Don't Marry the First Investor You Meet

We were high-fiving and hugging each other as if we had just won the Super Bowl. Our management finally found investors for our regional magazine company, and we were on our way to journalistic infamy. None of us thought that taking their offer was one of the biggest professional mistakes we'd ever make.

When a group of ex-journalists and I started two monthly magazine publications in Philadelphia 12 years ago, we were desperate for funds in a city lacking seasoned regional investors.

Magazines are expensive to produce and we were at a disadvantage next to publishing companies that leveraged advertisers from other publications they owned.

Banks were out of the question because we didn't have much to pledge in terms of significant personal assets. ...