unixguy - if a profitable quarter is your key goal then you have certainly invested in the wrong technology and the wrong business model.
Leaders of high potential companies that focus on being profitable become merely small companies that never reach their potential.
In one of my startups I asked the management team to mandate that no small opportunities will be quoted or even pursued. Our sales people kept brining in potential multi-million dollar clients (less than 5 million). A couple of 2 million dollar accounts would suck all of the energy out of the company and derail the strategy. Think of how many two million dollar accounts you need in order to reach even one billion in sales. We solved the problem by telling everyone (sales and technical staff) that no opportunity less than 200 million is to be considered. Even if it takes an extra two years over Plan, it is worth the trip. Actually, our sales people do still bring in less than 200 million opportunities but they got the message and no longer bother us or themselves with the small stuff.
Just recently, before closing on an equity round, DFJ (who is not the syndicator in this case) asked to speak with the management team of the start-up. The team was told, by DFJ, that for every million that DFJ invested the company, if it created $200 million in valuation then they would be considered a failure. It would be better to go bankrupt than to create just a small profitable company. As it was explained, DFJ wants multibillion dollar returns and must guard against having their time and talent diluted by small "successes".
If WAVX, just for the sake of being profitable, had pursued a side opportunity I would then have divested. That type of thinking is for conventional people who do not understand value creation / monetization. This type of thinking is quite fine in many situations, especially "lifestyle businesses" (where a person just wants to improve their and perhaps their employee's lifestyle).
Two years ago it was understandable that some people wouldn't see WAVX management as being of superior talent, but, with recent events it is no longer excusable. Their focus, excellent judgment, wisdom and self-control is more than obvious.
Actually, WAVX management is doing exactly what you want, they are leading us to spectacularly profitable quarters.
