Reflex Capital → Blog → You’re on your own
I didn’t get it before either. I had an investor, a co-shareholder, a partner in my company. I put everything I had to the company. All my time, all my money. I pledged my house, gave up my salary. But in hard times, it was not enough. I went to my investor, and I expected them to provide some much-needed money, because he had the cash. And he surely wants to save his previous investment, right?
I didn’t get it before either. I had an investor, a co-shareholder, a partner in my company. I put everything I had to the company. All my time, all my money. I pledged my house, gave up my salary. But in hard times, it was not enough. I went to my investor, and I expected them to provide some much-needed money, because he had the cash. And he surely wants to save his previous investment, right?
“Sorry, Ondrej! You’re on your own,” was his reply. There will be no money. Are you going under? Shit happens. Fingers crossed, good bye.
Is this fair? Hell, it is not! That’s your immediate reaction. I mean, every partner has to do the best they can. … or do they?
Well, let’s reiterate the most important rule of business. “There’s no justice in this f’ing world“. We’ve been over this before. But most importantly, the investor is playing a different game than you are. You have one card to play, you’re all in. And that’s one of the reasons the investor entrusted you with his money. But the investor has sort of a Monopoly bet with you. He plays the game with his money and is responsible for its return, not for how many “streets” he keeps alive. That is, if he is a good investor (“does his job well”).
This is not to say that the investor is an emotionless machine, who is not sorry when a portfolio company goes bust. He does sometimes have internal dilemmas about whether he should help someone, even if he doubts the return on such a cash injection. We do this all too often at Reflex I am afraid. But what I say is: stop crying. If you want investor money, present the investor with an attractive investment, but don’t play on their emotions.
And remember: rely on yourself, it’s your business. And you have to figure it out.
April 29th, 2024 • Ondřej Fryc
I’m not gonna pretend anything, I was trapped too. It felt good to have our company and myself in the media! It boosted my ego, which grew. There are some people who don’t have that, but I see it in most founders around the age of 30 and let’s be honest – everyone is a bit of a narcissist.
April 20th, 2024 • Eduard Míka
It is said that creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship are the engines of economic development and the future prosperity of any country depends on them. In all neighboring countries, this seems to be the case, but not here.
April 10th, 2024 • Eduard Míka
Every investment transaction is essentially a bet on the person of the founder and their vision. There is usually nothing else in a startup.
December 22nd, 2023 • Zdena Macháčková
At the end of October 2023, a strike for women’s equality took place in Iceland. Iceland is considered a world leader in gender equality. In this year’s World Economic Forum rankings, the island is ranked highest for the 14th consecutive year, yet Icelandic women are striking because they earn significantly less than men.
