THE LIFE STYLE COMPANY



Now let's look at the simplest case study. An entrepreneur has conceived a software business using his knowledge of a particular, very specific, vertical market. It's a market he knows well, and there's almost no direct competition. Unfortunately, the market, while attractive to him, is not large by software category standards. Yet the market is plenty big enough to support a very profitable company, particularly since there is almost no competition. He's proven to himself that he has a solution that the market will embrace, allowing the building of a business. Yet he thinks he needs a little additional capital, to ramp it to the point of the business being self-supporting using it's own cash flow. What should he do?

This is the classic example of a lifestyle company in the making. Sophisticated outside investors will have no interest, unless it's for personal/hobby reasons. And since there is little competition, and as a result, little time pressure--fund it yourself. Take out a second mortgage, use lines of credit, or get an SBA loan. If you really have to, raise some money from supportive friends or family members.

This example makes up the great majority of software companies worldwide. There are many, many solidly profitable software businesses that will never be on the radar screen of the investor community. These companies often exist quite nicely, enjoying solid and relatively stable profitability with revenues in the $1-10M range. That's fine--the problem lies when the entrepreneur doesn't know what he has, or won't accept it. He thinks his baby needs to grow up to be a fast-growing player. But it's generally the case that the market is too small. There is little need to be distracted by trying to raise funds from outside investors--and it's fruitless to try. It will only be a waste of time for the company and investors. And if by some chance it IS funded, there will end up being a lot of turmoil and hard feeling when the company doesn't meet the lofty expectations that were needed to sell the funding deal. I've seen many great little companies screwed up in the attempt to become something they're not.

THE SOLID SINGLE

Now we'll examine the next step up--the solid single. This opportunity often presents as a bigger vertical than the life style company is attacking, or possibly a horizontal, yet still niche, product. These are often the situations where the most difficult strategic decisions reside. And in fact, the great majority of software companies who seek outside funding probably fall into this category. The market size is just on the edge of what the professional investors will consider. And while there is a differential advantage, it's not at the level that you'll be able to "knock their socks off" in your slide-show pitch. There's worrisome competition, but it's not over-crowded, with 75 venture-funded companies. What's a management team to do?

This is a tough call. Every situation is a little different, but my general advice is to work your way up the 5-part funding tree discussed earlier. Fund it yourself as long as it's not crippling your progress. Then do a round starting with Friends and Family, as well as Angel Investors that are easily approachable via your immediate network. Once you go through this funding, hopefully you've built a rapidly improving business with good growth prospects.

It is at this point you may be able to attract money from a VC or private equity firm that has a later stage, more conservative risk/reward profile than the typical early stage VC. Professional investors might see in your company one that may not be a 10X return, but one that may be a 2-5X return in a shorter timeframe, with less risk. And this later funding may work to your benefit, because the opportunity in front of the company may be such that you need to manage dilution of your stake carefully, to ensure that at the end of the day, it's been worth your while. A strategic partner may be even a better fit here. Often a company in this situation may be able to attract funding because their product is important to the prospects of a larger partner company, filling out a total solution or providing a key technology the larger company can't quickly or easily replicate. In this situation, the company may even get a richer valuation that the "Home Run" scenario which we'll look at in our next column.