When traders look at a startup slide deck, they’re searching for one thing very particular. Sure, they need to know if the staff is nice and the market is large and the issue is price fixing and the answer is smart. After all. However one other factor they’re searching for is whether or not the founders perceive the journey they’re on.
When you step on the VC treadmill, you’re signing up for speedy, explosive progress. You need to: When you don’t, you don’t match into the fashions of how VC works. And that’s OK — not each firm is appropriate for VC funding.
The opposite reality is that your funding quantity features a very literal deadline: When you run out of cash, that’s the tip of your organization. So, earlier than you run out of cash, one in every of three issues must occur:
- You have got an exit occasion, which often means getting acquired or going public via an IPO. The latter is extra predictable than the previous, and early-stage corporations often don’t have that as an choice.
- You attain break-even and are capable of function the enterprise from money circulation. In different phrases, you’re making extra money than you’re spending.
- You elevate one other spherical of funding.
For early-stage corporations, the primary two choices are off the desk, which suggests it’s worthwhile to paint a compelling image for an additional spherical of funding. That’s the place startups typically fall down. Right here’s the best way to repair that.
This slide has two Texas-sized crimson flags. Are you able to inform what they’re? Additionally: Yeah, I “designed” this slide. That is why I’m getting some assist for the the way it ought to be executed instance under. Picture Credit: Haje Kamps/TechCrunch+