33/52: Either lead, follow, or get out of the way

#CapitalAtRisk

Above: Serve to Lead from the Sandhurst Trust

The 2010s was the decade of the Entrepreneur. The 2020s will be the decade of the Investor.

“Ten good soldiers wisely led,

“Will beat a hundred without a head”.

Euripides

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Precision

A few of my portfolio are either fundraising to gearing up to do so. One stood out though…

The founder WhatsApp’d me with the exact details. Along the lines of:

• The new share price is £x.

• You invested at a share price of £y and have #xyz shares.

• So to maintain your stake you’d need to invest £z.

Naturally the first thing I did was multiple £x by #xyz. I got a number over 5x that of the one I got when I first invested just over three years ago. Lovely.

Vs Ambiguity

The above is a lot clearer and more pleasant than the typical story, which goes:

• Hey, I’m raising soon, somewhere between £x and £y.

• The valuation will probably be around £z.

• However I’m just waiting for a lead to set the price.

Perhaps I’m being unfair or unrealistic but in the first case it looks like they’re leading the way, not following the lead.