Archive for the ‘Financing Growth’ Category.
24th November 2007, 06:28 pm
Discussions About Investing To Go Global
Before making the decision to commit critical capital resources overseas, the venture needs to have a clear understanding of why it is doing so. Before discussing the reasons for investing overseas, we first want to discuss Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). For statistical purposes FDI is usually defined as ownership of at least 10 to 25 percent of the equity of one venture in one country, by another venture based in another country. Continue reading ‘What are the capital investment decisions for going global?’ »
24th November 2007, 06:02 pm
Case In Point: Sun Microsystems Launches
No established company rode higher on the Information Technology Wave than Santa Clara, CA-based Sun Microsystems, whose sales nearly doubled, to $18.3 billion, in the three fiscal years that ended in June 2001. Stanford University graduates Scott McNealy, Bill Joy, Andy Bechtolsheim, and Vinod Khosla got together in 1982 to start SUN (Stanford University Network) Microsystems. Continue reading ‘Putting It All Together and Getting Financed’ »
24th November 2007, 05:56 pm
Case In Point: Cisco Systems
In the early 1980s Stanford University had some 5,000 computers of various types. There was no campus-wide network, the systems were like islands. Bridges were needed to connect them together. Cisco Systems was founded in 1983 in the living room where Len Bosack and his wife Sandy Lerner lived. Their solution was to create the bridge that networked the networks. Continue reading ‘Managing the Rapidly Growing Venture’ »
24th November 2007, 05:28 pm
Case In Point: The Fairchildren and their Offspring
If venture capital is the engine that runs Silicon Valley, then Arthur Rock may be its James Watt–the guy who figured out how to harness steam. He once said, “I want to build great companies. That’s how I get my kicks. I look for people who want the same thing.” Rock’s story starts in the spring of 1956 when William Shockley, who co-invented the transistor in 1947 while working at AT&T’s Bell Laboratories, founded the Shockley Seminconductor Laboratory near Palo Alto, CA. Continue reading ‘Discussions of Risk Capital’ »
24th November 2007, 05:13 pm
Case In Point: Intel Capital
Your exit strategy is important because it helps you define success in business. When entrepreneurs have not thought through an exit strategy, it may be an indicator that they are not focused on the eventual transition of the venture. There is a saying among venture capitalists, “It’s easy to get into an investment, but how do we get out?” Continue reading ‘Creating Your Exit Strategy and Exit Goals’ »
24th November 2007, 04:07 pm
Case In Point: Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Buyers
How much money do you need? When do you need it? How do you value your venture and structure a “good” deal? Who are the best investors for your deal? And what are your financing alternatives? A concise financing strategy threads these important elements together. Continue reading ‘Financing the Emerging Growth Venture’ »
20th November 2007, 03:56 pm
Discussion About An Accredited Investor
Under the Securities Act of 1933, a company that offers or sells its securities must register the securities with the SEC or find an exemption from the registration requirements. Continue reading ‘What is an accredited investor?’ »
20th November 2007, 03:32 pm
IDG Ventures, a global family of venture capital funds affiliated with International Data Group (IDG), announced it recently established a $100 million venture capital fund in Seoul, Korea. IDG Ventures Korea will focus on early-stage investments in technology and technology-enabled companies. These companies will cover a wide range of industries such as new media, environment, health care, education, content-creation, services and other emerging technology-enabled sectors. Continue reading ‘IDG Ventures Raises Korean Venture Fund’ »
7th November 2007, 12:45 pm
U.S. Venture Capital Investment Reaches New Level Since Q1 2001
Dow Jones VentureOne and Ernst & Young LLP Quarterly Report Finds Increasing Investor Focus On Later Rounds; Deal Median Approaches $8 Million for First Time Continue reading ‘U.S. Venture Capital Investment Reaches New Level’ »
7th November 2007, 03:52 am
Discussions about At the Closing Table and Beyond
Congratulations! Out of a thousand plans, maybe 100 or so get considered and only about twenty get to meeting—so you are on your way! As you get into the talking points of a deal, know that there is much you can control when negotiating with venture capitalists. In fact, far more is negotiable than you may think, it only depends on your negotiation skills and tactics. Continue reading ‘How do we negotiate a deal with investors?’ »
