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What Is The Most Important Thing You Should Know As A Startup CEO?
“You’ve gotta know what your cash position is at all times,” I said to “Kevin” yesterday. “If you don’t know what’s going on with your cash, then you can’t manage your company.”
Kevin is trying to figure out how much money he should raise in his next round of funding, so he has to know what’s going on with his cash. Kevin’s expecting revenue to double from $10 million to $20 million in the next twelve months. It’s a complicated puzzle.
Literally an hour later, I was speaking with “Greg”. He had recently made a large capital investment that looked to be paying off.
However, cash flow was delayed which made it difficult to decide what to do next. And, Greg believed he had a unique opportunity to build a huge, billion dollar business. Again, the question was how much money should he raise, so he asked me for my opinion.
“I feel like I’m at a huge disadvantage because you really need to understand your cash needs for the next three to five years to determine what to do next. Once you have that piece of the puzzle filled in, it will be clear what to do,” I said.
Two hours later, It was deja vu all over again. I was having the exact same conversation with “Steve” about his cash position. .Are you seeing a trend here?
