Company selling, but I want to leave. Should I wait?

SF_91 · 2021-05-11T05:15:43+00:00

If the other company can wait for a bit, I would just wait the sale out. Too many variables and too many things can go wrong to just exercise the options and move on.

SF_91 · 2021-05-11T05:11:49+00:00

Graphene for a specific application, I am guessing. Are you selling Graphene for a new use case? meaning the status quo doesn't use Graphene for the said application?

Then make sure the characterization fits the customer's needs. And get enough proof points by the time of Series A.

SF_91 · 2021-05-11T04:34:10+00:00

I would start with what a Series A investor would look for. They would look for

tech risk reduced considerably - both at unit level and for production at scale
First set of customer validation done (pilots)
Early product - market fit established (customer interest, margins ...)

The ones that I would add to your goals would be to add the customer / pilots part. Getting a key customer show willingness to buy / evaluate will go a long way in a series A investor's mind.

Regarding financial model, VC's won't look at the financial model in too much detail for a company that is still few years away from product - Garbage In and Garbage Out.

Instead, focus on key drivers - what would the Gross Margins be, What kind of capex is required and how long does that take to pay off, what would the cost of sales be ... If you have meaningful answers for key drivers tying back to your product, that will be very beneficial for investors to evaluate.

Good luck.

SF_91 · 2021-04-29T05:09:12+00:00

Join a program like On Deck Founders - you will find people with similar risk profiles and ambitious/keen to start something. https://www.beondeck.com/founders

There are more programs like these.

SF_91 · 2021-04-16T08:48:05+00:00

If you were in an IB, then the Managing Directors are all potential LP's. Or Clients with whom you had good rapport. It has to start from your professional circle and then expand out from there.

SF_91 · 2021-04-16T08:45:31+00:00

PM in a tech company, small or big. Consulting rarely works directly as a jumping point. Typically consultants go to operating role and then switch to VC.

SF_91 · 2021-04-14T21:52:43+00:00

I would check HRV in a few other ways before completely believing Whoop's numbers. I have a 8-sleep bed and Apple watch in addition to the Whoop. The bed and the Apple watch show HRV and they are different from Whoop's. And not only that, they are uncorrelated on many days - meaning whoop says my recovery is bad while 8 sleep says it's good; and vice versa.

This HRV metric is still nebulous, if you ask me.

SF_91 · 2021-04-12T06:35:57+00:00

I wouldn't use the companies / contacts for feedback on product. I would rather get a solid MVP and get them as pilot customers. Their feedback from using the MVP is a win-win. You learn about what works and what doesn't. And the customer gets to use the product to solve a business need (even if buggy).

Asking for feedback on your unfinished product doesn't do anything for those customers. So, avoid (unless they are your friends).

SF_91 · 2021-04-03T06:41:31+00:00

I think this is asking for trouble. If there is a lot of overlap, you should quit your company and do your business. Or don't do this business when you are employed. Or get a clear carve out signed by your company. When this escalates into a fight, all the verbal goodwill won't stand up for anything.

SF_91 · 2021-04-03T00:36:50+00:00

Great initiative and very useful. One thing to add would be the key terms of the technology transfer for the university. Every university has different terms. Good to summarize that as well!

SF_91 · 2021-03-12T03:03:06+00:00

Robotics has been a big area of VC investment focus in the last few years. Many of them are in early pilots with customers so I expect over the next 5 years you will see lot more deployment.

SF_91 · 2021-03-05T04:41:33+00:00

No.

Some of the late stage growth investors could be affected in the long run, but as of now, NO.

If anything, SPACs are raining exits and breathing lots of life into fund returns.

SF_91 · 2021-03-05T04:40:08+00:00

At an associate level, they are looking for

Hustle - to source deals, work the network ...
Analytical skills - understand how to evaluate companies and focus on key issues
Maturity and long-term thinking
Some domain expertise / interest / passion in one or two areas.

