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The Benefits of a Family Office

The Benefits of a Family Office

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    Managing Startup Failure: Early-Exit Procedures

    January 24, 2022

    2 min read Not every startup launched can be a success. It’s okay to fail. The important thing is that you recognize when the startup is failed and exit early. This allows for as much redemption as possible. Fail, but fail smart. In this article, we discuss early-exit procedures and redemption strategies. But first, let’s take a look at startup success and failure rates. Startup Success Rates The early-stage failure rate of startups is quite high. Out of 100 startups, only 40% go to the next level at Series A. Only 22% of startups reach Series B. Only 15% of startups reach Series C. Only 8% of startups reach Series D. As for the success rate, only 9% of pre-seed companies reach an acquisition. Only 12% of Series A companies reach an acquisition. Only 14% of Series B companies reach an acquisition. The most any startup can reach an acquisition is 16%. The failure rate is near exponential. It’s a hit business. You have a hit or you most likely will lose your investment. Redemption Strategies In an early-exit term sheet, the investors have the right to redeem their stake in the company before an acquisition. There are several redemption exercise strategies. The first strategy is to recover the principal investment. This makes the investor whole and now lets them play with “house money”. The second strategy is to place a third of the shares into a cash redemption to recover the initial investment, a third into the company as an equity stake, and a third as a cash redemption to place into the next startup. This keeps the investors’ fund evergreen, supports the current company, and expands the portfolio. The third strategy is to take half in debt and leave the other half for equity. This evenly divides the funds into both sides of the investment options. These are the most common strategies investors use to redeem their stake in an early exit term sheet. It’s important to take into consideration the needs of the startup and how best to support them. Payback Plans Not every funded startup continues on the venture path to a high payoff from the sale of the business. For those startups, investors using an early-exit term sheet can find a path out of the deal. There are several options for the startup to pay back the investors. The company can use a revenue share agreement. While the funds may not be available immediately for payback, the company can pay out of incoming revenue over time. This is typically 2-3% of top-line revenue and is paid monthly. In many cases, this will take more than a year to pay off. Other options include the following: The CEO can put the company up for sale and pay off the investors with the proceeds. The CEO can pay off the debt or assume the note with a personal guarantee. Other investors in the company can buy out the early-exit investors as well.  The follow-on investors can pay off the debt to remove the investors from the cap table.  The company could declare a dividend to the investors and pay it out over time.  The purpose of the early-exit term sheet is to provide the investor a path out of the deal. Operational Involvement In managing an early-exit term sheet, it’s important to facilitate the ongoing information rights due to the investors. Most term sheets provide rights to the company’s financial statements, including the income statement and balance sheet as well as the cap table. This duty is often left up to the founder to follow up. In the rush to close sales, hire employees, and make the company successful, the founder sometimes leaves the information rights duty undone. For an early-exit term sheet, it’s important to maintain this duty. It’s best to set up a service that accesses this information regularly, say monthly to provide the investors the information. Most investors believe that legal control is the best way to enforce the terms and conditions of the term sheet. A better way is operational control. By gaining access to the company’s accounting system and bank account, the investors gain a better understanding of the company. The more the investors know the company’s situation, the more they can help the company achieve its goals. Hall T. Martin is the founder and CEO of the TEN Capital Network. TEN Capital has been connecting startups with investors for over ten years. You can connect with Hall about fundraising, business growth, and emerging technologies via LinkedIn or email: hallmartin@tencapital.group

    Doing Your Due Diligence

    November 20, 2021

    2 min read There are several approaches to due diligence. The most common is the “Thorough Approach” in which you review each aspect of the business and focus on the top items. The main areas to cover in due diligence are the market and the team. In this article, we will cover how to diligence the market, how to diligence the team, and what key documents you should have in your due diligence box in following the thorough approach. How To Diligence the Market When implementing due diligence in a startup, the size of the market is a key question. The larger the market, the greater the growth potential of the startup. There’s rarely a need to pay for research as so much exists on the web. In searching the web, you’ll find research reports giving market sizes, trends, analysis, and more. The key here is to analyze the market at three levels. The first is Total Available Market which is anyone the company could ever sell to. The second is the Serviceable Market which is the target market the company wants to serve. The third is the Beachhead Market, which is the first niche the company will pursue. Ideally, this is a small but well-defined group of companies that fit the startup’s current product. The startup should have some interactions with the companies in the Beachhead market already. How To Diligence the Team In doing diligence as a startup, the team is the most critical factor in the process. For implementing diligence in the team, first, review the resumes of those who are on the team or plan to join when funding becomes available. Next, look for domain knowledge. Who has it, and how current is it? After that, look for complementary skills. Is there someone who has sales skills and will spend their time selling the product? Is there someone who is going to build the product and will manage either an internal development team or an external one? Outsourcing the product development with no one actively managing it is a recipe for disaster. Next, look at how long the team has worked together if at all. Ideally, the team has some experience working with each other. The more the better. Finally, look at completeness. Many successful teams follow the Designer, the Hacker, and the Hustler formula. The Designer knows the customer problem and plans the product development, including how it will be monetized and promoted. The Hacker is the developer who builds the product, and the Hustler is the one who sells it. Due Diligence Box Key Documents You’ll need to gather your basic company documents for investors to review. In preparing a due diligence box also called a data room, the following are basic documents to include: Income statement Balance Sheet Three- to five-year financial forecast Cap Table including shares outstanding Entity filings (LLC, C-Corp, and Articles of Incorporation) Intellectual Property filings including patents, trademarks, etc. C-level team resumes There may be other documents you may need to add based on your situation. Feel free to try out our calculators and contact us if you would like to discuss your fundraise: https://staging.startupfundingespresso.com/calculators/ Hall T. Martin is the founder and CEO of the TEN Capital Network. TEN Capital has been connecting startups with investors for over ten years. You can connect with Hall about fundraising, business growth, and emerging technologies via LinkedIn or email: hallmartin@tencapital.group.

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