Finance Articles

The Entrepreneurial Debate: Which Regulatory Issues Need Rethinking?

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According to Steve Case, CEO of Revolution, an economic revival should be based on a concentrated investment in entrepreneurship. Job growth data and other economic health indicators have, for a long time, pointed toward entrepreneurship as a catalyst for positive change. Some regulatory issues have historically slowed the growth of the startup industry in America, as Case pointed out. One particular example used was the FDA drug approval process, which can have pharmaceutical companies waiting as long as a decade to release their products. The result is that many new businesses are heading overseas in search of more favorable (and less restrictive) business regulations.…

Is Continuous Feedback the Breakfast of Champions?

Via AVC on No Responses

In the right hands, developing a system for continuous feedback  can be a powerful tool for companies — particularly when it comes to working with investors.

Image provided by: Steve Snodgrass

A continual approach that relies on constant feedback is better suited to underpin the adaptive nature of today’s companies, explains Fred Wilson in a recent post on his AVC blog. A business that is able to supply nearly instantaneous feedback to its employees, investors and board emmebers — and vice versa — is one that can remove impediments quicker from its path than companies that take weeks…

Why Financials Matter When Pitching VCs

Via Venture Blog on No Responses

hpebley/ Flickr

It’s almost taken for granted that “specific numbers an entrepreneur pitches when describing [their] early stage business are completely made up,” David Hornik writes in a post for Venture Blog. While this may be the case, he says, it’s no reason to discount that part in a presentation. “The key is not to focus on the numbers themselves but, rather,” Hornik writes, “to focus on the assumptions in those projections and the points of leverage for that business.” Hornik says that buried within the financials of a startup there is a huge amount of…

Venture Capital: What Fuels the Process?

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Venture capital is an industry typified by the processes at work behind the scenes. Limited partnerships fund VCs and the companies that receive investments diligently work behind closed doors. In this short video, SVB Financial Group hosts a panel on the venture capital process; the guests were picked to represent some of the major components of the VC model. The panel, which includes Bryan Roberts of Venrock Capital, Judith Elsea of Weathergage Capital and John Mendlein of Fate Therapeutics, discusses the drivers of the VC industry and the dynamics that make the framework sustainable. For more on the roles involved in venture capital and…

Why the New Crowdfunding Bill Could Help – and Hurt – Startups

Via VentureBeat on No Responses

Image provided by: stevendepolo

For years, startups have financed their businesses in a variety of different ways. The most common methods, of course, include bootstrapping, private loans, angel investment, or venture capital rounds. But if a new bill passed by the House of Representatives and awaiting approval by the Senate and White House is made into law, startups will have a new, somewhat radical way to raise cash: Crowdfunding. In an article for VentureBeat, corporate attorney Scott Edward Walker explains what crowdfunding is and what it would mean for startups. In his post, Walker writes that…

VC Tips: Identifying Your Lead Investor

Via AVC on No Responses

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In a recent post on AVC, VC Fred Wilson looked into exactly what qualifies a lead investor. In the short post, Wilson refers to the example of Khosla partner Pierre Lamond and his entrance into the lead investor role at the business. Supporting the evidence that Lamond was a lead investor, Wilson points out Lamond, who had just joined the company ” made a point of being there the day one of his other companies went public.” “Then Pierre said ‘that company was once even more screwed up than you are,’” he writes.…

Raising Capital or Bootstrapping — What’s the Right Move?

Via Highway 12 Ventures on No Responses

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In a post over at Highway 12 Ventures, Derek Keller breaks down the question of whether growing companies should bootstrap or raise capital. But the real answer comes down to the specific company, Keller says, adding, “There is no ideal company growth rate, each venture is unique.” Keller continues by taking a look at the benefits of each approach for growing your business. “If you’re still incubating an idea or struggling to gain user growth,” Keller writes, “bootstrapping might be the healthiest solution—allowing you time to validate your product and business model before…