There isn’t an investor on Earth that funds the right idea, or right company, 100% of the time. Right now, investors all around the globe are trying to figure out why certain holdings aren’t performing well. Have you taken a hard look at the backgrounds of your technology leadership?
Perhaps it is time to ask yourself some questions…
- Has the technology team ever demonstrated an ability to create a strategy to achieve the goal of ownership?
- Has the technology team ever demonstrated an ability to execute a strategy?
- Has the technology team ever demonstrated the ability to strategize and execute within the context of an entrepreneurial environment?
The last question is the key. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a company get funded or acquired only to have a technology leadership team put in place that has never demonstrated the ability to grow a company!
It is very common to hear, “We have great technology leadership. They came from the big accounting firms and from this Fortune 500 company.” Is that experience going to help grow your company?
Don’t get me wrong. Certainly a lot of very talented and successful technologists work for such companies. However, how does working in those environments translate into an entrepreneurial environment?
What does a technologist who spent their whole career working at a multi-billion dollar company know about conserving capital, managing risk, building a product and executing a strategy in the context of company survival or investment success? They don’t until they’ve actually done it…successfully. You risk burning through your capital prematurely and not getting the product delivered until it is “just” right (in their minds).
Make sure you engage experienced technologists who have actually grown companies and achieved investor goals and know how to execute a strategy and a Change-in-Control.
