Organizational Structure Running A Successful Business
Company Valuation and Metrics – top down or bottom up?
1. Jeremy
Halpern
@startupboston
Partner,
Nutter
McClennen
&
Fish
Paulina
Hill
@paulinahill
Polaris
Partners
Christopher
Mirabile
@cmirabile
Launchpad
Venture
Group
TCN
FastTrack
–
May
2014
Valuing
an
Early
Stage
Company
#TCNLive
2. Sources
of
early-‐stage
capital
• Bootstrapping
– Founder’s
capital
and
credit
cards,
bank
lines
of
credit,
loans
(SBA)
• Equity
Financing
(Early)
– Friends
and
family,
crowdfunding,
individual
angels,
organized
angel
groups,
early
stage
venture
capitalists
• Equity
Financing
(Early
to
Later)
– Venture
capitalists,
corporate
venture
funds,
private
equity
firms,
hedge
funds,
and
ultimately
the
public
markets
2
#TCNlive
3. Investment
Size
Investment
“Cost”
Traditional
VC
Micro
VC
Equipment
Financing
Angel
Groups
Angels
AngelList
Corporate
/
Strategic
Venture
Customers
Portal
Funding
Vendors
Founder
Friends
&
Family
Crowdfunding
Grants
Venture
Debt
Bank
Loans
Personal
Loans
Private
Equity
Sources
of
early-‐stage
capital
–
Cost:Size
#TCNlive
4. Avoid
the
“Capital
Gap”
Stage
Pre-‐
Seed
Seed
Start-‐Up
$500,000
to
$2,500,000
Early
Later
Source
Founders,
Friends
and
Family
Individual
Angels,
MicroCaps
Accelerators
Venture
Funds
Investment
$25,000
to
$100,000
$100,000
to
$500,000
$5,000,000
and
up
(initial
capital
may
be
smaller,
but
exit
targets
higher)
Market
Entry
Micro
Cap
VCs,
Angel
Groups
and
Angel
Group
Syndication
4
Mind
the
Gap
!
#TCNlive
5. • Common
Equity
– Typical
for
Founders
– Not
typical
for
new,
sophisticated
investors
– Restricted
stock
and
Options
• Debt
and
Convertible
Notes
– Often
used
by
early
stage
companies
to
avoid
valuation
– Not
the
best
mechanism
for
aligning
Founders
and
investors
• Preferred
Equity
– Primary
mechanism
for
sophisticated
angels,
angel
groups
and
VCs
5
Equity
Investment
Vehicles
7. Capital
Needs
Time
High
Risk
Low
Risk
Crystallize
Ideas
Demonstrate
Product
Early
Scaling
Growth
Sustained
Growth
Market
Entry
• Raising
money
takes
place
over
and
over
again
because
different
lenders
and
investors
match
the
current
capital
amounts
and
risk
profile
Risk
vs.
Return
#TCNlive
8. • Understand
the
capital
needed
today,
and
the
total
capital
needed
to
get
to
milestones
(e.g.
exit!)
– Type
of
business
(e.g.
SaaS,
Medical
Equipment)?
– Cost
of
getting
to
market?
– Cost
of
ramping
and
running
the
business?
• Compensate
the
management
for
getting
to
this
point
– What
do
they
need
for
future
motivation?
– How
many
more
senior
people
will
be
hired
w/
options?
• Look
at
comparable
exits
to
understand
likely
exit
multiple
– Don’t
forget
to
account
for
invested
capital!
• Is
this
a
business
investors
can
afford
to
invest
in?
8
The
Long
View
–
Total
Capital
Requirements
#TCNlive
9. • Valuation
Based
on
Measuring….
– Sales
(Multiple
of
revenue
–P/R)
– Net
Income
(P/E)
– Cash
Flow
(EBITDA
or
Free
Cash
Flow)
– Discounted
Cash
Flow
(DCF)
– Discounted
Future
Earnings
– Net
Worth
or
Book
Value
– Real
Options,
Black
Scholes,
etc.
• NONE
OF
THESE
APPLY
TO
STARTUPS!
9
Quantitative
Methods
–
Valuing
Mature
Companies
#TCNlive
10. Valuation
Issues
• Market
Test
&
the
Power
of
Auction:
Leverage
• Round
size
• Source
(Angel,
VC,
Strategic
etc.)
• Total
Capital
Requirements
• Terms
vs.
Pre-‐Money
Price
• Impact
of
Option
Plans
• Price
less
important
than
relationship
• Positioning
for
future
• Impact
of
Convertible
Debt
from
F&F
• On
the
“Promise”
or
the
“Numbers”
but
not
both!
