Recently I shared a couple of discussions with founders whom I follow for quite some time and who, for numerous reasons, didn’t manage to close a financing round so far. What struck me in all these discussions was the persistence these founders showed - although they were drip-feeding their startups for months and months and spend considerable time and energy with their companies, they were still enormously upbeat and going. And although we all say that this is one of the core features an entrepreneur needs to bring to the table I have seen more founders who throw the towel much earlier than these guys.

Now here’s a personal story - when I had my first startup we managed to hit the dot-com bust head on (yupp, timing is everything); our customers shut their doors or simply refused to pay their bills, our investors were a pain in the neck, morale was low and I was very happy that I managed to sell the company in the end. Funny enough - if I would have stayed persistent, if I would have fought longer, if I would have had more of this energy these founders have, I am rather sure (with hindsight - which is always a nice thing to have!) that I would have managed to turn the company and command a significantly better exit. Well, well - you live and learn.

So - if you are out there, struggeling and wondering if it is all worth it… As long as you have a working business model (yeah, I am not saying that you should throw good money after bad money!): Hang in there! Be persistent! The companies which will come out of the current downturn are the ones which will reap the huge benefits in the end.

Posted in Entrepreneurship