As a very general rule:
10 x your annual revenue
There are many many factors that come into play in this but if the big boys are planning to buy you… look at the above as a guide… depending on other factors it could be more or less…
VC, will want atleast 30% share, they will want a say in how the business is run, they want to get 4-5 times what they put in, in 5-6 years.
The single most important factor a VC will look at:
“Management Team”
" A crap management team can take a fantastic idea and screw it up, a good management team can take an ok idea and make it a big success"
When making a profit its about not how many customers you have but about how much profit you are making
When vlauing the company its all about how many customers you have, as to the buyer its a customer base they can increase the ARPU on…
thinking out loud… hope it helps
You are in the right industry at the right time, you have about 3-4 years to work with before its over, if you play your cards right you will make fantastic money… you are at the heart of the new .com phenomina…
The amount of VC investment being ploughed in is phenominal and on the increase, the big boys are watching and when they are ready they will be buying out companies like us… there will be mergers and consolidation…
laughters and tears… make sure your one of those laughing…
the future is wireless…
1.25GB full duplex is on the market
wimax will deliver 63MB to the CPE, the rate at which wireless speeds are growing is much higher then wired etherenet… play your cards right guys…
I could not agree more. If you don’t have an exit strategy, you need one - even if you don’t think you need it.
possibile exit strategies:-
sell and buy a yacht
partnerup/merge
stock market
VC’s
having said that VC’s will ask for an exit strategy from you to make sure they get their return…
sell and buy a yacht
Yes please. Wish it was mine to sell some days. haha But then I'd be bored...
Dumb question (I'm not the businessman) - what is a VC? While typing I wonder, "Venture Capitalist?" Big words I heard on TV (Wedding Crashers, great movie haha) Still don't know what they are though. Again, I'm not a businessman.... Just curious :D
Aaron
Compliments of google: 
Venture Capitalist. Source of investment capital for small, growing companies. Usually have an interest in companies going public in order to realize their investment.
I was wondering that myself. And yes, Wedding Crashers was a great movie 
And just for the heck of it…VC is also: Interface between Access Node and network. May have multiple physical connections although may also carry all signals across a single physical connection.
lol… VC is venture capitalists…
basically these guys have a fund of money (from rich guys, other companies, investors, banks, etc…)
a VC will tend to be specialised in a certain field, pharmacy, technology, .com, software, wireless, etc…
The VC strategy is to look at an industry that they think is going to do really well, and then they find a company in that industry… they want to invest a significant amount hoping to multiply their money by a factor of 5-6 in 6-7 years, so if they invest 1mill they expect to get 7mill back… they are not interested in owning a company, they want the share to have a say… they need an exit strategy… often that strategy is to go to the stock market, but it can be otherways too… as long as you can convince them that they will be able to get the money they are happy…
e.g you think 1million investment in your company is worth 5% because in 5 years time that 5% will be worth 5million, VC agrees, but says I want 15% share, but gives you the option to buy out his 15% for 5million, regardless of what the company is worth… now if you don’t the VC will be confident that the 15% will get them their 5million.
You have to be very careful with them, you have to know what you are getting yourself into…