Squandering Venture Capital

Boy oh boy.  I do a little investing, and the one thing I'm always concerned about as an investor is the company's burn rate - how much money they burn through each month.  So imagine my horror when I discovered that my colleagues at OVP Venture Partners and Outlook Ventures are being taken for a ride by a silly stunt pulled by GraniteEdge Networks.  There must be more to the story. 

GraniteEdge paid a freakin' fortune for a 10x20 foot exhibit space at the 2007 RSA Conference....and then didn't show!  That's right.  It's sitting there, empty.

I mean, come on.  I'm sorry, but if I were the VC, I would be pretty steamed.

Comments

[Mike Rothman]

Considering GraniteEdge's main competitor, Intrusic, went belly up a few weeks ago - clearly there is something funky going on there.

BUT, as a former marketing guy, sometimes it's cheaper to suck up the $20K on the booth and not throw another $10-15K behind it to just show up. Especially if the company is recalibrating their strategy or looking for a white knight.

[Steve Hunt]

I dunno. They could have just as easily used the space to promote the concept of their product, and the collect leads. they could have talked to hundreds of end users to collect preferences, buseinss drivers, goals, etc.

[Anyck Turgeon]

Steve,

I am aware that 2 other vendors decided at the last minute not participate in RSA 2007 and the reason for their last minute removal was the large population of hackers that were apparently planning on attending this event. I am not sure if your electronic devices encountered some challenges but I am aware that many experienced various types of security issues...