Musings of an

Accidental Entrepreneur!

Tony McEnroeFeb. 13th, 2017

1985 1990 1995 201020052000 2015

Design & Development

Product Management & Sales Support

Production & Service

Business Development / M&A

Sales & Marketing

Finance & Strategy

S.P.S. Moog AME Ultrafast Farran Smiths MPSTOR SiriusXT

USA Germany Ireland USA/Germany Ireland UK / Singapore Ireland Ireland

IC4

Ireland

Acquired

Acquired

Acquired

Going Concern

Relative Market ShareHIGHLOW

An

nu

al r

eal

rat

e o

f m

arke

t gr

ow

th (

%)

LOW

HIG

H

BCG Matrix

Problem Child

Cash Cow

Star

Dog

Pertinent Questions!

When is the right time to raise funding?

When you don’t need it! When you have exhausted your own resources and eliminated as much

investor risk as you can! Not always possible, especially if technology is capital intensive All going well, the first (seed) funding round will be the most dilutive

for the amount of money raised. In Ireland, VCs generally don’t want to take on technology risk! In US, VCs will take on more technology risk with promoters who have

‘done it before’

Where do I look for startup investment?

Options! Friends & Family Angels (individuals with knowledge of your industry, networks) Crowd Funding VCs

How much should I raise?

Enough for, ideally, 18 months of runway Need to demonstrate that you can put money to work 20% to 25% of what you think company valuation is!

When is the right time to sell?

When two or more people want to buy! When another organisation can grow the market faster than you can (and

puts value on this)! Before someone else disrupts the market!

Don’tSell

Sell on the sizzle or the steak (but not when its under-cooked!)

Investors like to see committed promoters!- more pig than hen!

Talk to investors before you need their money!

“OK Tessie, I’ll give you a trade deal for St Andrews but I want a first right of refusal on the rest of Scotland!

Don’t sell a bedroom in your house to your neighbour!