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Protected: Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition Conference Notes Page | February 2021
Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition Conference Notes | February 2021
This week we’re participating at the ETA Conference put on by The University of Chicago – Booth School of Business and Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern. If you were unable to attend, or if you did attend and wanted to compare/contrast session highlights, below is the notes that we took.
ETA Day 1
Managing a Search Fund Business – A Discussion with CEOs
Presented by Professional Bank. This panel discussion with ETA operators will focus on three key areas of operating a business – people, strategy, and finance – as well as the challenges and learnings CEOs have found.
Cybersecurity and Implementation
Presented by Mowery & Schoenfeld. “So you own a business, now what?” This panel will take a realist look at the financial, accounting, and cybersecurity challenges facing business owners. Participants will leave equipped with practical tools to help them make solid decisions during the search phase that will set them up for success as an early owner-operator.
Operating and Searching Amidst COVID-19
Presented by NextGen Growth Partners. This discussion will address how NextGen Growth Partners navigated the impacts of COVID-19. They will discuss the various ways their portfolio companies and entrepreneurs-in-residence adapted to unforeseen circumstances, and how they leveraged their ecosystem to weather the storm, innovate, and capitalize on great opportunities.
To access the notes from Day 1, please register below and you’ll have immediate access:
9 Lessons In 9 Years at Tip of the Spear Ventures
February 2012 – I am a 2%’er. Apparently, and I wouldn’t know this until later (much later!) that less than 2% of all entrepreneurial startups achieve successful exit. The experience of raising $8Million, launching a technology software startup that received consumer traction, and having a private equity firm acquire us was incredible! But now what? As I sat on a rock overlooking the ocean in San Diego, CA, I thought back to how it was just 7 years earlier that I had done the same to envision what was to come. “Now what?” was the question I was asking myself again, looking to the horizon where the sky meets the Pacific.
I knew that I enjoyed the private equity experience, and after a few moments determined that was what I wanted to do next. I wasn’t a total stranger to the financial space, having my formal education in Accounting and spending my formative years working in Strategic Planning and Finance. In the 9-years since that day, I’ve built something that I’m very proud of and I’d ike to share with you 9-lessons I’ve learned along the way.
Lesson #1 – Define Your “What?”
What are you made of and what do you offer? This is the “metal” that has been tested at Tip of the Spear everyday. We’ve “pivoted” over the years with different ventures, but the one mainstay was that we are “what” others should desire to be (Namely a group that puts forth A+ effort and content deliverables).
Lesson #2 – More People, More Problems
If you’ve hired as a part of your leadership journey, you know the pitfalls that can come with doing so. We’ve been at different times over the 9-years a small and big organization. I’m happy to say that we’ve settled on a model for the future that includes clustered growth.
Lesson #3 – Think Strategically, Act Tactfully
In the heat of business, I want to win. I assume you do as well. However, and this was key for me, those “win” moments or victories that I sought to win were often at the expense of the war. I was reminded to think strategically and to act tactfully by an executive coach. The difference in thought/action appears in everything we do now.
Lesson #4 – It’s Lonely at the Top
I originally had a partner at Tip of the Spear Ventures. They were a silent partner that was low on injecting capital, but high on injecting their opinion. At about the three year mark we determined that parting company was best for the company (and us as individuals). I would rather be lonely than miserable.
Lesson #5 – It’s Lonely (but Don’t Go It Alone!)
This piggybacks off of Lesson #4… Even though you’re alone at the leadership helm of your firm/organization, you don’t need to go it alone! While opinions are like you know whats, if you tactfully align with peers/mentors you’ll achieve desired strategic outcomes faster.
Lesson #6 – Change Lives!
Opportunities to make money are everywhere, especially if you look for them! What might be even less obvious is the ability to change lives. I’ve been fortunate to receive recognition that what I was doing was actually making a difference for the people that I worked with. It is simultaneously humbling and rewarding.
Lesson #7 – Time…
You, me, everyone only has 24-hours in a day. What are you doing with it that maximizes your efforts?
Lesson #8 – Agility
While processes and procedures form the structure of a successful business, the ability to be agile is a key differentiator. Want to stand out from the crowded crowd? Become agile!
Lesson #9 – It takes Blood, Sweat, & Spears!
I sometimes have to pinch myself… I’m a city kid from Detroit that was as my Mother says “Born in the shadow of a Ford manufacturing plant’s smokestack.” How far I’ve come has only been limited by my ability to imagine, visualize, and then take action. At one of our Boot Camps a few years back in Las Vegas, one of the participants accurately summarized that “Success takes blood, sweat, and tears!” The conversation morphed to one of “Blood, Sweat, and Spears!” which has stuck with us ever since (We’re running another Boot Camp starting 2.21.2021 for those seeking Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition).
SUMMARY
These past 9-years have taught me so much, and I know that the next year will be even more insightful. I’m determined to further establish in our ninth year the foundation that will drive the firm forward for the next two decades. I recognize that what worked in the past might not necessarily work in the future, so we will have to continue to evolve. It is my goal to build an institution that outlasts me and continues serving entrepreneurs for generations to come.
Sam Palazzolo
Do You Really Need Venture Capital?
The Point: “Do you really need venture capital?” is a question that we’re typically asked at Tip of the Spear Ventures, regardless of the organization is lead by entrepreneurs in a startup pursuit or an existing entity. The short answer is “No!” The long answer, well that’s a “No” too… In this post, we’ll explore the question do you really need venture capital… Enjoy!
Would you be surprised to learn that the majority of companies, successful companies, never took a dime from a venture capital firm? Companies on the Inc. 5000 in the USA, the Fast Track 100 in the UK, and similar lists everywhere didn’t follow what most would be consider the “conventional” script when it came to funding their business.
What did these organizations do then to raise capital? The huge majority of them never obtained a pound or dollar or rupee of venture funds, and they did not guarantee or mortgage their houses in the process. Rather, they were able to find ways to achieve getting their businesses up and running, then growing, without pandering to VCs or groveling to their company’s CFO.
These organizations accomplished their business funding goals by simultaneously solving pressing consumer problems, or by creating delightful customer experiences that transformed the previously mundane business that was present. Most of these entrepreneurs constructed vibrant, growing businesses without increasing treasure troves of venture capital.
“Where did their business funding come from?” you might ask. The lion’s share of these got almost all of the money–initially, at least, and sometimes for the whole journey–from a much more hospitable and agreeable source: their customers.
Sam Palazzolo
If you, or your organization are exploring Business Funding options, please drop us a line at info@tipofthespearventures.com.