Fwd: Our take on "Working for future considerations"

>Date: Thu, 28 Dec 2000 20:15:03 -0800
>To: Moe Rubenzahl <moe(at)maxim-ic.com>
>From: Simon Rolfe <ideas(at)creativegenius.ca>
>Subject: Our take on "Working for future considerations"
>
>Greetings list:
>
>I read the post "Work for Future Revenues" with interest.
>
>These types of offers always intrigue me.,  The premise is of course, 
>always the same.  You are offered a shot at a percentage of the future 
>revenues the company brings in if you agree to "help" them now.
>
>Incidentally, these types of "opportunities" are almost always predicated 
>by the same three factors:
>
>1) The client has no money OR if they do have money, they have elected to 
>spend it in other areas of the business.
>
>2) The client is unwilling to share risk. To illustrate my point, the 
>perspective client will never say "I'll pay you half of what the work 
>would be worth and the other half in "futures considerations"".  Yeah I 
>didn't think so, clients like this always want you to assume ALL of the 
>risk, because (see point #3).
>
>3) The client is drastically undercapitalized.
>
>In my experience ... deals of this nature should almost always be 100% 
>avoided.  Unless, of course the firm in question has a strong management 
>team. By this I mean the firm is headed by management that has a proven 
>track record of building success from nothing, with little capital.  For 
>the record, these types of management teams are few and far between.  At 
>this level these "players" generally surround themselves with other key 
>players who, are themselves, very well versed in the art of "spinning 
>straw into gold"".
>Having said that, ask yourself, quite bluntly: Would "Corporate Raiders" 
>be calling me for help ? ... the answer, in reality, is:
>NOT likely.
>
>Funnily enough, I found myself in this very situation this past 
>weekend.  The prospective client did his best to pitch his idea, and win 
>our firm's involvement in "teaming" with him, despite the fact that the 
>product and idea had merit, I felt the client's existing management did 
>not have the business savvy nor the level of experience required to make 
>their pig fly so, our firm declined their
>offer a.k.a "the opportunity".
>
>So in closing, thank your friend, colleague, prospect for the offer, wish 
>them all the success in the world, then lace up your running shoes and get 
>your ass outta there:)
>
>And, to the poster who indicated he had been involved with 8 of these 
>"Work for future Considerations" arrangements, I'll bet the one that looks 
>like it has the greatest chance for success is headed up by a better upper 
>management team than the other 7 combined.
>
>Regards,
>
>
>Simon Rolfe, Senior Partner
>Creative Genius Communications
>ideas(at)creativegenius.ca

Regards,

Simon Rolfe, Senior Partner
Creative Genius Communications
ideas(at)creativegenius.ca

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