Founder success might be becoming irrelevant in the business…
Okay, so the title of this post isn’t necessarily true. For VCs, Angels or any other outside investment source, going public is an exit strategy. But for you, the entrepreneur, the one I care about most, the IPO is not. I’m sure many may disagree with me, but before passing judgement, let me explain.
First, let’s talk about Exit Strategies. I’m sure you’ve heard it a million times but…
“Start with the end in mind.”
You always have to think about where you want to …

Ironically, raising millions of dollars is usually easier than raising thousands.
The way the system works is that if you build something of value, the money will find you. Yes, there is a catch-22: you need seed financing, but no one will give you a cent until you have a marketable product and your company is producing revenue—which means that you don’t really need the money. But that’s the way it goes.

-Vivek Wadhwa, From the TechCrunch Article “Ditch the Biz Plan, Buy a Lottery Ticket”

Quote from a presentation by Fred Wilson titled “Ten Ways to Be Your Own Boss”

Entrepreneurship exists in the tiny space between madness and genius; and, its journey requires a few cross border violations across both madness and genius to get to the final destination.
- JLM on the Herd Instinct

Of late, I’ve been asked by people to shed some light about the Angel, Venture Capital, and Private Equity industries. People are absolutely fascinated and intrigued about early-stage financing. It’s sexy, right? To be able to invest thousands or millions of dollars into innovative ideas and turn them into millions or billions more is something not everyone gets to do everyday. But the rate at which I hear young, talented people wanting to be on “that side of the table” is alarming.
Let me digress for a moment. Every business needs …

Recently, I sat down with some close friends who’ve wanted to learn more about Pocket Tales, and each time the same question seems to arise – “so where did you learn how to start and build a company?” Sometimes I struggle to answer the question. I’d tell them, “I just started a company and learned along the way,” but that answer wasn’t appeasing to any of them. They wanted something more tangible and concrete. In their defense, the answer does seem ludicrous, doesn’t it? Think about this – the first …