Investor Connect Podcast

Pricing Based on Strategy Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Your product strategy drives your pricing model. There are three strategies to consider which are driving revenue growth, gaining market share, or driving profits. For startups raising funding, driving revenue growth is the best strategy as investors want t...

Bad Revenue Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Not all revenue is the same. In fact, some revenue is bad revenue. Bad revenue comes from products that are underpriced. Without enough revenue to cover the costs of delivering the product, the company struggles. Customers become unhappy when they fail to receive the exp...

On this episode of Investor Connect, Hall welcomes Erwin Jager, Founder and CEO at Wreckdock Vessel Recycling. Located in Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Wreckdock is an innovative offshore recycling company that completely dismantles seagoing vessels. Wreckdock collects, processes, and recycles all released materials and resells them to international market parties. Wreckdock includes the trade and supply o...

Contribution Margin vs. Gross Margin Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. The contribution margin is the same as the gross margin but without the fixed costs included. It includes only direct costs and variable costs. This means the contribution margin will always be the same or higher than the gross margin. The contri...

Gross Margin Is the Comparator Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Since not all revenue is the same, how does an investor compare one company to another? Gross margin is one key comparator. It measures how much revenue is available to invest in the growth of the business. Gross profit is calculated by taking revenue...

More Characteristics of Revenue Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Not all revenue is the same. There are several characteristics that define the quality of revenue. Here's an additional list to consider: Repeatable -- if the revenue is not recurring but rather repeatable then it has a greater value than the revenue...

Characteristics of Revenue Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Not all revenue is the same. There are several characteristics that define the quality of revenue. Here's a list to consider: Predictability -- if the revenue is recurring it has higher predictability and thus a greater value. Concentration -- the more sou...

Marginal Revenue Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Marginal revenue is the revenue for each additional unit sold. The additional unit comes with a marginal cost which is the additional cost on that unit. As the startup scales costs will rise and at some point, the marginal cost per unit will increase. Startups shoul...

On this episode of Investor Connect, Hall welcomes Dr. Chris Apfel, Founder, CEO, & Chairman of the Board at SageMedic Corp. Located in Palo Alto, CA, USA, SageMedic Corp. (SAGE) is a cancer diagnostic company that brings precision medicine to the next level by overcoming the limitations of genomic testing. Specifically, because only 1 out of 4 patients have genomic mutations, in most cases oncolo...

Operating Revenue Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Operating revenue is revenue from the core business. Non-operating revenue is revenue that comes from other sources. For example, if the company sells a service, that revenue is considered operating revenue. If the company sells a piece of furniture, that revenue i...

Accrued Revenue Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Accrued revenue is revenue that has been earned but has not yet been paid for. This could be project work that is billed when completed. The unpaid balance for the work done is considered accrued revenue. This applies to project work as well as loans in which the int...

Unearned Revenue Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. SaaS businesses charge a subscription fee for the product on a monthly or annual basis. For those charging on an annual basis, the revenue generated at the beginning of the contract is considered unearned revenue. Unearned revenue is revenue received before the serv...

Components of Revenue Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Revenue or sales stands for the amount of funds a company earns. This comes from the goods or services the company sells. This is often called Gross Sales or Total Sales as it's the total amount of the proceeds. Net sales are the gross sales minus any returns,...

Types of Revenue Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Not all revenue is the same as there are several types of revenue. SaaS companies earn different types of revenue through their product offering. Here's a list to consider: Software licenses are quite valuable as one can charge recurring fees for them. Maintenance f...

On this episode of How to Invest Series Hall, revisit the insights of Dennis Coleman from Life Science Angels, Ipshita Mandal-Johnson from Global Bio Fund, Mark Groper from Orion Biotechnology, Allison Piper Kimball from Wave 27 Ventures, and Neal Vail from Progenerative Medical, Inc. What do they all have in common? The answer to this simple and powerful question: What's your advice for people in...

What Impacts the Quality of Revenue? Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Not all revenue is the same. Investors look at the characteristics of the business which impacts the quality of revenue. Revenue that comes from a source that will sustain longer will have a higher value to investors. Here's a list of characteris...

Solving the Chicken and Egg Problem Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In launching a marketplace platform you must solve the chicken and egg problem. You must have supply to engage buyers and buyers to engage suppliers. In the early days, you'll need to do things that don't scale such as recruit supply that is not i...

Marketplace Platform Evolution Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Marketplace platforms evolve over time. Platforms start by connecting buyers and sellers. They follow with additional services such as ratings and reviews, background checks on the buyers, and quality control on the suppliers. Over time, the marketplac...

Marketplace Services Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In setting up a marketplace business, the more services you offer will lead to a better customer experience which leads to better retention. Consider adding these services to your marketplace platform: Manage the transaction from discovery to fulfillment of the...

Metrics for Marketplaces Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In running a marketplace business there are several metrics for measuring the performance of the market and platform. Here are some key metrics to consider: Gross Volume -- this is the total amount of goods and services transacted on the platform. Activity -...

On this episode of Investor Connect, Hall welcomes Matt Brugner, Founder of Stewardship Partners, LLC. Located in Dallas, Texas, USA, Stewardship Partners, LLC is a traditional search fund seeking to acquire one business and steward it into its next phase of growth. The fund is backed with capital from a handful of committed capital funds, family offices, and entrepreneurs. Stewardship Partners, L...

Network Effects in Marketplace Businesses Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Marketplace businesses derive value from the network effects that come with matching buyers and sellers. The greater the number of buyers and sellers the more attractive the platform. One side of the marketplace can attract the other side. I...

Expanding a Marketplace Business Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. After launching your marketplace business you'll start work on expanding it. For the supply side, you want to increase the engagement with the suppliers. Instead of being one source of many to your suppliers, you want to become their primary source....

Narrow Marketplaces Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Marketplaces can be built vertically targeting one sector or horizontally targeting multiple sectors. It's best to start with a narrow marketplace focused on one vertical. The cost of starting it is much less than a broad one. By going narrow, you don't have to g...

Fintech's Role in Marketplace Businesses Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Fintech can play an enabling role in a marketplace business. In addition to matching suppliers and buyers on a platform, fintech tools enable additional services that provide stickiness to the business. As the regulatory nature of fintech con...