The 3-year rule is golden and peolpe wiser than me have convinced me that there are absolutely no workarounds. I personally do not like thinking in terms of short-term sales and profits, but more in terms of long term value. Thinking of cash flow distracts you from the long term vision, it makes you do things that doesn't add a dime to the end goal. Valuation doesn't have to mean what the company could sell for today, it could mean what it'd be worth after 5 years.