Entrepreneurship Tips — Financing

By Paul T Purpose: This summary presents an actionable point of view that will result in tangible benefits for those who apply it to make and implement decisions related to investments in Workforce Development. Process: Workforce Development was the focus of six 45-minute conversations on December 9, 2021. Each conversation used a consistent lens of “Benchmarking” with stimulus from the writings of Peter Drucker and each had a varying perspective with insight inspired by Open Minds. A guest with expertise was invited to be part of the conversation. The summary created below from post-Forum dialogue between The Path and Georgia LEARNS Now that leveraged our perspectives on the human...

From www.Joelonsoftware.com   Many software companies these days are built using some form of venture capital. But the VC industry has been hurting lately. A lot of investments in dot-coms turned out to be spectacular flame outs. As a result, VCs are becoming ever more selective about where to put their money. To get funded these days, it's not enough to be a pet shop on the web. Nope! You have to be a pet shop on the web with 802.11b wireless hotspots, or your business plan is going right in the dumpster. The formerly secretive world of VC has become...

Note: This article was written in 2004 and has been updated, though the evolution of the market has continued traditional expectations in 2013 still seem to have faded. The financing landscape today has changed radically. Everything you learned in the last 5 years is obsolete. We are back to looking like the early 1990s again as everyone has "moved up the food chain" one to two levels. True Series A financings with money designed to develop the product are very rare and most first institutional investments are in companies with proven "traction", this means lots of sales completed. In the...

Ten Mythsand Realities of VC   By Lawrence Aragon Redherring.com Bill Reichert's brother is a doctor. His father also was a doc. So were his grandfather and his great-great-grandfather. So how could it be that Mr. Reichert is sitting and talking about venture capital over a plate of bacon and eggs at the Peninsula Creamery coffee shop in downtown Palo Alto? As I join him in the high-cholesterol meal, I can almost see the family of physicians staring down, wagging their fingers. "I'm the first Reichert male not to be doctor," he says, munching on a piece of bacon. "We figure...

  Most investors agree that the number one factor they look at in any investment opportunity is the management team.  Some even claim it is number one, number two, and number three because a good team will likely fix any problem.  However, quantifying this and getting people to understand and rate their team objectively is needed to improve, and even understand, where your team is today.   Over ninety percent of teams are insufficient to achieve outside financing, though that is par for the course in a startup, and recognizing this with a plan for hiring can help jump that obstacle....