Vincent Schiavone, angel investor and serial and parallel entrepreneur, visited today. Vince is currently a member of RobinHood Ventures and LORE Associates, both angel investor groups, and is currently the founder of Prioratus, LLC. Through Prioratus, Vince is involved in a number of start ups. He has previously founded and/or participated in 4Anything, ePrivacy Group, TurnTide, InfoSec Labs, Victor Voice Chart, and other entities.
Using a personal narrative, Vince recounted his experiences as an entrepreneur focusing on the development of TurnTide and ePrivacy Group. Vince also offered many lessons by sharing his successes and failures during his entrepreneurial career. Several steps generated questions from the DreamIt companies including pursuing patents prior to developing a product and attracting capital at a prerevenue stage.
Vince spent some time discussing exit strategies and valuations, offering information about knowing the relevant multipliers when considering an offer to sell. If an offer is competitive, he felt it should be considered. Waiting could be risky—the multiple could shrink, new entrants could affect attractiveness and potential acquirers could be hard to find.
Vince also offered his insights into Board composition, as well as dilution and control. Companies, in his experience, benefit when no single person, including the entrepreneur, makes decisions. He proffered that they usually benefit from the insights of multiple individuals.
Vince’s story illustrated parallel and serial entrepreneurship characteristics that can be applied to many of our companies. Thank you, Vince.
No comments:
Post a Comment