Establishing the equity stake might boil down to simple mathematics, notes Ben Hertzog, president and CEO of Procyrion, a Houston-based medical device startup that recently received $2.9 million in funding.
"What's the valuation that's going to support attractive returns for that investor?" he asks. "And how long is it going to take to do that?"
How then can small business owners meeting with investors decide how much equity to offer that would be worthwhile to both parties?