entrepreneur survey data 2016

Copyright © 2015, Bull City Venture Partners All rights reserved

About the 2016 BCVP Entrepreneur Survey

We leveraged our network and surveyed tech CEOs in the Southeast/Mid-Atlantic US.

With their help, we are able to report their performance, their view of the market and what they are thinking about most.

We appreciate the input from all the CEOs that participated.


What State is Your HQ?

MD4%

SC4%

DC9%

GA11%

VA13%

NC59%


What Was Your Last Financing?Other11%

Pre Seed7%

Seed29%Series A

29%

Series B20%

Series C4%


How Old is Your Business?5 - 7 Years

4%Less than 1

Year9%Greater than 10

11%

1 -2 Years20%

7 - 10 Years20%

3 - 5 Years36%


How Fast Will Your Company Grow in ’16?

0%4%

10 - 20%2% 1 - 10%

4%75 - 100%

7%

40 - 75%15%

20 - 40%16%

Over 100%53%

This one surprised us with over 53% of companies reporting that they will grow revenueover 100% this year. Over 90% of companies say they will grow over 20%.

Apparently, almost everyone is going to have a great year!


Fundraising

88% Call this a Challenging Year

But Almost 60% Decide They Want to

Fundraise in 2016

Nearly Impossible2%

Easy 13%

Hard32%

Medium53%

500k - 1m4%

5m - 10m7% 10m -

25m5%

3m - 5m20%

1m - 3m20%

None44%

How Hard will Fundraising Be in 2016 Compared To Last Year?

How Much Do You Plan to Raise this Year?


What are Your Biggest Concerns in 2016?

We’re glad the focus isn’t on fundraising. Revenue growth and hiringare the greatest concerns. And we will note the companies surveyed are hiring quickly! On

average, companies surveyed are expanding their teams by 38%.

Revenue growth

31%

Hiring good people

25%Customer churn

14%

Raising follow on capital

13%

Competition9%

Economic impact to your business

8%


What is Your Most Critical Hiring Need?

Product4%

Customer Services

7%

Marketing15%

Engineering24%

Sales50%

This surprised us. When we speak with our companies or others in the market, we usually hear the need for engineers. Some of the most common open

positions were SVP of Sales and Sales Reps


Are We in a Bubble?

Bubble43%

No Bubble57%

Bubble16%

No Bubble84%

Responses from North Carolina CEOs Outside of North Carolina

There is a big difference between what NC-based entrepreneurs shared with us.But we’re not that surprised by the responses as we’ve seen valuations in DC/Northern VA

sometimes much higher than NC.


Summary

CEOs are forecasting strong growth despite capital tightening. We think the Southeast bootstrap mentality plays into growth regardless of raising capital. 91% growing above 20% Half over 100%!

The CEOs we surveyed called it out. Capital is only a small part of building a company. This is what drives us as a firm – to make sure we continue to be a resource for our companies beyond just writing a check.

entrepreneur survey data 2016

Small Business & Entrepreneurship