2. Go ahead and close the deal, but come clean later. Explain that the controller had been on an extended leave of absence and, because you had been on the job only a few days, you had not had time to personally do an analysis of the numbers. As the new, heavily recruited CEO of a high-technology start-up backed by several of Silicon Valley’s leading venture capitalists, Chuck Campbell is flying high—great job, good salary, stock options, and a chance to be in on the ground floor and build one of the truly great twenty-first—century organizations. Just a few days into the job, Chuck participated in a presentation to a new group of potential investors for funding that could help the company expand marketing, improve its services, and invest in growth.

By the end of the meeting, the investors had verbally committed $16 million in funding.