6 ms·

Did PE come to you or did you go looking for the investment?

• scottndecker 23d ago
  Came to us. Some of our founders had previous success and were funding out of their own pocket. We had just turned profitable, but PE money allows a different velocity which we wanted. So when they approached us looking for a solution in our space, we took the meeting. One thing led to another.
  • stuxnet79 22d ago
    Is the ownership structure of the company a mix of PE, VC and bootstrap? How does that work? Speaking for myself, "taking" any kind of money or getting outright acquired by PE is a huge red flag for a startup and I wouldn't work at such a place unless I was completely out of options.
    • pighive 21d ago
      Why/how is PE money bad?
      • stuxnet79 21d ago
        Well, it's not that PE money is bad, it's that PE participating in a round is a sign that the startup has maxed out its potential and has weak prospects. PE goes for semi-sure bets that can be goosed for short term profits. Layoffs and other cost-cutting measures are the name of the game up until your husk of a startup has good enough financials to dump on the next sucker downstream.
    • scottndecker 21d ago
      Interesting. Pretty much none of that is true for us. We had achieved strong enough success that were past the stage VCs want to participate in a first round. Partnering with the PE firm gives us a war chest to land grab while the turf is being claimed in our space.