Don't be a sucker | Steve Tobak's views on dysfunctional corporate behavior - CNET Blogs

I don't normally blog on this sort of thing, but this just is too good a lesson to pass up:

Don't be a sucker | Steve Tobak's views on dysfunctional corporate behavior - CNET Blogs: "There are thousands of companies with cool technology, but only a small percentage of them will end up providing good returns to shareholders. If you don't know how to pick them, odds are you'll end up losing. After all, an IPO only takes an underwriter and enough suckers to buy the stock. Don't be one of them."

I only disagree on a few minor points:

1. Instead of going IPO in place of a Venture round they should have generated more revenue and considered short-term fixes for their short-term financial woes like factoring
2. They should have avoided the temptation to gamble on the market altogether.
3. $558K isn't bad annual income when you forget the $20M losses due to the availability of the cash from equity sale, so they should have grown that revenue first and not been greedy.

I think that "big business fast" is the mantra of the get rich quick mindset prevalent in the market and hides the true disease which is desperation. I think only desperate people can cross the line to deception in such a raw fashion.

So, what's the solution? I think we need Starting Business the Right Way training for entrepreneurs which isn't taught by "Angel" (demon) investors or venture capital companies, or even factorers, but especially not by college professors with no real experience. So where does that leave us? I think we could do with real conversations with really successful business founders/owners/entrepreneurs.

Eric Standlee