FINDMINE: Looking for a Break

By Robert Chess, Amadeus Orleans
2019 | Case No. E672 | Length 12 pgs.

From quitting a stable post-MBA job and starting FINDMINE, a start-up in the retail technology space, to finally negotiating venture capital investment offers, Michelle Bacharach—and FINDMINE—had come a long way. Two years of uncertainty with virtually no outside capital raised, a pivot from B2C to B2B, two accelerator programs, and numerous meetings with potential investors and customers had made her an entrepreneur who was comfortable with difficult times and choices.

However, none of that had prepared her for the decision she faced in March 2016. After over two years of scraping by, Bacharach had finally found investors interested in putting in much-needed funding to help move FINDMINE forward. Just hours before signing the deal, however, one of the investors had requested additional terms at the last minute: he asked for advisory shares and, most importantly, he wanted to add pernicious terms that seemed very unusual. Bacharach’s decision was bound to define the future of FINDMINE and, ultimately, her own career as an entrepreneur.

Learning Objective

The teaching objective of the case is to give students an overview of issues related to ideation, team-formation and early fundraising process at a startup.
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