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VCs increasingly are leaving the industry to become entrepreneurs, yet despite their experience with funding startups, many of them are realizing just how challenging it can be to launch a successful business. The insights gained in entrepreneurship, in turn, provide them with a perspective on what it means to be on the andquot;other sideandquot; of the funding table.
Entrepreneurs pursuing venture funding will find useful information in this article. Guy Kawasaki offers insight into the venture capitalist mindset. His Venture Capital Aptitude Test could be used by the entrepreneur as a list of qualities for which to seek in a venture capitalist partner.
Matt McCall posts about Sequoia Capital and how this VC firm describes the elements of sustainability they seek within the ventures they fund, such as clarity of purpose, large markets with rich customers, and focus.
Mohanjit Jolly, Managing Director of Garage Technology Ventures, moderates a discussion between five VCs and Angel investors. The panel addresses key issues related to the funding process, including valuation, business plans, funder presentations, and strategies for accessing VCs.
The process venture capitalists go through to decide which entrepreneurial ventures to fund can be something of a mystery. Chicago-based VC, Matt McCall, provides a description of the qualities he looks for in the CEOs he backs, including resourcefulness, relentless determination, and creative thought.
To maximize the amount of financing you can raise, you can either marshal tangible evidence of growth and success or demonstrate your company's potential.
Starting a business usually involves committing personal finances, no more so than at the beginning, when banks are loathe to extend credit.
Randy Adams conceived the idea for AuctionDrop in 2002. He took his idea to Silicon Valley veterans Bill Rollinson and Andy Jeffrey, founding the business together later that year. Best described as a 'serial entrepreneur', Randy Adams has more than 25 years of experience in consumer technology. He has successfully founded and sold numerous companies including Emerald City Software, acquired by Adobe Systems; the Internet Shopping Network, acquired by the Home Shopping Network; Navitel Communications, acquired by Spyglass, Inc.; and Newsnet Technologies, Inc., currently under contract with Microsoft to develop specialized renditions of popular magazines for the Tablet PC. Through the years he has assisted many other entrepreneurs in their efforts to secure funding and build their companies. Most notably, he facilitated the initial funding of Yahoo by Sequoia Capital and served on the Board of Directors of Yahoo during its first year of operation. Randy received his undergraduate degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Electrical Engineering.
Spencer E. Ante is the computers department editor for BusinessWeek. Before joining the magazine in February, 2000, he was a staff reporter for TheStreet.com. Prior to that, he was a contributing writer at Wired News, a columnist for Business 2.0, a producer for the Netscape NetCenter, and associate editor of The Web Magazine. For "Meet the Hackers", a 2006 investigative story about the world's most dangerous cybercriminals, he was the recipient of a 2007 Deadline Club Award from the Society of Professional Journalists. A year earlier, he won a 2006 award from the American Society of Business Publication Editors for "A Hole in Bush's Exit Strategy", a story about the problematic American training of Iraqi security forces. Ante received a bachelor's degree from Indiana University and a master's from the University of California at Berkeley. His book, Creative Capital: Georges Doriot and the Birth of Venture Capital will be published by Harvard Business Press in April, 2008. He can be reached at http://creativecapital.wordpress.com.
Spencer E. Ante, BusinessWeek editor and author, quotes excerpts from his book, Creative Capital: Georges Doriot and the Birth of Venture Capital, and offers a historical portal into the start and evolution of venture capital. He draws an investment timeline starting with the post-WWII economy, delves into the dominance of Silicon Valley, and discusses current recessionary activity.
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