It’s the eve of the New Ventures BC Awards ceremony, I’ve just posted the edited video of the last talk in this year’s New Ventures Seminar Series: Start at the End – Your Exit Strategy.
Some of the highlights:
- Your exit is the culmination of all the hard work you do as an entrepreneur.
- How big companies think and grow. Why this is exceptionally good news for entrepreneurs.
- M&A exits are happening earlier than ever before.
- You don’t need to grow your company to any specific size before you sell it – it doesn’t even have to be profitable.
- All you need to do before you can sell is to ‘prove the model’.
- The best time to sell is probably earlier than you think.
- Please don’t make the mistake I did – don’t “ride it over the top” and wait too long to start your exit.
- Do you even need investors to make it big today?
- Why this is a golden era for entrepreneurs.
- Why your first choice should be to bootstrap if you possibly can.
- If you really do need capital, what are your options?
- The classic view of the venture capital industry and what it looks like today.
- Angel group syndication. Angel groups are now investing as much as $5 to 10 million in some companies.
- Angels finance 27 times more startups than traditional Venture Capital funds.
- Friends and Family investors invest much more than angels or VC funds.
- There is no shortage of capital today – despite what you might have heard.
- Why you need an exit strategy right from the beginning – and certainly before you contact your first prospective investor.
- Developing an exit strategy – the most important element in your business plan.
- Accepting money from a traditional Venture Capital fund adds about a decade to the exit timeline.
- The unwritten contract between entrepreneurs and traditional Venture Capital investors.
- The Unintentional Moonshot – 92% of exits don’t work for traditional Venture Capital funds.
- This means entrepreneurs and angel investors have two choices:
- 1. angel investors only and an exit in 3 to 5 years, or
- 2. traditional Venture Capital funds and an exit in 10 to 14 years.
- Statistically, entrepreneurs should pick angels or VCs – but not both.
- Checklist to determine whether your company would be better off financed by angels or VCs.
- Conclusions for entrepreneurs and your optimum strategy for success.
- Start at the end.
- Good luck with your venture.
I hope you find this video valuable – its online here. I hope to see you at the awards ceremony tomorrow.
