I've seen this is in many businesses. The biggest offense is gross vs net revenue. "Oh, we're an X million revenue firm" is frequently tossed out, when the co

I've seen this is in many businesses. The biggest offense is gross vs net revenue. "Oh, we're an X million revenue firm" is frequently tossed out, when the company only keeps 15% of that to pay the bills. This is especially prevalent in AdTech. I used to think this was lack of financial knowledge on the part of the founders. Lately I've started thinking it's deliberate. I see Virtual being an example of this too, though not in AdTech. Some of this does fall on the VCs. It's very important for the VCs to dig into financials before investing, and asking for precise definitions. It also highlights the need for professional financial talent in startups.