Apr 1, 1996
GARY’S TOP TEN QUIZ FOR CEO’S CONSIDERING AN IPO ON THE VANCOUVER STOCK EXCHANGE
by Gary Dunn

GARY’S TOP TEN QUIZ FOR ASPIRING CEO’S

Take this test to determine if you are made of the right stuff to take your technology company public!

1. Do you think your broker/promoter wants to take you public because he or she believes in your technology?

2. Have you ever thought that you are really looking for someone/thing to take care of all your financing needs –once and for all?

3. Do transaction fees in the range of 20% sound like a great deal to you?

4. Has your significant other told you on more than one occasion that you are so gullible that you believe everything that you are told?

5. When you are told “no problem, you’ll have your money in three months”, is your first thought “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus”?

6. Are you willing to agree to a deal where you get your seed capital in stages as you need it, without any performance guarantees?

7. Does the idea of having to get the approval of a regulatory body to your business decisions appeal to you?

8. Have you always wanted to give up your day job so that you could answer calls from brokers and investors whose main interest is your stock price and liquidity?

9. Are you the type of personality that bounces back well from failure?

10. And last but not least, do you still think that it is possible to go public and remain the innocent, trusting soul that you are now?


Note: To put this quiz into context, it was presented at an all day seminar in Vancouver, B.C. to an audience composed of technology company owners hoping to take advantage of financing opportunities unique to Vancouver. These sources of financing exist primarily as a result of the Vancouver Stock Exchange and the investment community that it nourishes. The presenter’s view is that far too many start-ups are financed in Vancouver through IPO’s. In many cases, the promoters do not have the financial horsepower to see that the companies are properly financed during their early stages. And in many cases, the underlying business would not otherwise qualify for financing on account of having an insubstantial business plan. As a result of this, an unnecessarily large number of start-ups fail, and seed capital investors are the ultimate losers.