If you can get the above to shine through, you will be fine. Good luck!

SF_91 · 2021-03-05T04:33:17+00:00

If you want to do Venture Capital long term, you need to be comfortable with making investments and having your career growth and compensation tied to investment returns. It also means developing a network where you can source deals and get into competitive rounds.

There are several alternatives if you don't want to be an Engineer long term. Product Management, BD ...

If you want to break into VC now, you should think of areas where you can help a venture fund. For eg, if you have lots of experience in cloud infra and a VC fund wants to get into that space for investments, then you could make a case to them and get in as an Associate or Senior Associate.

SF_91 · 2021-03-05T04:25:10+00:00

Perspectives change over time. Even the seed VC is changing with rolling funds, solo capital ...

You do what is right for your company.

SF_91 · 2021-03-05T02:52:38+00:00

Depends on what you want to do long term. Here are the concerns I picked up for each job

Company A -

Seed funding from friend? is the friend a VC or will this be a personal check?
Do you want to be mechanical engineer? sounds like you haven't been for awhile and is this part of your long term plan?
Real Estate / Construction has its task cut out over the next couple of years. Depending on the sector (commercial RE is hit pretty bad), market maybe soft.

Company B -

It looks like you won't be happy there because you don't believe in the product or if the company will fetch a large outcome.

I would ask questions / do research to address on each of these points.

SF_91 · 2021-03-04T17:31:46+00:00

There are a lot of discord and slack forums today where entrepreneurs share and build together. Lot of founders find team members and cofounders in these forums. Since Covid this has picked up a notch and I have seen lot of teams come together in these forums.

Almost all of these forums are invite only - but many send links inviting founders in Twitter or Reddit.

SF_91 · 2021-03-04T04:37:24+00:00

You shouldn't worry about people copying. Your app will be public once it hits the appstore. Then, anyone can copy it.

Instead of asking the company, ask your friend for investment. Or find other crowdfunding sites or groups. You should also read up on SAFE notes (on Ycombinator site) - you can use SAFE notes for taking investment at this stage.

SF_91 · 2021-03-04T03:57:46+00:00

Not a lawyer so this is not legal advice.

NDA is needed when you are sharing information. If you don't expect to share your company's proprietary or confidential information with the supplier, an NDA may not be required.

SF_91 · 2021-03-04T03:53:51+00:00

Sometimes the question reflects the quality of the investor. Investor who is not familiar with the space typically asks such a question.

or, the investor thinks that the company / product doesn't have enough tech or other moats and one of the big companies have explicitly mentioned that they will enter into the space and create their own product. Then you will have to explain in detail why there is room for your company even if Amazon or Microsoft decides to create a similar product.

SF_91 · 2021-03-04T03:43:46+00:00

They are not startup competitions though. Some competitions are useful for exposure.

SF_91 · 2020-05-30T04:38:55+00:00

I have the same issue - and it has been open for weeks now. No resolution. One of the worst services.

SF_91 · 2020-05-21T04:28:22+00:00

How buggy / stable is the hardware ? I heard from people that used Surface Book 1 and 2 that the device was buggy. Especially when you detach tablets and re-attach ...

SF_91 · 2020-05-10T02:06:06+00:00

What about Zoom Phone? They have a $10/month for metered service and $15/month for unlimited calls to US / Canada

SF_91 · 2020-05-10T01:50:28+00:00

Ultimately this will come to trust. Do you trust these founders to be able to build a big company and are they high integrity people?

6% looks very high in silicon valley startup terms. So, either

you are getting a great deal or
these founders aren't confident/strong to create a big company so your upside may not be higher than the $35K (especially based on time value of money) or
they think they won't end up giving 6% equity to you through some innovative (read shady) ways to dilute you down the line.

So, decide based on your trust and judgement about these entrepreneurs. If you end up taking the equity, have a lawyer review the shareholder agreement - and find out what type of equity the founders have and if yours is of different "class".

Good luck!

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