August 17 2012
Title is quote from Barack Obama, speaking in Roanoke, Va., July 13, 2012 Are you kidding me? What a silly, uninformed statement to make! Wouldn’t you think that one of the jobs of the President of the US is to encourage those whose companies create most of the jobs in our country? 1. He assumes […]
December 28 2011
Silicon Valley is a very special place – the nucleus of high-growth, high technology entrepreneurship in the US, indeed, in the world. The Valley is world-class entrepreneurs, angel investors, venture capitalists and successful high-tech companies – all growing companies and creating jobs on one relatively small peninsula. The Valley has been a unique place for […]
November 29 2011
The Innovation to Enterprise organization in Oklahoma, headed by Tom Walker, has a new Entrepreneur-in-Residence program to bring national expertise on building and financing new ventures to Oklahoma entrepreneurs. Here is a recent blog from the Oklahoman on this program: Entrepreneurship 2.0 — Bringing ‘Best Practices’ to Oklahoma
June 17 2011
One way to categorize startups is as lifestyle businesses versus growth businesses. Don’t jump to the wrong conclusion. Both are great for the US economy! Lifestyle Companies (build to keep) Lifestyle companies are usually owned and operated by an entrepreneur and his or her family, or a small group of partners. They tend to grow […]
June 11 2011
Q: What is the No. 1 milestone that new entrepreneurs must accomplish to become successful? A: Though no single issue is paramount, acquiring enough cash and utilizing that cash to achieve positive cash flow from revenues is a metric that we investors watch carefully. Read more: http://newsok.com/oklahoma-businesses-have-potential-for-raising-capital-for-startups-i2e-entrepreneur-in-residence-says/article/3575801#ixzz1Oyz1mGfC
June 7 2011
According to J. Sohl, the Center for Venture Research, about 20,000 seed/startup stage entrepreneurs are successful in raising money from angel investors each year in the US. An additional 30,000 later-stage entrepreneurs raise angel money annually, many of whom raised seed/startup capital from angels earlier. Angels seem to be making more follow-on investments in portfolio […]
May 2 2011
A week or so ago, I posted on a new workshop available for entrepreneurs in Montana – sponsored by Montana State Workforce Investment Board and the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (see Financing Startups – A New Workshop for Entrepreneurs). Here is some additional information on this workshop: Kathy McLane from Glendive participated via two-way […]
April 22 2011
For the past few months, Liz Marchi and I have been developing a new ½-day workshop for entrepreneurs: Financing a High-Impact Venture (in Montana). This new seminar was beta tested in Kalispell at Flathead Valley Community College yesterday morning for 22 enthusiastic participants. Topics covered included capital sources for entrepreneurs, debt versus equity, exits, business […]
April 11 2011
I just returned from the 2011 Angel Capital Association Summit in Boston, April 4-6, 2011. It was attended by over 500 angels and associates, including about 60 international angel leaders. It was an excellent meeting – the best yet of the half-dozen or so US ACA angel Summits to date. On Wednesday afternoon, I was […]
April 9 2011
The Flathead Beacon recently published an extensive discussion of startup boards of directors as my March column.