It is good that start-ups can now choose their financiers and that founders have the say over their companies.
In Europe’s start-up scene, the situation is being straightened out. The venture capital boom makes it possible: In search of high-yield investments, so many investment firms want to invest in start-ups that they can choose their financier.
This means that the founders have the bargaining power. Some of them can ask what they want – and that’s a good thing, even though the market is currently almost staggering.
Venture capitalists are no longer that important – and that is an amazing finding at first. Because ten years ago, in the early days of the German start-up scene, they were the only ones who gave any money for risky ventures.
And back then, hardly anyone else knew how the “start-up game” worked. About the venture capitalists it said: They have already seen everything. They know how to run a fast-growing company, boot up the sales machine, and find managers for the New York office.
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Today many entrepreneurs are smarter and that has changed the relationship with their financiers dramatically. Now there is also growing awareness: Many of the donors have never run a company themselves.
Dependence on investors disappears
Some founders today confidently say: If things go well, investors can stay out of it anyway. And when things go bad, you have enough problems. Investors who fear for their money only make things worse.
It’s a believable statement. Now that the experience is in place, founders learn much better from each other.
It is good that start-ups can now choose their financiers and that founders have the say over their companies. You can decide whether you just need money – or business partners with experience and good contacts. You can get expertise regardless of money.
They cannot be discontinued if they think more long-term than their investors would like. This is a huge opportunity.
Management decisions therefore lie with those who think day and night how to find the best developers, remove space junk or how to deal with small investors who may speculate on their trading platform.
It should have always been like this: For founders, it’s about their greatest idea, their employees and customers. In the end, every start-up is just a big bet for investors.
More: New power of the founders: How the hype is changing the start-up scene