On Mar 20, 10:22 am, NC <n...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> "shr...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
" <shr...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> > What you can't build, you negotiate for, and in this case
> > what I need is a fascist MBA from a top 5 school to make
> > underwriters feel warm and fuzzy.
>
> You've just skipped about seven steps in a single sentence.
> "Underwriters" are people who will (if the company ever gets
> to that stage) put together your initial public offering.
And all of those seven steps I wish to leave to someone who is a
professional at dealing with those seven steps. Hence my need.
> Before you get to the public offering, however, you need some
> operating history as a privately held company. So your first
> order of business is to line up one or more private investors,
> individuals (aka "angels") or venture capitalists hoping to
> exit through an IPO or a sale to a strategic investor.
Yep. Forgive my probably incorrect terminology. I am seeking only 1M
as my first round. The nature of the technology makes soliciting
investors on fairly broad scale hopefull, and I already have a list of
potential small investors. My understanding is that under 1M the
requirements for investors is lower, and I hope to tombstone a DPO to
investors for that round. We also have a potential funding channel
from GA's since our product relates to public services (indirectly).
I really would prefer to avoid one big daddy-warbucks waiting in the
wings. I would like to have many small investors, and then look for a
larger investor when it comes time to go national. What names go on
the green paper tickets is really of no concern to me provided they
can't unilaterally elope with my technology.
This is what I need _him_ for. I couldn't sell a single-malt scotch at
a 12-step meeting.
<SNIP>
>
> Ideally, you also need a CEO with 15-20 years of big-name
> industry experience that includes a successful track record
> of managing a high-growth company or a high-growth division
> within a company, but that may wait until round 2, if not 3
> or 4...
>
Uh... **** that. No offense ;-) There a folks what builds em', and
there are folks what runs em'. Above is the latter. I need the
former. I have no intention of giving this thing to a next-gen Bernie
Ebbers or some equivalent minion of doom.
> > This will be my first time going through this, and to be
> > frank I would prefer the assigned party be of less experience
> > and more balls, than vice-versa.
>
> Balls are a double-edged weapon (pun fully intended); if you
> get a CEO with balls, he is at least as likely (if not way more
> likely) to use them to stand up to you in order to protect the
> investors' interests as to stand up to the investors in order
> to protect your interests...
>
> Cheers,
> NC
Perhaps I'm not understanding the job of CEO fully. I need an expert
salesperson who can sell air, and back it up with enough legalese to
not go to jail of this thing goes south. I need him/her to raise
money, lie like a dog, keep the CFO from spontaneously committing Hari-
Kari when the quarterly re****ts are due, be able to confuse and
confound market analysts, and herd whining VP's better than my border
collie. Banging every secretary in 10 mile radius, having a decent
golf handicap and a predisposition for 3 o'clock martini's is
optional.
Is that about right?
-Matt
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