A venture capitalist is considering investing in a management buy-out that would be financed as...

A venture capitalist is considering investing in a management buy-out that would be financed as follows:

• Equity from managers

• Equity from a venture capitalist

• Mezzanine debt finance from a venture capitalist

• Senior debt from a bank

The venture capitalist is planning to work with the management to grow the business in anticipation of an initial public offering within five years.

However, the cash forecast shows a potential shortage of funds in the first year and the venture capitalist is evaluating the potential impact of cash being generated in the first year being significantly lower than forecast.

The most important risk that a shortage of cash would create for the management buyout is that the new company has insufficient funds to: