Zero is Zero

When companies raise money, the founder only wants to give away a certain percentage of their equity. Makes complete sense. Founders would ask me all the time, how do I decide what we are worth? So if you raise $2M, you really would like the valuation to be at $8m with a post-money valuation of $10M, where you give away 20% of the business to investors—simple math.

Yet the reality is zero of zero is zero. I always had a tough time wrapping my head around the concept of pouring massive amounts of money into a company only to build eyeballs or users when each transaction still showed a loss. I would see those products and wonder which VC paid for them. That could be lipstick, luggage, software, or an engaging platform.

You always need money to fuel growth, although so many companies appear never to have an inflection point where you begin to make cash. Right now, the advertisers are pulling back, people are not buying as many physical products, companies are cutting their workforces, and reality has begun to set in. It was always bound to happen. These things are cyclical, but somehow, we always return to pouring more capital into the business will fix the problem.

Always remember, zero of zero is zero.