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• Working Paper | HBS Working Paper Series | 2020

  Determinants of Early-Stage Startup Performance: Survey Results

  Thomas R. Eisenmann

  To explore determinants of new venture performance, the CEOs of 470 early-stage startups were surveyed regarding a broad range of factors related to their venture’s customer value proposition, product management, marketing, technology and operations, financial management, funding choices, team management, and founder attributes. Multivariate regression analysis shows that startups that employed lean startup management practices—in particular, an optimal rate of pivoting—had stronger seed equity valuation growth, as did new ventures that struck the right balance in recruiting for skill versus attitude and that professionalized human resource policies earlier. High levels of confidence in financial metrics—including estimates of unit economics, the ratio of customer lifetime value to customer acquisition cost, and total addressable market size—were also associated with strong growth in seed equity value. Valuation outcomes were not related to several founder/CEO attributes, including age, educational background, personality traits, and motivations for becoming an entrepreneur. Likewise, choosing angels versus venture capital firms as lead seed round investors did not predict subsequent growth in equity valuation, nor did decisions about partnerships to provide technology, operational capacity, or marketing support.

  Keywords: Startups; survey research; performance analysis; Entrepreneurship; Performance; Analysis; Business Startups; Failure; Surveys;

  Citation:

  Eisenmann, Thomas R. "Determinants of Early-Stage Startup Performance: Survey Results." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 21-057, October 2020.  View Details

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• Teaching Note | HBS Case Collection | August 2020

  Updating Dating

  Scott Duke Kominers, Thomas R. Eisenmann and Alan Lam

  Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 818-052.

  Citation:

  Kominers, Scott Duke, Thomas R. Eisenmann, and Alan Lam. "Updating Dating." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 821-025, August 2020.  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | February 2016 (Revised August 2020)

  InsightSquared: Developing the Sales and Marketing Plan

  Mark Roberge, Tom Eisenmann and Frank Cespedes

  Fred Shilmover and Sam Clemens prepared for their fourth quarter board meeting. They were excited to have scaled their software startup, InsightSquared, to $2 million in revenue and secured an $8 million round of venture capital. However, they disagreed on the path ahead, specifically on the sales and marketing plan. Shilmover preferred a sales-centric approach to growth while Clemens preferred a marketing-centric one. Which strategy was optimal for their venture’s next phase of growth?

  Keywords: Sales planning; Software; Marketing; Sales; Planning; Growth and Development Strategy;

  Citation:

  Roberge, Mark, Tom Eisenmann, and Frank Cespedes. "InsightSquared: Developing the Sales and Marketing Plan." Harvard Business School Case 816-074, February 2016. (Revised August 2020.)  View Details

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