On the surface, the job of the Board of Directors appears to be pretty simple. The Board debates and approves the company strategy. It uses full Board meetings, committee meetings related to finance and operations, and monthly reports from management to track things over time. This system works well for many companies; however, if you are a growth company CEO, you should ask yourself one, key question: Are my outside Board Members paying attention?
Read MoreOf all the investor documents, the Executive Summary provides you with the most freedom to create a winning story. It’s only 1 to 10+ pages long, so why is it so flexible? Because it can be built in short, medium, or long form; you can vary the content and order of the information more than in other documents, and you can concentrate almost entirely on the story rather than the mechanics of how you are going to get things done. In short, it’s your story – distilled and tasty.
Read MoreFirst of all, there is no magic formula for valuation. It's a negotiation based on the characteristics of your market, your company's performance, and the quality of your team. Secondly, not all money is the same. Your company's valuation matters, but it's not the only thing that matters when you look to raise money. The quality of the funding source matters, too.
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