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Doug Leone: The Best Deals Are Win-Win. Founders Who Maximize Only for Themselves Have No Long-Term Perspective.

By Doug Leone · Mindset & Career · 1 min read

Leone says founders have every right to maximize price. But if they squeeze their VC down to 3% ownership, the math doesn't work for anyone.

Key Points

Founders have the right to maximize price — but not at the cost of everything else
The very best deals are win-win deals
Optimizing your own ownership at the cost of the other side shows no long-term perspective

The very best deals are win-win deals. When I find founders optimizing their own ownership at the cost of everything else, it shows me they have no long-term perspective.

Maximize Price — But Understand the Math

Leone: I think founders should have a right to maximize price. Let me not be a babe in the woods and say keep price lower so we can own more. That is all the founder needs to take care of — maximizing price.

But they need to understand the following. We are business people too. We are on 10 boards. If they maximize price and we end up owning 3%, logic would only follow that it's probably not going to get our best attention.

Founders should maximize price. But if we end up owning 3%, logic says it's probably not going to get our best attention.

Win-Win

Leone: People have to understand that the very best deals are win-win deals. A win-win deal is taking care of yourself — because when you're in a negotiation, yourself comes first — but also taking care of the other side.

When I find founders optimizing their own ownership or something like that at the cost of everything else, it shows me they just have no long-term perspective. And they don't understand how business is carried out.

The very best deals are win-win deals. Optimizing at the cost of everything else shows no long-term perspective.