Three Phases

Todd Vernon and I were laughing the other day about the phases founder entrepreneurs go through after they've raised a round of capital.

Because raising a round (Angel or Institutional) is an exicting event and while you're often told not to celebrate it (often by your investors and for  good reason) - it's hard not to feel good about having this milestone behind you.

This phase - is depicted below - with the face on the left.  Happy happy.

After some amount of time though - the euphoria of closing a round elapses and you enter a second phase - where you feel good about your company and your idea and your prospects.  The more seasoned an entrepreneur you are the faster you leave phase 1 and enter phase 2.  Phase 2 is the face in the middle. 

Phase 3 is when you realize that you've spent a lot of the capital you've raised and you realize that 1) you need to generate revenue, 2) you need to raise another round, and 3) the round needs to be at a higher pre-money then the post money of your last round.  Phase 3 is accurately depicted by the face on the right.

I'm going to ask my wife to make a t-shirt of this graphic.