Articles by Fred Wilson
Saying NoVery short article with a nice anecdote from Fred about the importance of being focused and saying no.
- M&A Issues: Price
Fred summarizes pricing in M&A: do the work upfront to get to a target price that makes sense to you, your senior team, your investors, and will make sense to the universe of buyers you want to target. Then figure out how to get multiple bidders to the table to get the best price. And make sure you want to sell the business before you go through with all of that. Because getting a great price for your business is not easy and when you've accomplished that, you'll want to be able to say yes comfortably.
- M&A Fundamentals
Fred explains what a merger is vs. what an acquisition is, the two types of payment (cash and stock), and the standard structures (full company purchase vs. asset deal).
- Some Thoughts On Burn Rates
Fred creates an interesting rule of thumb to calculate how much to burn: 1. Calculate how much your company valuation will go up by in the next year (which will be mostly driven by revenue growth) 2. Divide that number by 5
- DIY vs Delegate
Fred provides some practical tips on how early-stage founders can get better at delegation, such as: ask investors and other founders for help when you hit 50 team members, and hire a "utility infielder" as your first business hire.
- Planning For Next Year
Fred uses his vantage point of seeing annual planning processes across portfolio companies to provide 6 key tips, covering timelines, collaboration, where strategy adjustments fit in, and how many big bets to make.
- What A CEO Does
While a CEO can do more than these, Fred identifies 3 skills a CEO must do well: 1) Set the overall vision and strategy of the company, and communicate it to all stakeholders 2) Hire and retain the best talent 3) Make sure there is always enough cash in the bank
