Meaning of business is to get the better half of the deal: always 51%. Never split the difference. This is the simple heuristics that has made Muesli Venture Capital stand out from the rest of the scum. This is the religion of Muesli.
When we take 51% of your business, we expect 100% commitment to our funds’ value system. First thing we ask from founders is not what the meaning of their business is, but rather what their business means to them. What does their business expect from their founders? What obstacles are there to be solved in order to build a successful business for their major shareholders (that could be us).
Meaning of business, just as life, is meaningless, unless you yourself take the fate of your success into your own hands. You have the responsibility to answer to your business. Ask not what your business can do for you, ask what YOU can do for your business. Change the perspective from being a victim and take responsibility.
Second, we search businesses with optionality and reversibility. We want to keep our options open until the very last minute and commit only when other options have expired. We want to back down from options that are not going our way: to scale back costs and to keep head above the water even in times of crises. I have seen many so-called successful businesses fail because they could not scale back. They ended up drowning. Well if you told me you were drowning; I would not lend a hand.
Finally, profit is achieved either through luck, love or suffering. Sometimes all you need is favourable business environment, right timing and a stroke of luck. Sometimes the unconditional love and care for your business is what it takes. And sometimes, the profit is earned through suffering: by climbing through your obstacles and bravely taking action.
You cannot create value by agreeing in everything. Ask yourself, what important truth do almost everyone else disagree with you on? What would be the value of you being right? Now, prove them wrong.
Just like my good friend Jeff Bezos likes to tell me, it is always Day 1. Only way to climb through your obstacles, is to keep moving. The day you no longer have any business opportunities to conquer, is the day your business starts stagnating. Things have to remain in constant momentum. That is why, here at Muesli Venture Capital, it is always Zero Hour, 9:00 a.m.