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The flip side of this is that if you're not planning on a unicorn, don't get hitched to the VCs that are hunting unicorns. There are other investors who'd be qu
by beat 10y ago
The flip side of this is that if you're not planning on a unicorn, don't get hitched to the VCs that are hunting unicorns. There are other investors who'd be quite happy to get that 5x back and build a $100M company, or even a $20M company.
- jarjoura 10y agoEven still, those $20-100M companies still get bought out by bigger conglomerates. If you look just at Google and Facebook's acquisition list, it's pretty much all the deals they did the last 2 years.
- beat 10y agoRight. The larger you grow, the shorter the list of potential suitors for a liquidation event/buyout becomes. On the other hand, the businesspeople in charge of buyouts tend to like large, within their budget. It's about the same amount of due diligence work whether buying a $10M company or a $100M company, so if they need to hit certain numbers, then larger is better.
- newbear 10y agoDoes an acquisition list exist?link? Any resources on how to get acquired?
- the_watcher 10y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitions_by_Alphabet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitio... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitions_by_Facebook https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitio... They may not be comprehensive, but it's a good starting point.
- SatvikBeri 10y agoHuh, are there really a significant # of investors who put money into $20MM companies looking for 5x returns? That's surprising.
- harryh 10y agoThere aren't really.
- the_watcher 10y agoOnly if you're talking about venture investors. There a lot of types of investors who each have different tolerances for risk-return ratios.
- harryh 10y agoNot really. Pretty much the more risk people take on the more return they are shooting for so the ratio stays the same.
- clock_tower 10y agoOver in the mainstream stock market, an 8% total return per annum, repeated indefinitely, is more of an ideal than a reality; CalPERS (the California pension system) has been completely unable to attain it. I suspect that the same is true of Silicon Valley, once you factor in the timeframe question and the high risk of failure in any single investment.
- sokoloff 10y agoLooking for and being quite happy to get are two different things. I'll happily take a 5x on any of my angel investments. I didn't go into them thinking that was the best possible (hoped for) case. Getting 5x on all of them would be above my average.
- beat 10y agoI would also expect angel investors to be a little more understanding about slightly less than "MAX GROWTH NOW!!!!!", relative to a large VC firm, and less likely to force the founders into a path the founders don't want to take if the numbers aren't ideal..
- mbesto 10y ago
- CrackpotGonzo 10y agoAre these mostly angels / Micro-VCs? Where do you recommend looking for them?
- javiramos 10y agoI would recommend looking within your local angel network. VCs have a certain structure that require them to bet on unicorns otherwise the model breaks down. I suggest finding an angel that knows your space and can bring value.
- javiramos 10y agoAnd in the end as a founder you might end up owning a part of the business that is worth more than a highly diluted piece of a $1 billion company.