Barb Wired

I was just at a meeting with a tech company that grew from a sophistated VAR/SI to a developer of hardware/software products that are OEM’d to others. After several years, some pain, a lot of hard work, being opportunistic and tenacious, they are poised to cross the chasm. I don’t run in to too many of these in the tech sector.

I spoke with a bunch of Angel investors last week. In the old days, angels invested in people they believed in, often in technology or markets they knew. They knew they’d get rewarded. It didn’t have to be huge money through an acquisition or IPO. Today, angels seem to only invest in companies with these exit strategies.

Both M&A and IPO paths are fraught with constraints; decisions are made that help the company get to this goal. They are often mutually exclusive from decisions that would be beneficial longer-term. Let’s face it: the stock market rewards short term thinking.

So, are there still companies that can develop a product and get it to market using customers (sales) to fund growth? What are some of the parameters?