Getting Investors and Protecting Your Idea
Laws protect inventions with patents, creative works with copyright, and trade names with trademarks, however protecting an idea is a different matter. I don’t think you really can protect a business idea in any practical way. If it is a good idea it will be copied. That’s in the nature of business. Your only hope...
By Tim Berry
Securing Venture Capital Funding for Your Business
First I need to clarify: I use venture capital in the title of this post because so many people in the real world apply the phrase venture capital to any investment that isn’t friends and family, personal savings, or a business ally establishing a joint venture. Technically that’s the wrong phrase because venture capital is really...
By Tim Berry
Ask a VC
I’ve just added AskTheVC to my blogroll. It’s full of thoughtful answers to serious questions asked by entrepreneurs about details related to getting financed by a venture capitalist. If you are one of the Ready to Fly startups looking at VC deals, it’s a great resource. Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson have real VC experience...
By Tim Berry
140,000 Angel Investors
Angel investment is down slightly, according to a new study. I’ve always had trouble describing angel investors because they seem so hard to define. Somewhere between the high-end friends and family investment and the low-end venture capital you have the angel investors. They’re mostly individuals, but they frequently group into venture groups. Back in the...
By Tim Berry
Investor Reviews at TheFunded
I just finished the previous post on venture financing and it occurs to me that people working on potentially high-growth startups should be aware of www.thefunded.com. Membership is free. Join and you can search on venture capital firms by geographic area or funding level or keywords, get composite ratings on their dealings with other entrepreneurs, and...
By Tim Berry
Is There a Catch 22 of VC Funding?
According to Mike Glanz, of www.hireahelper.com, there’s a Catch 22 of venture capital financing: you can’t get venture capital (VC) money without a track record, but you can’t get a track record without getting VC money first. I don’t agree with his underlying point, but I like the way he puts it: I’m stuck. Not...
By Tim Berry
Wooing Angel Investors: Do’s and Don’ts
Simona Covel interviewed angel investor Knox Massey in today’s StartupJournal | Venture Capital column and produces a good practical list of what to do and what not to do when seeking angel investors. Research the investors Don’t expect to get funding right away Network Treat your initial interactions as the first step in a long-term...
By Tim Berry
Stirring VC Assumptions
Are the high-end venture capital firms changing the game for the elite start-ups they fund? Specifically, are they looking at much smaller investments? Last week I attended the Web 2.0 Expo session on venture capital that included David Hornik, who wrote afterwards: “I took part in a panel today called ‘Venture Capital 2.0: Bright Future...
By Tim Berry
