7 ms·
Thank you for the pragmatic writeup rather than the usual "fantastic journey" blather. Also, returning investor money, rather than wasting it, demonstrates lead
by mring33621 10y ago
Thank you for the pragmatic writeup rather than the usual "fantastic journey" blather. Also, returning investor money, rather than wasting it, demonstrates leadership.
- transparentlabs 10y agoAgree with this. Question, it looks like this company just raised a seed round in January 2017 according to crunchbase. How can you raise a seed round in one month and then completely shut down the next?
- philip1209 10y agoWe closed the round in July of last year, prior to starting the V2. We sat on the announcement until we needed a press boost on a product announcement.
- transparentlabs 10y agoGotcha, thanks for the clarification! As an entrepreneur myself, greatly respect the decision to shut down and return money to investors instead of just spending until theres nothing. Good luck in your future endeavors!
- amorphid 10y agoA graceful shutdown of a funded startup w/ money still in the bank is a classy move. +1 gold star for you. Sorry it didn't work out the you hoped.
- philip1209 10y agoI'm moving onto a new idea in a different space. With our lawyers and investors, we decided that a restart was a better idea than a pivot for a variety of reasons.
- wyc 10y agoAgreed. I don't know all the details, but it sounds like you're really doing right by your people. I don't hear about this enough.
- tomhallett 10y agoIs there any feedback if investors would prefer to get some of their money back or see you roll the dice on another pivot?
- ocdtrekkie 10y agoArguably, if they'd like you to roll the dice on another project, they can always just... invest in your next project.
- bredren 10y ago...with a clean cap table.
- holtalanm 10y agoisn't that what they are doing? They are dissolving the old project, and returning investments. Some of the investors have pledged to reinvest in this new project, that is completely new and separate from the old project. Thats how it sounds to me, at least. Doesn't sound shady.
- philip1209 10y agoHad this discussion with the investors. I plan on exploring a different idea in a different space with a new founding team. The investors suggested restarting the corporate structure, and some have committed to reinvesting the money into the new company.
- nikanj 10y agoThat..that sounds a bit like "me and the investors decided to kick out the other founders with zero compensation". This /might/ be a nasty setting for lawsuits later, if newco turns into a unicorn.
- philip1209 10y agoThis isn't the case, and there is no newco at this time. Unfortunately, I had to lay off all of employees today. In addition, we are liquidating any IP, closing customer accounts, paying out our cash, and dissolving the corporation.
- gigatexal 10y agoWhat percentage was given back to the VCs? (just curious) I, too, found the post easy to read and straight-forward. If there was ever a great way to answer the hiring question of "Tell me about a time where you failed and what you did about it?" it would be this. Good luck in your next gig!
- philip1209 10y agoWill be about 60% back to VCs