Brandon Watson talks frankly about his startup and its investors

http://mixergy.com/bullied-board-lessons-funded-startup-brandon-watson-imsafer/

by AndrewWarner • 17 years ago

10 8 17 years ago

mixergy.com

sutro2• 17 years ago

Nice interview, nutpuncher!

BrandonWatson2• 17 years ago

I know someone is reading my blog posts when they use that phrase...awesome!

sutro2• 17 years ago

Haven't read your blog, but I did read your reply to me on this site yesterday. I'm sure your blog is a literary masterpiece if it makes liberal use of the term "nutpunch."

AndrewWarner• 17 years ago

Here's a quick(ish) summary:

* He was able to raise about $1 MM in 8 days because he built up good relations with investors over the years.

* He didn't get as good a deal as he could have from his investors because: as a first time entrepreneur he didn't have enough leverage + he needed to move fast + he didn't want to lose the deal.

* His board pushed him to sacrifice revenue for growth.

* Lack of revenue forced him to seek another round of funding.

* When, at the last minute, a VC dropped his deal, all the others walked away too.

* When he sold his company, his investors made a small profit, but he was "flushed out" because of the deal he made when he got his funding.

Bottom line: He protected his investors. His investors protected themselves. No one went out of their way to protect him, the entrepreneur. Still, none of this soured him on entrepreneurship.

helveticaman• 17 years ago

Well, hopefully now on his second attempt he gets better leverage on the deal.

phony_identity• 17 years ago

Someone must know who this first tier VC was that hosed him. Anybody here know about this?

BrandonWatson2• 17 years ago

One day I will post the story...one day.

herdrick• 17 years ago

We'll be waiting! Thanks for the great interview, Brandon.

Brandon Watson talks frankly about his startup and its investors

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