11. Qualitative
&
Quantitative
Factors
• COMPARABLES
– Valuation
of
deals
recently
completed
in
a
similar
space
• KEY
ASSETS
OF
THE
COMPANY
– Management:
Commitment
Knowledge
&
Experience
– Intellectual
Property
&
Defensibility
– Financials
&
Time
to
Profit
– Milestones
Achieved
– Revenue
– Customers
and
Feedback
– Barriers
to
Entry
• FINANCING
HISTORY
/
NEEDS
– Funding
to
Date
– Future
Funding
Needs
– Last
Round
Post-‐Money
Valuation
– When
was
last
round
completed
– Is
the
stock
option
pool
sufficient
• SIZE
AND
GROWTH
OF
MARKET
– Current
Size
&
Targeted
Market
• NOT
the
Total
Available
Market
– Growth
-‐
CAGR
11
#TCNlive
12. Early
Stage
Company
Valuation
Methodologies
• Venture
Capital
Method
(used
also
by
many
angels)
– Future
revenue
x
industry
multiple
x
pro
rata
percentage
x
IRR
=
current
value
• Discounted
Hypothetical
Cash
Flow
/
Net
Present
Value
– Based
on
fiction
• Chicago
(DCF
x
probability
tiers)
– Same
issue
as
above
• Berkus
(finger
in
the
air)
– Maximums
per
attribute
(max
$2.5m)
• OTA/Payne
–
Comparison
to
average
x
weight
– Helpful
for
biotech/cleantech
• Risk
Factor
Method
– Highly
subjective
–
a
more
detailed
version
of
Berkus
Method
• Opportunity
Cost
/
Contribution
Model
– Based
on
sweat
and
lost
alternative
revenue
• 1/3
Max
rule
– Treats
angels
like
co-‐founders
and
weight
cash
versus
sweat
• Transaction
Comparables
– Hard
to
find
like
deals;
general
market
trends
may
apply
13. Investor-‐Driven
Method
(aka
Venture
Math)
• VALUATION
-‐
Investor
Requirements
– Return
rate
required
by
investor
(VC
driver)
– 10X
to
20X
–
what
is
it?
– Time
Frame
–
3-‐5-‐7
years
– Any
initial
ownership
goals
– Valuation
can
be
determined
by
working
in
reverse
from
exit
valuation
assuming
hypothetical
intervening
dilution
• VALUATION
-‐
Investor
Internal
Dynamics
– What
you
can
sell
to
your
syndicate
partners
– Size
of
fund
and
time
since
fund
inception
– Minimum
Investment
=
meaningful
percentage?
13
#TCNlive
14. Dave
Berkus
Method
If
it
exists,
then
Add
to
Company
value
Sound
idea
$500k
Prototype
$500k
Quality
Team
$500k
Quality
Board
$500k
Initial
Sale
$500k
Valuation
Range
=
$0
-‐
$2.5
million
14
#TCNlive
15. Bill
Payne
Method
Factor
Weight
Rating
(100%
basis)
Comment
Management
30
125
On
board,
ex
sales
Size
of
Opportunity
25
115
Could
be
huge
Product/Service
10
110
Disruptive
platform
Sales
Channels
10
70
All
foreign
Stage
of
Business
10
125
Prototype
works
Other
15
80
All
revs
outside
US
100%
Weighted
Average
Rating
=
1.0875
Pre-‐revenue
Multiplier
=
$1.75
million
Valuation
=
1.0875
x
$1.75
million
=
$1,903,125
15
#TCNlive
16. Risk
Factor
Summation
Method
(same
company)
Baseline
$1.75
million
Risk
Factor
Adjustment
(-‐$500k
to
+$500k)
Comment
Management
+$500k
Done
it
before
Stage
+$250k
Prototype
works
Funding
Risk
-‐$250k
Int’l
mkts
tough
Regulatory
0
Unregulated
mkt
Manufacturing
+250k
Nothing
new
Sales
&
Mktg
-‐$500k
Int’l
mkts
Competition
+$250k
Few
in
target
mkt
Technology
+$250k
Off
shelf
parts
Litigation
0
None
expected
International
-‐$500k
All
revs
Int’l
Reputational
-‐$250k
Int’l
issues
Exit
+$250k
Likely
early
$250k
Valuation
=
$2.0
million
16
#TCNlive
17. Structure
to
allow
value
growth
over
time
• Underlying
Assumption
– All
business
is
a
risk
adjusted
cash
flow
– Structuring
a
deal
is
“guessing”
what
the
exit
valuation
will
be
• Valuation
is
a
“Black
Art”
– Goal
is
to
quantify
a
qualitative
assessment,
and
then….
– Negotiate
the
deal
so
that
everyone
feels
just
a
bit
unhappy
• Setting
Deal
Structure
– MUST
understand
total
capital
requirements
and
likely
capital
sources
– Need
to
understand
option
pool
needs
– Other
economic
terms
include:
liquidation
preference,
dividends,
anti-‐
dilution
adjustment
and
vesting
of
founder’s
stock
and
option
pool
GOAL:
Founders,
Management,
Early
Investors
and
Later
Investors
all
have
great
risk
adjusted
returns
17
#TCNlive
18. Angel
Round
Sizes
Remain
Steady
Over
Three-‐Year
Period
$0.00
$0.50
$1.00
2011
2012
2013
Median
Round
Size
Mean
Round
Size
*Angel rounds include angels & angel groups only
$950K $857K
$931K
$610K $600K $600K
$M
19. • Average
valuation
across
all
angel
deals
:
$2.45million
pre-‐money
$350k
invested
19
Angel
Data
2013
#TCNlive
20. 20
The
average
pre-‐money
valuation
for
a
pre-‐revenue
company
across
the
US
is
$2.1
million
Average
Valuations
-‐
Wisdom
of
the
Angel
Crowd
#TCNlive
21. TCN
FastTrack
May
2014
Valuing
an
Early
Stage
Company
Jeremy
Halpern
Nutter
McClennen
&
Fish
@startupboston
jhalpern@nutter.com
617.439.2943
Paulina
Hill
Polaris
Partners
@paulinahill
Christopher
Mirabile
Launchpad
Venture
Group
@cmirabile