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What Founders Need to Know: You Were Funded for a Liquidity Event – Start Looking

Steve Blank

While you might be interested in building a company that changes the world, regardless of how long it takes, your investors are interested in funding a company that changes the world so they can have a liquidity event within the life of their fund ~7-10 years. (A You’ve been funded to get to a liquidity event.

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Why good people leave large tech companies

Steve Blank

The belief then was that most founders couldn’t acquire the HR, finance, sales, and board governance skills rapidly enough to steer the company to a liquidity event, so they hired professional managers. These new CEOs would also act as a brake to temper the founder’s excesses.

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8 Keys To Maximizing Your New Venture Stock Net Worth

Startup Professionals Musings

Startup owners need to assume a three to five year wait for a liquidity event, such as acquisition or going public, before they can cash out. Make sure the government waits for a stock sale to collect taxes. At that time the original split makes all the difference. In the U.S.,

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10 Startup Founder Decisions That Have No Good Answer

Startup Professionals Musings

If you take investor money, expect a push for hockey-stick growth and a liquidity event, like going public (IPO) or sale (M&A), to get the payback. Transition to a specialist role, plan to exit, be prepared to be pushed out, or plan to fail. The control and growth dilemma.

Founder 325
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What do you give up when you take outside investors?

Berkonomics

From the moment such an investor looks seriously at your company, the investor or VC partner is thinking of the end game, the ultimate sale of the company or even of an eventual initial public offering. There is no middle ground. Resetting your priorities Taking money from these sources involves resetting priorities over time.

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How To Prevent Your Founder’s Shares From Vaporizing

Startup Professionals Musings

Startup owners need to assume a three to five year wait for a liquidity event, such as acquisition or going public, before they can cash out. Make sure the government waits for a stock sale to collect taxes. At that time the original split makes all the difference. In the U.S.,

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Start a deal room and keep it current.

Berkonomics

The question is whether to start this exhausting process early in the life of a corporation, or rush to complete it when a deal is identified or the run to a sale is imminent. The liquidity event and beyond' But maintaining such an electronic or physical facility is time-consuming and costly.