OnStartups

5 Tips On VC Alignment: Discuss The Exit Before You Enter

The following is a guest post from Jeff Bussgang.  Jeff is a serial entrepreneur and currently a general partner at Flybridge Capital Partners, a Boston-area early-stage venture capital firm.  Jeff is also the author of the recently released book “Mastering The VC Game”.

One of the hardest things about venture-backed start-ups is achieving alignment.  When there is alignment between entrepreneurs and VCs, all collective energies are directed towards the magic of building an amazing, world-beating start-up from scratch.  When the entrepreneur and VC are out of alignment, the likelihood of success plummets and self-inflicting wounds, rather than market- or competition-related issues, tend to dominate the agenda.