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22 Financing Articles
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Sources of Capital and What to Expect
vcexperts.com— — “This chapter is focused on the funding sources and what to expect from each. In some instances you will find a blurring of terms regarding whether the topic is really a source of capital or a financing instrument.”
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Angel Investor
entrepreneur.com— — “Originally a term used to describe investors in Broadway shows, “angel” now refers to anyone who invests his or her money in an entrepreneurial company…”
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Managing Risk in a New Venture
inc.com— — “You can’t get rid of all the risk of starting up a business, but you can certainly take a few steps to mitigate it.”
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Garnering Angels
entrepreneur.com— — “Sure,” says Guy Kawasaki, “you may have ventured for VC, but raising angel capital takes a different kind of skill.”
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Angel Financing: Dos and Don'ts for Entrepreneurs
eventuring.kauffman.org— — Entrepreneur Andy Sack’s list of things to do before approaching angels for financing.
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Venture Capital Firms Set Their Sights on New Ideas -- Not New Technologies
knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu— — “Create a web site, begin a “viral” marketing campaign to grow word-of-mouth and acquire an audience, garner some ad revenues, generate venture capital funding and sell out to a web giant such as Yahoo or Google.”
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The Returns to Entrepreneurial Investment: Why Do Entrepreneurs Ignore the Poor Risk-Return Trade-offs of Private Equity Investing?
chicagogsb.edu— — “Many entrepreneurs invest substantial amounts of money in their own privately held companies. Recent research suggests that such investment strategies result in a much less attractive risk-return trade-off than investing in publicly traded stocks.”
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How to Get the Attention of a Venture Capitalist
blog.guykawasaki.com— — “However, to truly help entrepreneurs, I’d like to provide a cogent list of the tips to get the attention of a venture capitalist.”
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Bootstrapping: From the Trenches to a State of Mind
eventuring.kauffman.org— — “There are conventional bootstrapping strategies—like using your savings, maximizing your credit cards, and mortgaging your home. And there are unconventional strategies—like partnering with your former boss and convincing a local banker to give you a loan.”
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Bootstrappers avoid outside money ties
boston.com— — “They use their own money to start businesses. They fund their growth through their sales. They’re resourceful in finding workers, customers, and advice. And they don’t want outside money.”
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All I Know About VC, I Learned from My Kids
vcconfidential.com— — An “Ask the VC” blog post on how to approach venture capitalists.
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The Top Ten Lies of Venture Capitalists
blog.guykawasaki.com— — “Venture capitalists are simple people: we’ve either decided to invest, and we are convincing ourselves that our gut is right (aka, “due diligence”) or there’s not a chance in hell”
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The Art of Bootstrapping
blog.guykawasaki.com— — “Someone once told me that the probability of an entrepreneur getting venture capital is the same as getting struck by lightning while standing at the bottom of a swimming pool on a sunny day. This may be too optimistic”
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An Entrepreneur's Guide to the Venture Capital Galaxy
Library Database
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“This article provides a foundation for an understanding of the dynamics of venture capital from the entrepreneur’s point of view.”
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Those High-flying Angel Investors: VC Panel Talks Up Creative Financing for Start-ups
knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu— — “Software manufacturing, software programs to defeat spam, new business data technology and web services are all areas of opportunity for entrepreneurs, according to venture capitalists taking part in a panel on creative financing at a recent Wharton Entrepreneurship Conference”
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Communicating with Angels
eventuring.kauffman.org— — “Communication is the vital link in building a relationship with a business partner – in this case a mentor (angel) capitalist”
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A Primer on VC Term Sheets
inhouseblog.com— — Links to discussions of term sheet terminology in Brad Feld’s blog posts. Feld (of Mobius Venture Capital) discusses various aspects of negotiated venture capital term sheet provisions.
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How Smart is Smart Money?
chicagogsb.edu— — “What, besides money, do venture capitalists contribute to start-up companies? The lack of systematic evidence thus far has led to persistent disagreement about the role of venture capitalists in the economy”
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The Implications of Optimism Why Investors Shouldn't Overlook an Entrepreneur's Outlook
chicagogsb.edu— — “Launching a company is a risky business, with about half of all newly created companies folding within four years of their creation.”
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Bargaining Power Effective Venture Capital Contracts Come in Many Forms
chicagogsb.edu— — “How much can venture capitalists protect themselves against losses if an investment goes bad?”