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The Resource Center has all the info you'll need From content to user feedback, the resource center has the information you need for every level of the entrepreneurial process.
Communication is the vital link in building a relationship with a business partner, in this case a mentor (angel) capitalist. Learn where and when to use the right presentation for the right audience whether it be an angel or venture capitalist.
Don’t get Randal Charlton wrong. The executive director at the TechTown business incubator in Detroit is thankful for a recent announcement of $5 million coming his way to help graduates of his FastTrac business training program launch their companies. But, he says, look at it this way: The money, granted by the New Economy Initiative, a Detroit-area philanthropic partnership, is not being thrown at comfortable entrepreneurs. This is, essentially, aid to the unemployed. And, as such, $5 million barely scratches the surface.
Many of the entrepreneurs to be helped by the First Step Fund, the entity created by NEI’s $5 million investment, are not launching startups because it seems like a promising thing to do. They have nowhere else to go, Charlton says. Their former jobs in the auto industry are gone, never to return. Their choices are to leave the state or try to create their own jobs in Michigan.
Valuation negotiations between entrepreneurs and investors are often contentious. Such valuations rarely stray from the $1 million to $3 million range for seed/startup companies that angels expect to grow to $50 million to $100 million over five to eight years. Angels are most concerned about the management team's ability to rapidly grow the company and about helping the entrepreneur achieve these growth objectives.
Entrepreneurs must identify ways to exit a business at the onset, which enables efforts to be directed to a goal, writes the builder of two companies. The author, now a venture capitalist, outlines four steps for doing so.
As vice chairman of America Online, owner of sports teams and serial entrepreneur, Ted Leonsis has accomplished enough for many lifetimes. In addition, however, he uses the leverage of his position and his entrepreneur's drive to tackle a multitude of philanthropic goals.
Finding venture capital is a matter of securing the right fit between founder and funder, writes the author. Affinity with a investor helps, such as pursuing groups that finance the type of company that yours is, such as a minority- or female-led firm; also necessary is a plan outlining your company's financial prospects and a pitch for convincing investors that you can execute, the author notes.
Social responsibility is a driving force for Jim Kenefick, both in business and in how he gives back.
Many entrepreneurs increasingly are exploring alternative ways to raise capital. This overview evaluates four of the most common alternative public equity tracks: foreign markets, corporate shells, private investment in a public equity, and direct public offerings.
Venture capitalists play a critical funding role, as entrepreneurial ventures move into the big leagues, but the price these investors extract is often too high. Entrepreneurs should consider the relationship analogous to marrying a mail-order bride and proceed accordingly, according to this comprehensive and entertaining article by two women who co-founded a software company. Tips include advising company owners to build trust with VCs and, until that is established, dealing with them in a way that allows for "a reasonable balance of power."
After selling a successful company, Alan Hall is finding innovative ways to give back to entrepreneurship.
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