I’m amazed at all the talk in the Utah biz community of seed capital and various series funding rounds. It seems success today is measured more in the ability to raise capital than run a business that creates profits.

It’s amazing to me that companies get such crazy valuations in their funding rounds often before they ever make a profit or after barely turning a profit. Judging by the millions being made by owners, investors and executives in these companies it’s obviously working. It just seems like the focus and the measures of success have changed in the last decade or so.

I started and built several successful companies in the 90’s, a couple that eventually went public, and we never got a penny of investor money other than what came out of the founders’ pockets. Our focus was Always about building a successful business by servicing our clients and improving our systems and products. If we needed more $ to grow or expand we simply had to sell more, find new partnerships or create new streams of income/profits.

I’ve had a number of prospective entrepreneurs pitch me on their biz ideas and all they talk about is potential valuations and future funding rounds. It’s like making profits is an afterthought. I’ve been amazed at some of the bad ideas that get funding. Feel bad for their investors. FOMO is real.

Seems like the idea of building a profitable biz and just running it is gone. It’s all about fattening the pig for slaughter or selling at the highest valuation possible.

A successful business takes more than a story and a pitch deck. It’s about building systems and processes and teams that create compelling products that customers need and want. When you do that the profits follow.