面對貪得無厭的投資者

公司名稱：“我的婚禮工作簿”公司

地點：科羅拉多州，丹佛

年銷售額：“六位數(shù)出頭”

????2011年4月，當(dāng)?shù)匾晃惶焓雇顿Y人表示有興趣為基于網(wǎng)絡(luò)的項目管理軟件Planning Pod提供資金支持，商業(yè)合伙人杰夫?基爾和共同創(chuàng)始人史蒂芬?費恩格茨非常激動。當(dāng)時他們正在與Basecamp等等已經(jīng)形成氣候的競爭者進(jìn)行較量，真好用得上外部投資。但他們后來發(fā)現(xiàn)，這些投資者其實只愿意投資20,000美元，但卻希望獲得公司20%的股權(quán)，外加年收益的20%。此外，這些投資者還想擁有4次額外的機(jī)會，每次以5,000美元換取5%的股權(quán)。這兩位合伙人的直覺告訴他們，不能接受這個交易?；鶢栒f：“它肯定會搞垮我們?！?/p>

????這兩位企業(yè)家將他們的首個成功產(chǎn)品“我的婚禮工作簿”所獲得的收益投入到了新產(chǎn)品的開發(fā)當(dāng)中。他說：“我還是寧愿利用自身力量，用我們已經(jīng)獲得的收益來繼續(xù)發(fā)展?！彼麄円彩沁@么做的，為其技術(shù)承包商提供股權(quán)，而不是支付開發(fā)費用?；鶢栒f：“我們的開發(fā)商現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)跟公司坐在一條船上，因此他們非常積極主動?！贝送猓@家四人小企業(yè)已經(jīng)將一部分資金預(yù)留出來以作市場營銷之用。

When investors get greedy

Company: My Wedding Workbook

Location: Denver, Colo.

Annual sales: "Low six figures."

????When a local angel investor expressed interest in funding the development of their web-based project management software called Planning Pod in April 2011, business partners Jeff Kear and his co-founder Steven Feingertz got excited. They were taking on well-established competitors like Basecamp and could have used the money. But it turned out that the investors, who were going to pony up $20,000, wanted a 20% the company in exchange, plus 20% of annual revenues; the investor would have four additional opportunities to buy 5% of the firm for about $5,000. Their instincts told them to back away. "It would really cripple us," says Kear.

????The two entrepreneurs had been investing revenues from their first successful product, My Wedding Workbook, into building the new one. "I would rather bootstrap it and use the revenue we're already bringing in to bump it along," he says. And that's what they did, offering their tech contractors equity instead of paying development fees. "Our developers now have a vested interest in the success of the company and have shown great initiative," says Kear. Plus, the four-employee firm has freed up cash for marketing.