Category Archives: Locate the nearest exit

Locate the nearest exit

When Good Legal Advice Is Worth $10 Million An Hour

One of the highest profile liquidity events to date in 2012 is Facebook’s announced deal to acquire Instagram for $1 billion.  The popular mobile photo-sharing service should fit well into Facebook’s growth strategy as a soon-to-be-public company, but its eye-popping valuation — more than that of the New York Times, for those keeping score at home — is made more extraordinary by the fact that Instagram is run by only 13 employees.

Setting aside questions of unique strategic value for the moment, what could possibly make Instagram worth ten figures?  Brand recognition, goodwill, user loyalty, mushrooming usage metrics, sure — but perhaps most importantly, a mountain of intellectual property.  My quick-and-dirty assessment, based on pure speculation with no inside knowledge, produced the following taxonomy: Read more

Antone Johnson , Founding Principal, Bottom Line Law Group
April 12th, 2012 0

Locate the nearest exit

IPOs, M&As, Liquidity, & You. (the entrepreneur)

In the “good old days,” angels invested in seed-stage startups and teed up promising companies for subsequent venture capital financing. If the company was successful, this quickly led to an IPO – a very happy ending for the entrepreneur, the angels, and the venture capitalists. My, my…how the world has changed. Read more

Bill Payne , Angel Investor , Frontier Angel Fund
December 28th, 2011 0

Locate the nearest exit

The Copper Ring

Oddly, perhaps, one of the most difficult decisions entrepreneurs face arises once the company begins to succeed.   That’s usually when the first really “strategic” potential investors start to show up, presenting the question: sell a big chuck (or all) of the company at today’s valuation, or double down and go for the life-changing money? Read more

Bob Rice , Managing Partner, Tangent Capital
October 31st, 2011 0