
You Were Funded for a Liquidity Event – Start Looking - t23
https://medium.com/@sgblank/what-founders-need-to-know-you-were-funded-for-a-liquidity-event-start-looking-3b01db1405f9#.d5p9wjbhy
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angersock
Overall a good read, but I take issue with one bit:

 _The first rule of Fight Club is: you do not talk about Fight Club. The
second rule of Fight Club is: you DO NOT talk about Fight Club! The same is
true about liquidity. It’s detrimental to tell your employees who have bought
into the vision, mission and excitement of a startup to know that it’s for
sale the day you start it. The party line is “We’re building a company for
long-term success.”_

This sort of two-faced behavior doesn't succeed with even moderately-
intelligent or observant employees, especially these days where the subject
matter has graduated to meme status.

At least for your early employees, the folks building your teams and covering
for your weaknesses/inexperience, you need to be on the level or they _will_
make a toxic environment.

I think the hesitancy to talk about this is a function of both outmoded views
of employees as resources without real understanding or stake in the business
(hence the apparent moral permissibility to lie to them here) and also the
reluctance to make a real exit for the employees--it's only awkward to talk
about the exit for the business if the employees see that they aren't getting
a slice of the pie.

