TOUCHSTONE WAS FOUNDED BY ENTREPRENEURS. We understand the challenges of starting and growing a
business because we've been there ourselves. That experience over the past 20+ years has taught us a few things
about how to succeed with early stage companies. In fact, over our career we've managed to drive early stage ventures
to success about two thirds of the time - not bad when you consider that research shows a 79% failure rate for first time
entrepreneurs.
SUCCESS IS NOT AN ACCIDENT. Over the years we've noticed a pattern of actions that have consistently led to
success. We've also noticed some common and avoidable mistakes that usually lead to failure. What we have done at
Touchstone is to document these experiences and create a systematized mentoring approach to early stage company
management. It is an approach that we believe uniquely positions an early stage company and drives it towards a
quality liquidity event.
EXPERIENCE IS THE KEY. If drive, commitment, and a great idea were enough; most entrepreneurs would succeed.
The early stage venture landscape is littered with failed companies that were once great ideas led by high quality people.
The missing element to success is often experience. In fact research shows that when experienced mentors assist in the
development of entrepreneurs, capital returns increase by an average of 285%.