Valuation Of Internet Start Ups An Applied Research On How Venture Capitalists Value Internet Start Ups

This book deals with the valuation of Internet start-ups after the burst of the dot-com bubble. The objective is to fill some of the existing gaps in order to contribute to the development of this field of study. Indeed, it is a relatively recent subject, and the research devoted to it, is still limited. The valuation of an Internet start-up does not only depend on ist stage of development, but also on five qualitative factors, namely the team, the business model, the market, the risk, and the exit options. In fact, venture capitalists base their valuation on the perceived growth potential of the company. Subsequently, this book addresses the issue of intangible assets. In fact, an Internet company derives most of ist value from the intellectual capital, the brand equity, and the website. The author analyses these intangible assets and their accounting treatment. The discounted cash flow valuation method is based on financial projections, and the relative valuation method. These factors are identified and examined in detail. Their analysis is crucial for it determines the valuation of an internet start-up.

Master's Thesis from the year 2012 in the subject Business economics - Investment and Finance, grade: none, Business School INSEEC Paris - Bordeaux, language: English, abstract: This dissertation paper deals specifically with the valuation of Internet start-ups after the burst of dot-com bubble. The objective is to contribute to the development of this field of study by filling some of the existing gaps. Indeed, it is a relatively recent subject, and the research devoted to it is still limited. It has been found that the valuation of an Internet start-up does not only depend on its stage of development, but also on five qualitative factors: the team, the business model, the market, the risk, and the exit options. In fact, venture capitalists base their valuation on the perceived growth potential of the company. Subsequently, this dissertation paper addresses the issue of intangible assets. In fact, an Internet company derives most of its value from its intellectual capital, brand equity, and website. These intangible assets, as well as their accounting treatment, are deeply analyzed. It has been noticed the misclassification of their expenses can have a considerable impact on the valuation of the company. The discounted cash flow valuation method, which is based on financial projections, and the relative valuation method, which is based on comparables, are identified and examined in-depth. Their analysis is crucial to determine how to properly value an Internet start-up.

Seminar paper from the year 2013 in the subject Business economics - Investment and Finance, grade: 1,5, European Business School - International University Schlo Reichartshausen Oestrich-Winkel, language: English, abstract: As both the European and US market for internet startup venture financing have experienced significant growth during the last five years, valuing those ventures has become an important topic for practitioners. However, Damodaran (2011) concurs with Goldenberg and Goldenberg (2009) and Ho et al. (2011), that this is still one of the most challenging areas of business valuation. The purpose of this paper is to provide the reader with a better understanding of internet startup valuation by reviewing and analyzing relevant literature and discussing industry best practices. It focuses on valuations based on the multiple valuation method in the form of comparable companies analysis and aims to showcase a reliable application of this approach. This paper is divided into five chapters. After the introduction in chapter one, which also features a comment on the author's practical valuation experience, chapter two and three are based on an extensive review of scientific literature, newspaper articles and relevant internet sources. Chapter two covers operational and financial characteristics of internet startups and their market, and highlights relevant trends in technology and economy. Chapter three introduces the multiple valuation method and points out difficulties of applying it on internet startups. Afterwards, chapter four presents best practices and enhancements of the multiple valuation method based on an exemplary case study. Reliable measures to adjust the comparable companies analysis for the special characteristics of internet startups are elaborated. In chapter five, the practical relevance of complex valuation models is evaluated as an outlook and conclusions are drawn.

Drawn from the popular TechVenture program at the Kellogg School of Management, this book provides a deep understanding of the key finance and business trends in e-commerce Viewing Silicon Valley as a test lab for e-commerce strategies, this book delivers the latest financial and business models shaping the e-commerce industry. TechVenture focuses on the Silicon Valley phenomenon, the new financial strategies, and evolving e-business models. Each chapter draws from field research and interviews with the top minds in business today, and covers the most recent advances in e-finance, including: technology incubators, start-up funds, measuring intellectual capital, valuation techniques for Internet firms, and emerging technologies. In addition, TechVenture features intriguing and informative case studies and examples of major companies, including Idealab, Merrill Lynch, Pfizer, and Amazon.com. General business and finance readers, as well as those fascinated by the Internet economy, will find TechVenture an invaluable read that is on the cutting edge of e-business. Mohanbir Sawhney (Evanston, IL) is the McCormick Tribune Professor of Electronic Commerce and Technology at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University. Mr. Sawhney was recently named one of the twenty-five most influential people in e-business by Business Week magazine. Ranjay Gulati (Chicago, IL) is the Associate Professor of Management and Organizations at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management and the Director of the Center for Resource on E-Business Innovation. Anthony Paoni (Chicago, IL) is Associate Professor at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management.

