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I appreciate the vote of confidence and of course we all choose our own definitions of success and failure. As a "venture backed company", the expectation is th

I appreciate the vote of confidence and of course we all choose our own definitions of success and failure. As a "venture backed company", the expectation is that we would build a business that will ultimately return 10x the investment. That seems like a lot but the investors also know that many of these ventures will ultimately be worth nothing. Our goal was to build a large, thriving and sustainable business that profitably served lots of people, and eventually have some kind of exit event for our investors. Similarly we wanted to offer our employees an opportunity to build this business together. We weren't able to do that and it's not Silicon Valley, but the expectations of the people who made a bet on us either with their money or their hard work that we feel we've let down, even as we know that most startups do not achieve this goal.

zende 13y ago
> the expectations of the people who made a bet on us either with their money or their hard work that we feel we've let down, even as we know that most startups do not achieve this goal. I'm sorry to hear that you feel like you've let people down. That's a terrible way to feel and live your life. Investors and advisors back you early on because they believe in you. Embracing that philosophy is liberating, and actually, allows you to take more risks and become more success (and happy) from my experience. I'm sure they'll be supportive of your next venture. Thank you for sharing your experience with everyone. I'm sure this wasn't an easy blog post to write.
- wpietri 13y ago
  I think it's healthy to worry that you've let people down after something like this. However much you give people the warning about risk, you all want the thing to succeed, and you're all disappointed when it doesn't work. I agree it would be bad to worry about this indefinitely, but early on I think it's normal and reasonable. If I were one of their employees, I'd certainly want to see them express that, so that a) I know they're decent human beings, and b) I can absolve them of their guilt on my account. Their being concerned allows me to be generous, which helps both of us.
jusben1369 13y ago
I'm not sure on your specifics (when and how much your raised) but early stage VC's are hoping for more like 100x. Series B and C maybe 10x and 3x respectively. Anyway, your point is taken. It sounds like you discovered a potential lifestyle business as a funded company.

zende 13y ago

> the expectations of the people who made a bet on us either with their money or their hard work that we feel we've let down, even as we know that most startups do not achieve this goal. I'm sorry to hear that you feel like you've let people down. That's a terrible way to feel and live your life. Investors and advisors back you early on because they believe in you. Embracing that philosophy is liberating, and actually, allows you to take more risks and become more success (and happy) from my experience. I'm sure they'll be supportive of your next venture. Thank you for sharing your experience with everyone. I'm sure this wasn't an easy blog post to write.

wpietri 13y ago
I think it's healthy to worry that you've let people down after something like this. However much you give people the warning about risk, you all want the thing to succeed, and you're all disappointed when it doesn't work. I agree it would be bad to worry about this indefinitely, but early on I think it's normal and reasonable. If I were one of their employees, I'd certainly want to see them express that, so that a) I know they're decent human beings, and b) I can absolve them of their guilt on my account. Their being concerned allows me to be generous, which helps both of us.

jusben1369 13y ago

I'm not sure on your specifics (when and how much your raised) but early stage VC's are hoping for more like 100x. Series B and C maybe 10x and 3x respectively. Anyway, your point is taken. It sounds like you discovered a potential lifestyle business as a funded company.