Stay Focused! Don’t Get Distracted by Goals that Won’t Lead to the Next Round of Funding.

Every startup whether a restaurant or advanced medical device company faces an immediate financial crisis. Every business has to buy equipment and hire employees before it makes its first sale. One reason new restaurants fail so quickly is that the owners assume sales are going to cover expenses right away. It rarely works this way. The financial crisis for technology-based companies is even more difficult because they are not sure when they can expect sales. As a consequence, they require a higher initial capitalization and need to carefully manage capital resources before having revenue to pay the bills. It is this pre-revenue period that is commonly called the "Valley of Death," a reference to the fact that many companies fail because they lack the funding to make it to market.

by Jack Brittain, Ph.D.

Full Story: http://www.utahpulse.com/featured_article/stay-focused-dont-get-distracted-goals-wont-lead-next-round-funding