New ways of looking, researching and valuing these companies need to be addressed. Valuation of Internet and Technology Stocks offers practical information to enable institutional investors to value internet.coms and high tech companies more accurately. The author highlights the deficiencies in existing stock market techniques and shows how they need to be modified or, in most cases, replaced with techniques more suited for the revolution in economies which had taken place since 1991. The economic rules in the financial market place have changed to the extent that strategies successfully applied in the post war era have now been relegated to the deleted items box. 'Valuation on Internet and Technology Stocks' reviews existing stock market techniques highlighting their deficiencies and show how the New Economics necessitates new forms of investment analysis. * Investigates why there has been a high correlation between high loss companies and a rocketing stock price * Questions whether there is still a place for discounted cash flows when there is no cash flow to discount * Considers what new methods are available to value super growth companies and whether these methods are any better than existing techniques

Scientific Essay from the year 2016 in the subject Business economics - Investment and Finance, grade: 1,0, University of Frankfurt (Main) (House of Finance), language: English, abstract: Within the last years, start-ups have achieved extraordinary high valuation levels which have never been seen in such dimensions before. These high-valued start-ups with valuations above or equal to US$1bn are also called unicorns. Similarly, media coverage of start-ups has increased significantly. In this paper the impact of media coverage on global unicorn valuations between 1990 and October 2015 is empirically analyzed. In addition, the impact of technology advancements on the media and start-ups is discussed. The here presented results indicate that technology advancements increase media coverage for start-ups. Investors which are typically not primarily active in the VC market are most affected by increasing media coverage. Start-up and especially unicorn valuations are driven to a large extent by increasing media coverage before a funding round. These results add new insights on the driving factors of start-up valuations and are consistent across a variety of different regression models and robustness checks.

This updated edition includes several new features, including: · The Startup Valuation Explorer · Expanded coverage of Valuation Methods · Responding to investor questions about your valuation · Understanding option pool impact on your valuation For many early-stage entrepreneurs assigning a pre-money valuation to your startup is one of the more daunting tasks encountered during the fundraising quest. This guide provides a quick reference to all of the key topics around early-stage startup valuation and provides step-by-step examples for several valuation methods. This Founder’s Pocket Guide helps startup founders learn: • What a startup valuation is and when you need to start worrying about it. • Key terms and definitions associated with valuation, such as pre-money, post-money, and dilution. • How investors view the valuation task, and what their expectations are for early-stage companies. • How the valuation fits with your target raise amount and resulting founder equity ownership. • How to do the simple math for calculating valuation percentages. • How to estimate your company valuation using several accepted methods. • What accounting valuation methods are and why they are not well suited for early-stage startups.

Very few of the decision makers involved in a venture backed company have a definitive understanding of how valuation techniques are being applied to their financial statements and their decision making process. This casebook provides a quick and accurate road map on how valuation techniques used for tax, financial reporting and deal structure impact a company's past, present and future. The book includes real world case studies to simplify this complex subject for the practitioners serving companies, the founders and executives running the companies, and the investors that fund the companies.

"Aswath Damodaran is simply the best valuation teacher around. If you are interested in the theory or practice of valuation, you should have Damodaran on Valuation on your bookshelf. You can bet that I do." -- Michael J. Mauboussin, Chief Investment Strategist, Legg Mason Capital Management and author of More Than You Know: Finding Financial Wisdom in Unconventional Places In order to be a successful CEO, corporate strategist, or analyst, understanding the valuation process is a necessity. The second edition of Damodaran on Valuation stands out as the most reliable book for answering many of today?s critical valuation questions. Completely revised and updated, this edition is the ideal book on valuation for CEOs and corporate strategists. You'll gain an understanding of the vitality of today?s valuation models and develop the acumen needed for the most complex and subtle valuation scenarios you will face.

Diploma Thesis from the year 2007 in the subject Business economics - Investment and Finance, grade: 1, University of Vienna (Institut für Finanzwirtschaft), language: English, abstract: In my thesis I examined the applicability of traditional valuation methods to value high growth companies. Consequently I presented and discussed possible modifications to the traditional methods, whereas I demonstratively applied some of the presented concepts in the case study. Considering relative valuation, traditional multiples based on historical financial data are not very useful for valuing such companies, as historical earnings are either negative or have low informational value. In my opinion, the presented concept of forward-looking (earnings) multiples is clearly superior to the traditional approaches using historical financials and also to the proposed modifications, which mostly have to be applied using historical data. The concept of knowledge-related multiples is interesting, although it uses historical financials; it may be useful and deliver accurate results in certain cases, but not especially when valuing high growth companies. Multiples based on non-financial data may only work well if a truly comparable company could be found. However, a multiples analysis should generally not be used for standalone company valuations, but rather to complement a DCF valuation, which is regarded as the more accurate method. In the second part I examined the DCF valuation and found that the general framework works even for high growth firms; only the estimation of separate inputs requires more effort and modified estimation approaches compared to stable growth companies. The scenario-based DCF approach is considered as the appropriate method to account for high uncertainty in company valuation, as it allows examining the effect of changes in fundamental value drivers, without having to use quite intransparent mathematical models. I also presented some in depth estimation issues for three main steps of a DCF valuation, which proved beneficial for doing the case study. The case study should demonstrate the specific problems relating to the valuation of high growth companies. By trying to value “bwin”, an Austrian online gaming firm, the case study reveals the deficiencies of traditional multiples and shows how the scenario-based DCF approach can be applied. Although scenario outcomes deliver an even broader value range than the multiples analysis, they allow accounting for the specific circumstances and reveal the possible effect of changes in the key value drivers for the company. The scenario-based DCF approach thus delivers the most valuable results in my opinion.