I have been reading the business plans of new ventures for more than 30 years, and while the presentations have become a lot slicker, I’m not sure the underlying propositions have improved much.
PowerPoint and the rise of venture-capital culture have a certain amount to answer for on that. In 2019, no one sends a business plan: instead they deliver a “pitch deck”. The founders know all the right financing terminology — from drag-along rights to anti-dilution provisions — but I’m not sure they always understand their customers.
Often I get the impression that their objective is to raise capital rather than generate sales and develop a profitable enterprise. I’m astonished when I read about would-be entrepreneurs celebrating a new round of finance, because that’s…