7th November 2007, 03:30 am
Discussions About Targeting the Best Funding Sources and Getting Your Plan Placed
It is important to think of fund-raising as a process of buying capital rather than selling equity. This difference in mindset is subtle in the packaging, but very important with your placing efforts because venture capital is a commodity. Continue reading ‘How do we find investors?’ »
7th November 2007, 03:23 am
Discussions About Preparing Financials For Investors
Professor William Sahlman writes, “Entrepreneurs are value creators, investing today in hopes of generating cash flows tomorrow.” So the main purpose of the financial section of a business plan is to formulate a credible, comprehensive set of projections reflecting a venture’s anticipated financial performance. Continue reading ‘What financials do we need for investors?’ »
7th November 2007, 03:13 am
Discussions About Preparing Your Financing Strategy
We discussed the importance of finding out what works in your business model and then creating an operating plan with a detailed cash budget. In this discussion we help you determine the capital you will need for financing the growth strategy you outlined in in a previous Article. Continue reading ‘Why do we need a financing strategy?’ »
7th November 2007, 02:44 am
Discussions of Your Revenue Model
Put simply, no business can exist without top line revenues from sales, no matter how well the other functions are handled. Your business plan must detail how you plan to price and sell your product, and how much money you plan to make. The basics should cover three broad aspects: your selling tactics, your revenue model, and your sales cycle. Continue reading ‘What is a revenue model?’ »
6th November 2007, 02:39 am
Your Business Plan: The Roadmap That Guides You to Success
Your business plan acts as a reflection of you, showing that you have really thought things through. It requires advance preparation, delegation, refinement, and, most importantly, a disciplined approach. Writing a business plan forces you into disciplined thinking if you do an intellectually honest job. An idea may sound great in your mind, but when you put down the details and numbers, it may fall apart. Continue reading ‘Why do we need a business plan?’ »
5th November 2007, 03:28 am
Discussions About The Venture Capital Industry
Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Netscape, vividly describes an insider’s view to the venture capital industry’s food chain: The best venture capitalists (VCs) can see ahead and are willing to think they can fix things, put the management team together, do all this stuff. Any huge success story like Netscape or Apple is like a sausage factory. Everybody likes to eat sausage; no one likes to see how it gets made. These things are all sausage factories inside. Continue reading ‘How does the venture capital industry work?’ »
5th November 2007, 03:18 am
Understanding the Types of Securities
There are two types of financial offerings available to entrepreneurs, equity and debt. In exchange for private equity investments, the venture issues equity securities. There are three basic types of securities. Continue reading ‘What’s the difference between equity and debt?’ »
5th November 2007, 03:13 am
Discussions About Corporate Venture Capitalists
Corporate venture capitalists will often co-invest along with traditional venture capitalists. They can add additional value by opening up access to corporate distribution channels, technology and know-how, and strategic partners. Continue reading ‘What are corporate venture investors?’ »
5th November 2007, 02:04 am
Discussions About Financing Your Business Venture
We now want to circle back to Financing the Emerging Growth Venture. To set the stage for this discussion, here is what Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop, once said: “There are only two ways of raising money: the hard way and the very hard way.” As we said in the Introduction, the world of venture capitalism has its own language, its own process, and its own methods of communication between entrepreneurs and potential investors. Continue reading ‘What is the venture drill for raising money?’ »
5th November 2007, 01:53 am
Harvesting from Your Venture’s Value
This Article supports our belief that having a harvest goal in mind and creating an exit strategy to achieve it are what separate successful entrepreneurs from the rest. Clearly, the main objective of professional entrepreneurs is to create economic value. It is unfortunate that little attention in the entrepreneurial world has been given to exiting a business venture, or what has come to be called harvesting the business. Continue reading ‘What is an exit strategy?’ »