MIT Enterprise Forum

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MIT Enterprise Forum

• Lessons Learned

Terry McGuire Managing General Partner Polaris
Venture Partners
June 11, 2003
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Complex Calculus of Building a Company
Resources to Achieve Profitability
VC Tenure
Financial Markets
Corporate Partnering Interest
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Year 4
Year 5
Year 7
Year 6
Year 9
Year 8
Year 10
Year 12
Year 11
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Lesson 1

• Run a Marathon and Not a Sprint

• Dont be too greedy up front

• Dont burn too much fuel up front

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Lesson 2

• Raise Money When You Can

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Lesson 3

• Pick Your Partners Wisely

• Look for fit

• Look for longevity

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Lesson 4

• Understand the Trajectory
• For All Shareholders

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Lesson 5

• Dont View Financings as Transactions

• View them as marriages

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Lesson 6

• Embrace Evolution, Avoid Revolution

• Find a strategy and stick to it

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Lesson 7

• Leave Yourself Open to Opportunity

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Lesson 8
Dont Believe the Fortune Tellers or the
Doomsayers

• The report of my death was an
• exaggeration."
• - Mark Twain

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Lesson 9
Surround Yourself with Great People

• People, not technology,
• make successful companies.

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Lesson 10
Be Able to Say No Thanks

• I love you, but I dont need you

• Profitability
• Careful Resource Use
• Broad Platform
• Multiple Partners

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Summary

• Everything old is new again."
• - Gilbert Sullivan

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