Wow, very false statement and disconnected from investing in a start up and expectations of what it means, the phases of growth, and the markers of success. The company has GROWN a TON, period. That fact CANNOT be refuted.
Is the expectation, a start up in the pinks has a 30 year veteran CEO of business, having gone through multitudes of acquisitions, mergers, audits, world scale operations and distribution channels?
Mine certainly is not. I identify CEO with the right vision, ethics, ability to not succumb to the easy path of toxic financing and other predators. Newer CEOs full of fire and vinegar, having the energy and ambition to lead the company to the next level of scale. Investors are betting on the maiden horse in the race, the ones with the spirit, the drive, the FIRE to WIN the LONG game.
THIS PERSON WILL BE OPTIMISTIC, they MUST be by nature to do something THAT HAS NEVER BEEN DONE. I see folks come in to start ups everyday that were VERY successful in industry and FALL on their face working in a start up. It is a VERY different thing to be a BRIDGE BUILDER and not a BRIDGE MAINTENANCE STAFF MEMBER. The TARGETS MUST be ambitious, the statements BOLD. Not all 100% of them will come true, too many variables to list that will impact the course of business over time. But ENOUGH to show continued success toward the vision it what is needed.
The SOLE purpose at this stage is to create a PROOF OF CONCEPT, a viable business model that will continue to increase in revenues, brand strength, has the ABILITY to get in to it's markets or even better for FUNN: CREATE NEW ONES and be a LEADER in the new space. It DOESN'T even have to be profitable, it needs to be able to SHOW A PATH to profits at SCALE. It does need to keep its fundamental ratios in line. This is why I often talk how IMPORTANT and RARE it is for a CEO NOT to succumb to the evilness inherit to this pink market. Because your company is DEAD before it gets out of the gate even if it makes the QB.
Roger MAY or MAY NOT be the CEO in the future. They have indicated they are looking for a new CEO for SCALE. Its not an easy gig, it is a choice. Having been through MANY acquisitions, more often than not the CEO changes at the next stage of growth. If Roger choose to continue though I guarantee he will be surrounded by new strong veterans of high level in business as the next level of institutions will require it. Since the PR has indicated there will be a change, I look forward to new experienced leadership!
However: THANK GOD ROGER has stuck with the vision, responsibly grown the company, communicated (even to his detriment) what he believed was the RIGHT thing to do. For not succumbing to the EASY path of toxic funding, for putting up the ALL THE BULLSHIT that the vile pink market represents. For making the CHOICE to take us off these pink markets and doing the WORK to get us there. I appreciate him for choosing to CREATE TRUE value EVEN when the myopic pink market is completely BLIND to it.
LOTS of criticism on the audit, but WHAT ABOUT THE GREAT GROWTH COMPANY underneath it? This is why after asking around, looking and searching, despite any room for improvement there has NEVER been a better company or example named comparable in the pinks. (Not counting foreign like Nintendo in the pinks...)
AFTER the audit, what investors are truly interested in, that is the conversation.
Roger is our CEO, he is creating the true value proof of concept. This is what we need him to do. PERIOD. He won't be perfect, but what I tell every single employee in start ups: Perfection is the enemy of good enough.
There will ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS be room for improvement. I KNOW this, I expect it.
It is part of how I assess the start up as a whole, another variable in the forest. It is NOT EASY to thread the needle, with limited resource where cash flows are limited. Mature companies with massive cash flows make HUGE mistakes ALL THE TIME that would destroy a start up. Yet, when they announce 'Laying off 10000 people and closing 20% of the company' their stock shoots up! Start ups get NO such quarter.
Investors who are risk adverse, are pessimistic, are focused on singular trees are advised not to invest in start ups and growth companies. They will drive themselves crazy, losing focus as there will ALWAYS be a tree on fire somewhere in the forest. There will ALWAYS be a stump where a tree should be. There will ALWAYS be a patch of blight. It is NOT to say these area don't need tending to, they DO. But a growth company does not have the same resources or systems to handle it all. Priorities and resource allocation is different. They must make choices. It is the EFFECT of those choices as a WHOLE, which one must measure the path of success.
Thus far, Roger has done a solid job tending to the forest. It is growing, it is healthy as a whole. It is not perfect, it will never be. But it is good enough to get us where we need to go.
And where we are going is going to be GREAT.
$FUNN
AI
