Funding Your Company, Part 1: So Many Options (September CEO Peer Roundtable)

Description

Note: This session begins at 12:00noon on September 11th! Bring a lunch, or order from the cafe!

Our next two roundtables will focus on financing: where the money comes from, when different options make sense, and what it actually costs to take them.

Part 1 is just us. We will start with a quick shared baseline on equity, debt, grants, and some of the structures in between. From there, the discussion will be grounded in the experience already in the room.

What have you tried? What worked? What became more expensive, restrictive, or distracting than expected? What would you do differently? What are you considering now?

This is also a chance to ask the questions that are difficult to ask publicly or in front of someone who may be trying to sell you capital. You do not need to arrive as an expert. Bring either something you have learned through experience or a financing decision you are currently weighing.

By the end of the session, we will identify which questions the group can answer from experience and which ones deserve outside expertise. The second group will become the agenda for Part 2, allowing our guests to address the issues that matter to this room rather than giving us a generic financing presentation. After hearing from them, we will return to a closed discussion among members.

As always, this is an in-person and confidential conversation. There will be no recordings, no external notetakers, and no attribution outside the room. Any questions carried forward to Part 2 will be anonymized.

Come ready to share what you have learned or what you are wrestling with. The goal is to leave with a clearer understanding of the options, their trade-offs, and the questions we need experts to help us answer next.

For more information on joining VIATEC Peer Roundtables, please contact Rob Bennett by e-mail at rbennett@viatec.ca describing how you meet the eligibility criteria for this roundtable.