Onset Ventures

ONSET Ventures

1. Upon what principles and practices is ONSET based? Do they seem to work? Do they make sense?

1) If you had a full-time mentor who was not part of the company’s management team, and who had actually run both a start-up and a larger business, the success rate increased from less than 25% to over 80%. Experience is the best teacher and compared to someone “new,” the one who has more experience will likely succeed although there could be some exceptions that are rare. There is a lot information and knowledge that cannot be learned and taught in school, from books, that can only be learned through first-hand experience.

2) The successful companies always changed their business model as they progressed. From the time the business model is created to the time it is implemented, there is a significant amount of time that would have elapsed during which there could be new products, innovations, trends, and the like in the market. A successful company should be able to adapt with the changing market. Nothing is constant except change; therefore, the business model needs to be flexible and open to changes to satisfy consumers.

3) It makes sense to wait until the business model is validated before hiring the CEO. This principle depends on whether or not the founders want to retain full control of the company or just want to make money. If the founder wants to remain in control, it would be hard to change the business model to make it successful; therefore, it would be better to hire an outside CEO. On the other hand, if the founder just wants to make money, then this principle would definitely work.

4) You spend money only to add value as perceived by those individuals proving the next round of investment capital. There should be an added value and added reason why investors would want to add more capital to the company. The company should not only focus on the investors, but also customers and future customers. The money...