1 / 11

Ghost Stories for Entrepreneurs

Ghost Stories for Entrepreneurs. John Witchel Former CEO, Red Gorilla Principal, Cole Valley Group. Agenda. What is Bankruptcy? Mechanics of Shutdown The Big Don’ts The Hardest Part Liquidity Preference Things I’d Do Differently Protecting Your Own Hide The Things People Say ….

sakina
Download Presentation

Ghost Stories for Entrepreneurs

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Ghost Stories for Entrepreneurs John Witchel Former CEO, Red Gorilla Principal, Cole Valley Group

  2. Agenda • What is Bankruptcy? • Mechanics of Shutdown • The Big Don’ts • The Hardest Part • Liquidity Preference • Things I’d Do Differently • Protecting Your Own Hide • The Things People Say …

  3. What is Bankruptcy? • Bankruptcy is acourt manageddissolution of your company • It is of no value if there areno significant assetsto fight over • It does not protect you from or alleviateyou ofyour obligations • If you think corporate lawyers suck …

  4. The Mechanics of a Shutdown • The Night Before • Tell Your Wife • Day One • Tell all your employees to their faces • Call your major investors & your board • Call your major customers • Call your major suppliers • Day Two • Hide • Days Three – Seven • Questions and Answers • Day Eight – One Hundred and Eighty • Deal with an astonishing amount of BS

  5. The Big Don’ts • Don’t Talkto the Press • Don’t PromiseAnything to Anybody • Don’t Feel Sorry for Yourself, Your Investors,Your Management Team or Your Employees • Don’t Lie, Apologize or Sugarcoat • Don’t Make Backroom Deals • Don’t Mess with the IRSor the DOL • Don’t TreatYourselfto a Little Preference

  6. The Hardest Part: Your Employees • Some People Infuse Employment With a Paternalistic Quality • This can result in literally child like responses: rage, blame, vengeance, etc. • Do Not Indulge Them

  7. Liquidity Preference • Understand Your Cap Table • A $7M acquisition offer with $10M of VC liquidation preference ain’t worth squat to you • We Don’t Save Face in America • A sale to sayjust you sold your company is a joke

  8. Things You’d Do Differently • Never Sign aPersonal GuaranteeAgain • Never LetCash ReservesDrop Below 120 Days • Never Count on an Unknown Event

  9. Protecting Your Own Hide • Get and MaintainD&O Insurance • Pay YourTaxes • Pay Your401K • Don’t Make it Easy

  10. The Things People Say … • You Are Not Personally Responsible forYour Companies Obligations • Your First Duty is toYour Family • Your Reputation is Not For Sale • TheMediais Not the Place to Respond

  11. Conclusion • Skiing, Golfing, Surfing and Diapers = Bankruptcy Isn’t So Bad

More Related