and they only took 15 million? One can only hope they didn't give up their rights in return.
I have to wonder why they talked to the VCs at all... I can imagine taking the risk if you've just started somebullshitwithnorevenuemodel.com and crazy guys in suits are offering you a giant stack of pretend internet money for it; but why would a company with an actual shipping product, and sales, and such, risk going up against the elite equity-diluting and value extraction skills of a hardened VC?
Because with all the extra money you can do better marketing, promotion, sales and even product development. If you can make 4x the money by giving away half, it's still double the money in your own pocket.
Ofcourse this does not account for giving up more subjective values such as control over your own product and being able to "not be evil".
Or simply put; selling your soul does make you rich.
- The smartwatch folks are in a good negotiating position and they can probably sell some of their stock as part of the funding. It's nice to cash in a little of your equity up front, because statistically most startups return nada to the founders;
- The VCs are always motivated for a liquidity event that cashes them out and transfers their risk to somebody else like a corporate buyer or the public in case of an IPO. Smartwatch founders can tag along for this ride, again bec
The Geek Chic people who went on Shark Tank recently have an ongoing business. They've been in business for several years, attend BGG Con each year, and have sold incredibly expensive tables to several people I know.
On the other hand, they have like an 18 month backlog, and once you order and make your down payment they'll ignore your emails for about a year until they're ready to deal with you, and ask you for your customizations. You can customize/everything/ on the table, even though it's marketed as
The reason why worry kills more people than work is that more people
worry than work.
They've proven to have a seller (Score:0)
and they only took 15 million? One can only hope they didn't give up their rights in return.
Re:They've proven to have a seller (Score:2)
and they only took 15 million? One can only hope they didn't give up their rights in return.
I have to wonder why they talked to the VCs at all... I can imagine taking the risk if you've just started somebullshitwithnorevenuemodel.com and crazy guys in suits are offering you a giant stack of pretend internet money for it; but why would a company with an actual shipping product, and sales, and such, risk going up against the elite equity-diluting and value extraction skills of a hardened VC?
Re:They've proven to have a seller (Score:5, Insightful)
Because with all the extra money you can do better marketing, promotion, sales and even product development.
If you can make 4x the money by giving away half, it's still double the money in your own pocket.
Ofcourse this does not account for giving up more subjective values such as control over your own product and being able to "not be evil".
Or simply put; selling your soul does make you rich.
Re: (Score:0)
Couple of reasons to go with VC $:
- The smartwatch folks are in a good negotiating position and they can probably sell some of their stock as part of the funding. It's nice to cash in a little of your equity up front, because statistically most startups return nada to the founders;
- The VCs are always motivated for a liquidity event that cashes them out and transfers their risk to somebody else like a corporate buyer or the public in case of an IPO. Smartwatch founders can tag along for this ride, again bec
Re: (Score:2)
The Geek Chic people who went on Shark Tank recently have an ongoing business. They've been in business for several years, attend BGG Con each year, and have sold incredibly expensive tables to several people I know.
On the other hand, they have like an 18 month backlog, and once you order and make your down payment they'll ignore your emails for about a year until they're ready to deal with you, and ask you for your customizations. You can customize /everything/ on the table, even though it's marketed as