When it comes to business financing, venture capital gets all of the attention. Not a day goes by without a headline announcing a new round of venture funding for a buzzy young startup.
But for entrepreneurs weaned on the flash of venture capital, debt funding often sounds old-fashioned at best. At worst, it’s viewed as a black mark, a last resort for those who can’t raise venture funding.
The reality is that both types of capital have their place, and debt’s bad rap is totally undeserved. At CardCash, we raised $6 million in Series A funding from Guggenheim Capital in November 2013, then another $6 million in debt funding a year later.
Why the change? Trust me, equity and debt capital are not interchangeable. There were very meaningful, strategic considerations that determined the structure of each of those funding events–and if we had, say, switched the order, it would have completely derailed our growth plans.
The same goes for your company. The fit depends on your business’s maturity, cash position, and goals.
First, let’s assume you run a fast-growing, scalable business. Venture capital isn’t for the mom-and-pops out there.?
You need to aim to build a company worth hundreds of millions of dollars to make sense as a candidate for venture funding. Assuming that’s your business, here’s when venture capital works:
Your cash flow is unpredictable, weak, or nonexistent.
You don’t have any meaningful brand recognition or track record as a business.
In short, venture capital works well when your business is immature.
The obvious reason: If your company is young, without meaningful revenue, it’s going to be pretty darn hard to pay back a loan. And if you’re not absolutely certain that you can pay back a loan without harming your business, it doesn’t make any sense to add that debt to your list of anxieties.
Read more at?INC.?
