Page 193 - Winning The Credit Game Bundle (CK Patrick)

potential for greater growth with or without venture capital
funding.

#2 THE RIGHT TEAM

We’ve mentioned a few times throughout this book how impor-
tant it is to have the right leadership team for business success.
We’ve talked about how having business partners with less than
sterling reputations can become a problem for your business’s
“family tree” in your Dun & Bradstreet report. Your business
partners must be extremely trustworthy to be trusted with your
business’s money, and credit, and your team’s expertise and
experience are key to convincing lenders that your business will
succeed and pay back the money they loan you with interest.
Venture capitalists take this to the next level. They know that
the success of a business is more about the people running the
business than about the business’s ideas or technologies. Are the
people in charge hard-working and dedicated to success? Do
they have the emotional temperament to work together through
the ups and downs of a new business and provide a positive
experience for their business partners? Can they analyze their
business’s finances and make strategic business decisions to opti-
mize growth?
Venture capital firms will want to see that your team has
good ideas, technical expertise, emotional intelligence, and a
track record of good decision-making. This doesn’t mean you all
have to be perfectly prim and proper; often, people with a bit of
a risk-taking streak do best in business. But you will want a team
that demonstrates a commitment to the success of your business,
an ability and willingness to make strategic decisions and
change course as needed, and the emotional resilience to handle
conflicts and crises that might arise during the course of a young
business’s life.
Venture capitalists will look for these things—but they are
also things that any business can benefit from.
Now is a good time to analyze your leadership team honestly

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