In late April I wrote that I had identified six startups of interest that are likely to expand their leadership team within the next six months. Since then, I have spoken with four of these six companies as well as have found six additional ones. Below is an update of where things stand.
“Original Six”
All four of the startups with whom I’ve spoken have identified a need to expand their leadership team in the next six months but are not ready to do so immediately. Three of them are focused on securing their next round of funding before they add a new executive. Of these, three are confident this will happen by the end of the summer while the third seems to be struggling and has a lot of uncertainty as to if and when it will get funded. The fourth company with whom I’ve spoken is well-funded but is still working to determine exactly what kind of executive they want to add and when. A position of interest may emerge from one of these four later this year but for now I a considering them to be “on hold”.
I have not yet spoken with the remaining two companies. I am meeting with one of them this coming week while the other has not yet responded to the introduction I received from one of their investors.
“New Six”
My continuing outreach to investors and others has yielded introductions to a second set of startups that may be expanding their leadership team this year. So far, I have spoken with just one of these companies and am following up with the rest.
- Four are in semiconductor or semiconductor-related areas, one is a test equipment company, and the sixth is a smart-grid equipment company.
- Three are in the Boston area, two in California, and one is in Canada
- Three are at the seed/angel stage, one has Series A funding, and two are at Series B or later.
Within this composite set of twelve companies there certainly are some that are of higher interest to me than others. There also are certainly some that will have a greater interest in me than others. For now I am maintaining a wide funnel and am engaging with them all. Even if I do find a match the likely initial arrangement would be one in which I work on a fixed-duration “interim” basis with no commitment from either the company or myself. This is beneficial to both sides as it provides a risk-free way to assess whether a match is truly a good one before committing to a permanent relationship.
This also provides, for companies not yet fully funded, a way to engage me without committing to a significant cash expense. I am able to go without a steady paycheck for an extended period of time and am comfortable favoring equity over cash in a compensation arrangement. But that is a story for another day once I find that match I am seeking. For now, the search continues…