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Start-ups: Struggling 8yr Old Startup on the Edge.
LG
LG
Liam Gooding, CEO of Trakio, Customer Analytics Platform answered:

Hi,

Firstly, bravo for having the courage to post such an honest question. Only a true entrepreneur would be able to dig deep to find the courage to be so honest, particularly when the perception (and expectations) of entrepreneurs is to always "Put on a positive face and say everything is going great!"

1) You had $2M in annual revenue at some point, so you did *something* right and found a measure of p/m fit. This means there is a great chance you can recover this. But it might mean ripping your product and whole business functions apart and rebuilding just the best bits and the parts most relevant for today. Prepare for potential layoffs and new hires, as the business may look very different.

2) While the patent-troll issue sucks, I'm assuming there have been no permanent damages to the product or market-shifts that have affected you. So it could even just be a cashflow-gap that needs to be plugged with a bit of debt-financing

3) I've yet to discover a company making sales that isn't attractive to at least 1 investor. Every investor has different portfolio goals, personal goals and personal interests, flaws, strengths and traits. While the terms may not be super favourable because of your exposed position, there will be investment options if you can repackage and re-position the company correctly

4) Emotionally, I strongly recommend you find a few really close entrepreneur connections you can rely on for emotional support. Founders have *very* few people we can be emotionally open with, and it's important you find some people now so that they can be a part of creating the solid, rock hard foundation that you will need for the journey in front of you.

5) Winding down companies is easy (technically). The emotional problems are the hardest. Be sure to have a personal plan B in place (house payments, family maintenance). To start you off, know that entrepreneurs who have taken a journey such as yourself will *always* be in high demand for bigger startups willing to pay fat salaries. Just be sure you have the personal cash to survive for a few months while you find that job (and get your personal expenses in order NOW in case that happens.)

6) I'd love to do a call with you to see if I can offer any perspective about the current business. Message me and I'd be happy to help out ("on the cheap")

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