobile technology became a de facto part of every startup, AI is now no longer a category but the core or a component of every product.

Artificial Intelligence 188

Artificial Intelligence ChatGPT Generative AI AI 188

Tom Tunguz

NOVEMBER 19, 2023

Perhaps these events trigger an M&A wave in the world of foundation models, but the anti-trust pressure from the government challenges many of the larger players. As for startups, disruptions in the status quo are often advantageous.

Artificial Intelligence 223

Artificial Intelligence Government AI Leadership 223

Tom Tunguz

APRIL 14, 2019

Since writing The AI Agency: A Novel GTM for Machine Learning Startups , I’ve been meeting many companies who operate this way. These startups use machine learning to disrupt an industry traditionally dominated by agencies: law, accounting, recruiting, translation, debt collection, marketing…the list is long.

AI 203

AI Sales Recruiting Underperforming Technical Team Machine Learning 203

SaaStr

MAY 28, 2024

Maybe you’re doing vertical SaaS, selling to governments, or it’s a more complicated product than they’ve sold before. All struggling startups today are cutting marketing to zero, and it’s your job as founders and executives to find the balance here. The best startups go from $1M-$3M, $3M-$9M, $9M-$18M, and $18M-$36M.

Sales Hiring 306

Sales Hiring Scale AI Search AI 306

Kellblog

JUNE 27, 2022

Bernard , Suranga , Alice , Rob ) as well as my other European startup colleagues (e.g., The US poses numerous, often unique, challenges for a European technology startup. Bob Seiner and Non-Invasive Data Governance ). This series was both a lot of work and a lot of fun. The market is vast. Segmentation strategies are critical.

Startup 128

Startup Sales Hiring Underperforming Technical Team Compensation 128

SaaStock

MARCH 1, 2019

Notable mentions that have helped the Asian SaaS space are 500 Startups, Y Combinator, Sequoia, Matrix Partners, Eight Roads Ventures and Intel Capital. Cyberport Hong Kong is an ICT hub and a digital community whose aim is to enable network services for startups and founders. SaaS Investments: Ezetap, and others. Cyberport Hong Kong.

SaaS Payments 190

SaaS Payments Venture Capital Payment Services Telecommunications 190

Tom Tunguz

NOVEMBER 25, 2017

Today, we’re seeing many startups coin their own money, creating an explosion in the number of new (crypto)currencies. In 1775, the US government issued $241M worth of Continentals, the currency of the Revolution, to finance the war. Each startup is creating a new currency, like the colonies.

Banking 189

Banking Government Finance Startup 189

Tom Tunguz

JULY 14, 2018

As your startup grows, your sales team will experiment with different sales techniques. This is a wonderful phase for a startup. Many startups don’t do this at the early stages of go to market. Sales commission plans govern how and when your startup pays account executives. Cash flows in. Cash flows out.

Payment Solutions 176

Payment Solutions Sales Compensation Government 176

Tom Tunguz

JUNE 19, 2017

Machine learning startups create models based on data provided by customers. Unlike the first wave of SaaS software, machine learning startups benefit from the data their customers share with them. Many times, machine learning startups create one global machine learning model that is used across the customer base.

Machine Learning 186

Machine Learning Artificial Intelligence Advertising Marketplace as a Service 186

Tom Tunguz

DECEMBER 8, 2013

When startups are acquired, there are many considerations in accepting an offer. Does the vision of the acquirer fit the startup? Will the startup operate independently or be integrated? Third, a power law governs acquisitions. What is the price and structure of the transaction? Exit Price in $M. Average Cash Split in %.

Acquisition 100

Acquisition Startup Government Benchmarks 100

Intercom, Inc.

APRIL 28, 2021

Startups are designed to grow quickly, but high growth rates can generate huge costs as new infrastructure is introduced and scaled to meet demand. Centralize governance. The more you centralize cost governance, the less time you have to spend on it. Crafting tagging policies and implementing them to provide visibility on spend.

Management 211

Management Government Cost optimization & reporting Engineering 211

Tom Tunguz

OCTOBER 31, 2012

Reading the post and reflecting on the startups I’ve seen, I concluded most of the innovation in education has occurred in post-secondary education instead of K-12, despite the fact that the K-12 market is about 50% larger in dollar terms than the post-secondary market. Perhaps they will serve as a conduit for other startups.

Education 100

Education Startup Innovation Government 100

Tom Tunguz

AUGUST 24, 2014

Does a startup’s location impact its M&A prospects? Californian startups raise 53% of the rounds in this subset of state but see 60% of the acquisitions. Californian startup raise 49% of all the dollars among these seven states, but command 68% of the M&A dollars. But do acquirers behave similarly to investors?

Acquisition 100

Acquisition Startup Finance Government 100

Intercom, Inc.

MARCH 26, 2020

For inspiration on how Intercom can be useful: Healthcare startup Solv has partnered with MultiCare , Washington’s largest community-based health system, to implement chatbots that allow individuals to self-assess their risk of having contracted the virus. If you’re running a group like this and would like our help, do please reach out.

Healthcare 171

Healthcare Scale Government Education 171