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You Were Funded for a Liquidity Event – Start Looking
- angersock 10y agoOverall a good read, but I take issue with one bit: The first rule of Fight Club is: you do not talk about Fight Club. The second rule of Fight Club is: you DO NOT talk about Fight Club! The same is true about liquidity. It’s detrimental to tell your employees who have bought into the vision, mission and excitement of a startup to know that it’s for sale the day you start it. The party line is “We’re building a company for long-term success.” This sort of two-faced behavior doesn't succeed with even moderately-intelligent or observant employees, especially these days where the subject matter has graduated to meme status. At least for your early employees, the folks building your teams and covering for your weaknesses/inexperience, you need to be on the level or they will make a toxic environment. I think the hesitancy to talk about this is a function of both outmoded views of employees as resources without real understanding or stake in the business (hence the apparent moral permissibility to lie to them here) and also the reluctance to make a real exit for the employees--it's only awkward to talk about the exit for the business if the employees see that they aren't getting a slice of the pie.