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David A. Rosen's avatar

@Jeffrey - Very on point as usual. Its amazing to me how people do not collaborate with their advisors or investors. I once had a conversation with a founder whose business I was looking at for investment. I asked him how often he met with Wozniak, who was pictured and listed on their website as an investor. He said that he only spoke once when he made the investment in a round 1 year before that. I was shocked and asked him why he doesn't get more feedback and support from him and what I got back shocked me. It was obvious that he only looked at him as "Eye Candy" for his website. I followed with a point that someone like Wozniak is not just a provider of cash, but someone who liked what they were doing and would be happy to support the company as any smart investor would... I said, "all you need to do is ask." The entrepreneurs response was... " I don't need his help..." Needless to say, I did not invest. And, the business is nowhere to be found. UNBELIEVABLE!

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K Tucker Andersen's avatar

Great advice for all private companies, whether start ups or not. If the management communicates regularly with their investor base, it can pay dividends for them in multiple ways including leads and help in problem solving. And then when and if the next funding round is necessary, when management comes courting again asking for an additional cash infusion the investors might be inclined to be less cynical in their view regarding whether management regards the as partners in the enterprise or just individuals whose wallets may be able to be pried open when support is needed and the projections for reaching break even cash flow have proven optimistic.

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