Last month, in a well-received article published on Crowdfund Insider titled, “When to Pivot, When to Fold: What Every CEO & Investor Needs to Know”, I described a few scenarios where a CEO should consider changing direction or throwing in the towel altogether. Don’t get me wrong, like Winston Churchill, I don’t believe in ever, […]
When to Pivot, When to Fold: What Every CEO & Investor Needs to Know
The thing that excites me most about today’s crowdfinance-inspired path of capital formation is its unprecedented ability to mitigate shareholder risk and groom more productive businesses. It does this by allowing companies to gauge consumer demand and presell products prior to it outlaying any manufacturing, marketing or other expenses. Now that crowdfunding has reached the […]
Five Telltale Signs that a Startup is About to Implode
It happens all of the time. One minute a company is featured in an article titled, “The Most Promising Startups of the Year”. The next thing you know it is on the brink of insolvency. Going from hero to zero doesn’t happen overnight. Rather, it is often a gradual deterioration with a number of clues […]
Investing Red Flag Number Six: Stay Away From the CEO Sporting an Empty Suit
There are certain west coast venture capitalists who refuse to finance the CEO dressed in corporate business attire. On the other side of the country, there exist financiers who may have missed out on billions of dollars in capital appreciation simply for discounting the hoodie sporting CEO. While I don’t believe in judging someone based […]
Investing Red Flag Number Five: Be on the Lookout for the Unremitting Storyteller
Long before it has any products, employees or revenues, a company is nothing but a “story”. One that is typically narrated through an exquisitely crafted power point presentation containing seducing hockey-stick projection charts, statements of colossal market potential and the biographies of superheroes. In its humble beginnings, a company’s “story” is enough to charm investors […]