13/07/2017
When U get OVERFUNDED, U? DIE...
What a shockingly, sad, depressing tale of the death of Jawbone which is being liquidated despite raising 900 mill USD!
The shocker : Jawbone was a potential acquisition candidate & could have been acquired, but it the GAME of high valuations (due to excessive capital being raised round after round) let to its death.
Lessons:
- MONEY is not the reason a Company is started. Business is.
- Promoters r the gate keepers 2 their Company. They must ONLY allow those people in who will love the Company 4 what it does - NOT those who r in to just multiply their money!
- Being Capital hungry (if not starved) makes Businesses shine. Being Capital overstuffed makes Businesses fat & lazy that leads to death.
- Valuation is an EGO game. The players who play that game have NO connection with sweat & blood. They are obsessive & dangerous - like gamblers on a casino table or Yudhshtir playing against Duryodhan. U MAY BECOME Draupadi if you are not careful...
- Always talk about metrics that keep you grounded - Sales, customers, ratings, reviews, unit economics, attrition, churn... heck even the food you serve. NOT VALUATIONS AND CAPITAL RAISED
- Mishra