Author : Tony

The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men

I was cleaning out a drawer the other day and found my very first work ID with a photo of a fresh-faced, absurdly impressionable version of me that I barely recognized. Since those days, I’ve worked with companies in various forms, in far-flung geographies, and at different stages of maturity (theirs, not mine…well, mine too I suppose).  Dismissing with […]

The Founding Fathers didn’t have to worry about 409A valuations (Part 1)

In 1776, in the middle of a hot summer, 56 visionaries met in Philadelphia to write the Declaration of Independence. It was 242 years ago so our perspective may be blurry but it’s safe to say that in 1776, it was an absurdly risky startup.  We all know the opening lines – but do you know how it ends? The last line goes: “we mutually […]

The Founding Fathers Didn’t Have To Worry About 409A Valuations

In Part 1 of this article, I discussed how starting a country, as the Founding Fathers did in 1776, shows similarities to starting a company in 2018. For those of you who wish to read (or re-read) Part 1, here is a link: http://melioraadvisors.com/valuation/the-founding-fathers-didnt-have-to-worry-about-409a-valuations-part-1/ It wasn’t enough to simply say “We hold these truths to be self-evident…“, the FFs […]

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