A VC in Vacationland

'A Goal is a Dream with a Deadline'

        Chinese Fortune (Cookie, thanks to my fav Chinese restaurant)

Every founder has a dream. If not, no one would pay much attention to them. And often, the dreams are big dreams–conquer the world type of dreams. We certainly have numerous examples–Amazon, Google, Facebook, Apple to name a few. But do all founders need to have such world-changing visions? The answer is 'not necessary'.

We look for companies that can solve every day, often mundane, problems, like better managing back-office paperwork in the supply chain, or managing e-commerce shipping for mid-size retailers (who don't want to use, or can't afford, Amazon Prime), or better algorithms to manage local delivery that incorporate real-time traffic and weather data. These dreams are not going to change the world, but they make things cheaper and more efficient for companies.

And we see perhaps 300+ startups a year who have a dream and are solving every day, often mundane problems. How do we choose among them? Among many factors, we see if they have goals for their dream with a deadline. What does a deadline mean to a VC?

Here are a few examples:

1. Beta Product Launched? Has it taken forever to get a product that customers can use without it crashing? Has the dev team missed numerous deadlines? Are founder promises not kept to earlier investors?
2. Technology Platform Sound? Can the product scale, or did the dev team push a non-scalable product out the door and try and fix it later?
3. Customer Contracts Forthcoming? are they in a perpetual pilot mode? Has any customer signed a clean (meaning no special deals) 3-year contract? Does the founder keep promising deals every quarter…for the last two years?

I could go on, but you get the point–Goals are dreams with deadlines. You miss the deadline, even with good reasons and your credibility begins to slip with customers, investors and your team.

The takeaway? Set goals with makeable deadlines and make them. Having a solid product with fewer bells & whistles is better than a kludged up monster that tries to serve every possible problem customers throw on the tables. 

As a founder, you will sleep better at night, and preserve your dream–all because your dreams have goals and a deadline.