One of the common questions about the Atlanta Tech Village is how we measure startup success. Of course, we throw big parties to celebrate graduates like Yik Yak and SalesLoft, but it usually takes years before a company has enough local employees to warrant moving out. Long term, we’re tracking the number of jobs created by active and graduated Tech Village companies towards our goal of helping create 10,000 new jobs. One idea, as another metric to track, is the number of startups that achieve a post-money valuation greater than $10 million.
Here are a few thoughts as to why a $10M+ valuation is worth tracking:
- Represents a likely level of customer traction that something good is going on past product/market fit
- Shows that the startup has progressed beyond angel investors and likely has institutional investors
- Means the startup has raised a meaningful amount of money (e.g. > $2 million)
- Makes it likely that the startup has a team of 10+ employees and the potential to create many more jobs
Measuring the number of startups that raise money at a $10M+ post-money valuation is another worthwhile metric for ambitious startup communities.
What else? What are some more reasons why the $10M+ valuation is worth tracking?
David Cummings on Startups 