Venture & Angel Capital

SEC Letters Give Nod of Approval to Online Venture Capital

By Anita Campbell - Apr 4, 2013 - 2 Comments

Getting angel investment or venture capital has always been tough for entrepreneurs. One reason is that it's simply hard to find investors willing to plunk down money on your company, unless they are family or friends. The options are especially limited for startups based outside … Read More

5 Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Take in Investors

By Randy Gage - Feb 22, 2013 - 6 Comments

So I was brainstorming with a couple of my partners for a start up venture we’re about to launch. They seemed genuinely shocked when I said I didn’t want to take in any investors. I know the trendy thing today is creating a pitch that attracts VC firms. But as a rule, I usually don't want … Read More

Dell Announces Innovators Credit Fund for Startups

By Susan Payton - Jun 7, 2012 - 2 Comments

Dell has launched an Innovators Credit Fund, a $100 million financing initiative that provides entrepreneurs with the financial and scalable technology resources to get to market and innovate. Through Dell Financial Services, eligible startups who have already been backed by angel investors or … Read More

Why Corporate Venture Capital Deals Are Small

By Scott Shane - Jun 4, 2012 - 4 Comments

Price Waterhouse Coopers and National Venture Capital Association recently released the MoneyTree Report on Corporate Venture Capital. Data from the report show that the average independent venture capital investment was $8.3 million last year, while the average corporate venture capitalist deal … Read More

Job Creation by Angel Backed Companies Collapsed in 2011

By Scott Shane - Apr 9, 2012 - 3 Comments

That should have been the headline of the recent report on the angel capital market put out by the Center for Venture Research (CVR) at the University of New Hampshire. The CVR tells us that angel investments created 165,600 new jobs in 2011; but last year it said that angel investments produced … Read More

Pay-to-Play Becoming Less Common in Venture Capital

By Scott Shane - Jan 23, 2012 - 2 Comments

To motivate investors to reinvest in additional rounds of financing at start-up companies, venture capital deals often include “pay-to-play” provisions. Under these provisions, investors that don’t reinvest have their preferred stock converted to common stock or otherwise made less … Read More

A Bed Time Story Venture Capitalists Tell Their Children

By Scott Shane - Jan 16, 2012 - 3 Comments

Once upon a time, back in the days of yore, when entrepreneurs went by names like “Jeff Bezos”, Internet retailers were the investment rage, and Harvard still printed a face book of its students on paper, there was a ritual that many venture capital backed participated in. It was called the … Read More

Finally, Some Good News for Women Entrepreneurs in Latest Angel Capital Study

By Rieva Lesonsky - Nov 2, 2011 - 5 Comments

Women entrepreneurs are making progress in obtaining investment capital; minority entrepreneurs still have a ways to go; and the overall angel investment news is cautiously optimistic. So says Q1 Q2 2011 Angel Market Trends, the latest report on angel investing from the Center for Venture Research … Read More

Venture Capital Suffering from Low IPO Yield

By Scott Shane - Oct 3, 2011 - 3 Comments

If there's one statistic that typifies the problems that the venture capital industry has faced in recent years it is IPO yield - the number of initial public offerings divided by the number of companies financed five years earlier. This figure captures the industry average share of portfolio … Read More

Venture Capital: No Longer a Business of Small Investments in Early Stage Companies

By Scott Shane - Aug 15, 2011 - 5 Comments

Venture capital is very different today than it was in the 1980's when the industry experienced a wave of growth in response to changes in tax and pension laws. Back in the days when Apple Computer and Genentech were young start-ups, venture capitalists made smaller investments in earlier stage … Read More

Chart: What’s Happening with Angel Investing

By Scott Shane - Aug 8, 2011 - 3 Comments

Last year, the dollar value of angel investments increased 11.7 percent from a recent low of $18 billion (measured in 2010 dollars) the year before, according to analysis by University of New Hampshire’s Center for Venture Research (CVR). While this increase marks the first rise in angel dollars … Read More

Small Business Financing Might Get Easier If SEC Eases Crowdfunding Regulations

By Rieva Lesonsky - Apr 27, 2011 - 4 Comments

Social media has made it cheaper and easier for small business owners to market their companies. Now, social media companies might be making it easier for small businesses to raise capital, too. Back in January, I posted on Small Business Trends about the rise of crowdfunding as a possible … Read More