Comments on: Making That Halo Glow – Part I http://www.vijayanand.name/2009/03/defining-your-wages-part-i/ Perspectives of an Entrepreneur from the Indian Startup Trenches. Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:42:43 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Santosh http://www.vijayanand.name/2009/03/defining-your-wages-part-i/comment-page-1/#comment-1082 Santosh Mon, 13 Apr 2009 05:18:25 +0000 http://vijaysblog.wordpress.com/2009/03/28/defining-your-wages-part-i/#comment-1082 Redoing my comment. This is good advice. Part 2? - Entrepreneurs can help make sure their Halo glows by honing their instinct to spot when is the best time to raise money. If you play your cards right, efforts to raise money won't go waste. I'd look forward to hear you touch upon that. PS. you should redirect http://vijayanand.name to www. - santosh Redoing my comment.

This is good advice.

Part 2? – Entrepreneurs can help make sure their Halo glows by honing their instinct to spot when is the best time to raise money. If you play your cards right, efforts to raise money won’t go waste. I’d look forward to hear you touch upon that.

PS. you should redirect http://vijayanand.name to www.

- santosh

]]> By: Santosh http://www.vijayanand.name/2009/03/defining-your-wages-part-i/comment-page-1/#comment-1081 Santosh Mon, 13 Apr 2009 05:14:25 +0000 http://vijaysblog.wordpress.com/2009/03/28/defining-your-wages-part-i/#comment-1081 Did my comment just get "lost" in the ether? Did my comment just get “lost” in the ether?

]]> By: Santosh http://www.vijayanand.name/2009/03/defining-your-wages-part-i/comment-page-1/#comment-1080 Santosh Mon, 13 Apr 2009 05:13:22 +0000 http://vijaysblog.wordpress.com/2009/03/28/defining-your-wages-part-i/#comment-1080 This is great advice. I'd really like to hear you touch upon honing the entrepreneurial instinct for when is the right time to raise money. PS. you should add a redirect for http://vijayanand.name -> www. - Santosh This is great advice.

I’d really like to hear you touch upon honing the entrepreneurial instinct for when is the right time to raise money.

PS. you should add a redirect for http://vijayanand.name -> www.

- Santosh

]]> By: Anil http://www.vijayanand.name/2009/03/defining-your-wages-part-i/comment-page-1/#comment-1066 Anil Mon, 30 Mar 2009 11:54:15 +0000 http://vijaysblog.wordpress.com/2009/03/28/defining-your-wages-part-i/#comment-1066 Great one ! Absolutely right. Taking a paycut filters real entrepreneurs. Specially when we are bootstrapping, it's absolute fun and if we are so confident about our company, it's better to get paid in equities. Great one ! Absolutely right. Taking a paycut filters real entrepreneurs. Specially when we are bootstrapping, it’s absolute fun and if we are so confident about our company, it’s better to get paid in equities.

]]> By: Shivaas http://www.vijayanand.name/2009/03/defining-your-wages-part-i/comment-page-1/#comment-1065 Shivaas Sat, 28 Mar 2009 20:56:30 +0000 http://vijaysblog.wordpress.com/2009/03/28/defining-your-wages-part-i/#comment-1065 I once had a discussion with an investor (~$1M range type) who, when he saw my income projections and balance sheet, made the comment "You're breaking even in 3-4 years but your revenue is still only $1M. If I was investing in your business 250-500K$ today, I would expect to see at least $5-8M in revenue in the next five years." My reply on hearing this was "The projections you see are very near to what actually is going to happen. I could pump the numbers up and show you inflated projections, but that would just be as plain as lying on your face". To which he replied, " Every VC is going to cut your numbers in half(best case) or 2/3rds to 1/4ths (worst case), and if you put the real numbers out, no one is going to invest in you. The VC's know you're inflating your numbers, so why not just play the game as per the rules and act your part?" I was quite taken aback by frank advice, but it all made sense. Pitching to a VC is no different than acting out a drama and playing your part to perfection. Showing marketing budgets and potential hires along the line is necessary or else they say your projections do not incorporate team expansion and other expenses. I would love to hear as to how to project ROI while pitching to a VC, and what numbers to take as basis for that. I once had a discussion with an investor (~$1M range type) who, when he saw my income projections and balance sheet, made the comment “You’re breaking even in 3-4 years but your revenue is still only $1M. If I was investing in your business 250-500K$ today, I would expect to see at least $5-8M in revenue in the next five years.”
My reply on hearing this was “The projections you see are very near to what actually is going to happen. I could pump the numbers up and show you inflated projections, but that would just be as plain as lying on your face”. To which he replied, ” Every VC is going to cut your numbers in half(best case) or 2/3rds to 1/4ths (worst case), and if you put the real numbers out, no one is going to invest in you. The VC’s know you’re inflating your numbers, so why not just play the game as per the rules and act your part?”

I was quite taken aback by frank advice, but it all made sense. Pitching to a VC is no different than acting out a drama and playing your part to perfection. Showing marketing budgets and potential hires along the line is necessary or else they say your projections do not incorporate team expansion and other expenses.

I would love to hear as to how to project ROI while pitching to a VC, and what numbers to take as basis for that.

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