Risk, Return, Capital Budgeting, and Weighted-Average Cost of Capital

There is a common phrase in business: “Cash is king.” “Cash flow is the life-blood of a company. Without it, a company will fail” (Hicks, 2012). Yet, companies often have to take risks that could potentially jeopardize their cash flow (e.g., new projects, growth, capital budgeting, etc.). Assume you are the CFO of a struggling company. While you do have a positive cash flow, it is minimal at best. If something does not change soon, the company will go under. Fortunately, your product development team has just created a new product that will not only save the company from financial demise but will also revolutionize how the industry does business. The problem is that the product is still 2 years away from being able to be sold to the public, and you will run out of cash within the next 6 months. How would you propose obtaining the funds needed to keep the company alive and thriving for the next 2 years until you are able to see a return on the product development? How would you keep the stakeholders happy?