In this case, I would use the factory method. Basically, set your class have only private constructors and have a factory method which returns an instance of your object. If the initial parameters are invalid, just return null and have the calling code decide what to do.

public class MyClass
{
    private MyClass(string text)
    {
        //normal construction
    }

    public static MyClass MakeMyClass(string text)
    {
        if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(text))
            return null;
        else
            return new MyClass(text);
    }
}
public class CallingClass
{
    public MyClass MakeMyClass(string text)
    {
        var cls = MyClass.MakeMyClass(text);
        if(cls == null)
             //show messagebox or throw exception
        return cls;
    }
}

Never throw exceptions unless the conditions are exceptional. I'm thinking that in this case, the an empty value can be passed easily. If that is the case, using this pattern would avoid exceptions and the performance penalties they incur while keeping the MyClass state valid.

In this case, I would use the factory method. Basically, set your class have only private constructors and have a factory method which returns an instance of your object. If the initial parameters are invalid, just return null and have the calling code decide what to do.

public class MyClass
{
    private MyClass(string text)
    {
        //normal construction
    }

    public static MyClass MakeMyClass(string text)
    {
        if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(text))
            return null;
        else
            return new MyClass(text);
    }
}
public class CallingClass
{
    public MyClass MakeMyClass(string text)
    {
        var cls = MyClass.MakeMyClass(text);
        if(cls == null)
             //show messagebox or throw exception
        return cls;
    }
}

Never throw exceptions unless the conditions are exceptional. I'm thinking that in this case, an empty value can be passed easily. If that is the case, using this pattern would avoid exceptions and the performance penalties they incur while keeping the MyClass state valid.