Moneyneversleeps

This week, I had the absolute pleasure of sitting down with Fergal McGovern, founder and CEO of VisibleThread, for one of the most enlightening founder chats I’ve had in a while.Fergal’s been building for decades—starting with enterprise systems in the '90s, then launching and selling his first startup SteelTrace, and eventually pivoting VisibleThread through the 2008 crash into a trusted platform serving global leaders like Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Comcast, and government agencies across the U.S., Canada, and Australia.What I loved about this conversation is how practical and honest Fergal is—especially when it comes to the real story behind fundraising. He’s been through the early seed round, the post-pivot rebuild, and the tough decision to fuel growth with debt instead of chasing a VC path that didn’t quite fit.In this episode, we get into:- Why 50% growth year-over-year is solid—but not VC-sexy- What makes a startup truly “VC-eligible” (and what doesn’t)-How Fergal built a repeatable sales playbook befor