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We are VC/early stage investors in New Zealand, and give the advice constantly to raise as little as possible at each stage - and plan to get back to cash-flow
by lancewiggs 10y ago
We are VC/early stage investors in New Zealand, and give the advice constantly to raise as little as possible at each stage - and plan to get back to cash-flow positive if another round does not turn up. It's a function of our lean investor ecosystem here, but it also creates companies that treasure every dollar and are even more attractive for investors.
- lpolovets 10y agoI think that's a great mindset to have and to encourage. My main argument is that "as little as possible" -- especially in Silicon Valley -- is usually much closer to 20% than 10% dilution at seed. E.g. an FTE salary might be $125k-150k/yr, and selling 10% at a $5m cap gives you enough capital for 3-4 people for a year, which is a very small team and very little time to make enough progress to raise a Series A.
- lancewiggs 10y agoSure. Our overheads are a lot lower here - free healthcare, Xero for accounting and a simple tax system makes things easy, low rent, reasonable salaries (but a better standard of living) and so on. And no capital gains tax.