RE: Equity

Unless you have an absolutely compelling reason you should not do it.  It is
a two edge sword and it makes projects hard to walk away from as well.

Only one group of folks have made money in a predictable way on the web -
consultants (and porn vendors but I'll leave them out as a matter of
principle). Everthing else is pretty much a lottery ticket :)    

Before you go and do this you need to take the time to discover

- The financial situation of the company.
- Who are the backers and what is their skill set.
- Do they have a marketing plan or are they just hoping the web will "catch
fire" and make them the next facebook.
- Are they realistic? Most brick and mortar startups plan for 18 to 36
months to reach break even.

Most Internet startups have moved toward the internet because it is the
largest get-rich-quick culture dish in the world. It has a reputation for
being a "cheap way" of starting a business (which is a terrible reason to
choose it). Yet there are thousands of failures for every one success.  

Check out this post I wrote some months ago. I'm presenting an expanded
version at the chamber of commerce here in Omaha in a couple of weeks.

http://www.coldfusionmuse.com/index.cfm/2009/1/23/Great-Expectations-What-Ma
kes-Money-on-the-WEb

What most folks need is a reality check. Most startups are populated with
folks who are all drinking the coolaid and without a naysayer in the bunch.

Having said that I suppose no great ideas would never be birthed without the
visionaries (and crackpots) who give it the old college try :)

Anyway that's my 2 cents.

-Mark


Mark A. Kruger, CFG, MCSE
(402) 408-3733 ext 105
www.cfwebtools.com
www.coldfusionmuse.com
www.necfug.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Phillip Vector [mailto:vector@...]
Sent: Tuesday, July 07, 2009 12:54 PM
To: cf-talk
Subject: Equity


Just curious about what people think.. Would you ever work for equity in a
company? Why or why not? What guidelines would you put in place if you were
to?



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