Business Dashboard Dasheroo is Closing Down

Dasheroo, the business analytics software platform founded by Vertical Response co-founders Janine Popick and her husband John Hingley, announced that it is closing down due to the inability to secure funding or locate a purchaser.

“[I]t is with a heavy heart that we must share that Dasheroo has been unable to secure the necessary financing or find an acquirer to continue our growth,” the announcement says. “As a result, we are unable to continue our operations.”

Dasheroo provided a cost-effective solution to a real problem, that of monitoring a business's vital signs - sales and leads numbers, marketing campaign performance, inventory levels and so forth - heretofore a time-consuming task.

The company created a dashboard concept that provided at-a-glace insights into vital data points. Users could also drill down to get more detail on specific metrics across a range of dates, to identify trends.

In an exclusive interview via telephone, Hingley told Small Business Trends that in raising funds for Dasheroo, he and his wife broke a cardinal rule: Never accept VC money.

“Dasheroo was our third startup,” Hingley said. “In the prior two, we went the friends and family route, raising small sums, as well as spending our own money. In all, we raised just over $1 million and focused on getting cash flow positive as quickly as possible.”

In the case of Dasheroo, a colleague who was starting out as a VC approached the couple with an offer to provide early-stage funding. They accepted.

“We decided to swing for the fences,” Hingley said. “We received a $3 million A round, which was more than the total amount we had raised in either of the two previous startups.”

The VC told the couple not to focus on generating revenue but, rather, on building a strong team and product.

“It's during the B round that you start making money he told us,” said Hingley. “We didn't know the VC world, so we took his advice.”

Around that time, things starting changing in the investor community. Access to funds tightened and VCs centered their attention around two metrics: the revenue run rate and customer growth.

“We were at a point where we needed more money but were still too early stage,” Hingley said. “Even though we continued to reach our monthly goals in sales and new customer acquisition, we couldn't hit the numbers that would enable us to pass the VCs litmus test - so they passed on us.

Another factor that hurt the company was the lead investor withdrew his support for future funding rounds.

“I had to go to people I knew and ask for money,” Hingley said. “But that was hard to do without the support of the investor.”

To survive, Hingley began to look for companies to acquire Dasheroo but was met with a similar fate.

“It was somewhat of the same story,” he said. “We spoke with more than 50 companies, both public and private, but could not find a match in the timeframe that we needed.”

That is one reason the company accelerated the announcement about the company's closing.

According to Hingley, “Rather than wait until the end of October or early November, we made the announcement now, for two reasons: To give our existing users time to transition to another service and in the hope it would spur interest from prospective acquirers.”

Hingley said that by the time he spoke to Small Business Trends, he had already received more than a dozen contacts from such parties.

Based on his experience and the current mindset within the VC community, Hingley advised other early-stage startups to concentrate on four primary areas: “Go the friends and family to raise funds, and stay away from VCs; watch your resource spend; focus on your go to market strategy and get cash-flow positive as quickly as possible.”

When asked what the future holds for he and his wife, Hingley said, “We have the entrepreneurial bug. It's in our blood, but we're not going to force anything. If we come up with another tech play, we will run with it. In the short-term, we plan to as much value for our investors, customers and team as we can.”

Hingley added that when he and his wife do plan another startup, one thing will be for certain: “We will not void our principles by accepting VC money ever again.”

Barring any acquisition, here's what Dasheroo's closing means for existing customers according to the announcement:

• The company ceased collecting payments as of Friday, September 30. Customers with prepaid annual plans will receive prorated refunds to their credit cards;

• Customers will be granted access to their dashboards until December 15, 2016, to allow time to transition to a new service;

• Dasheroo will continue to provide support through the online FAQ and Knowledge Base.

Image: Dasheroo

This article, "Business Dashboard Dasheroo is Closing Down" was first published on Small Business Trends