ForumsManaging Employees and HR

Thank you Mike for your post. I am one of the companies (small, very small, lol) that needs help. I am cautious to not trust anyone i talk to over the net. Mike i would like to contact you so i could get some more tips and information on what i can do. Im looking to raise capital but have not been successful at all. I have tried every route. Business Loans, V.C.'s Angel Investors with no luck.

I have a great Business Plan and a strong team behind me ot make sure what we want to do makes it. All of my contact info is in my profile and i would greatly appreciate any help you could give.

Thanks again Mike,

-Stacey

Stacey,

I'd be glad to speak with you but I wouldn't be able to raise capital for you given that I only focus on later stage, revenue/cash flow generating companies...but I'm always happy to give guidance whenever I can.

The truth of the matter is, if you're a start up and not in any of the spaces or sectors a VC fund typically invests in and moreover, if your company doesn't have any proprietary or disruptive technology including a "world class" management team, it will be extremely difficult to raise any monies from them. If a broker or consultant tells you otherwise, I'd be extremely suspicious because VC's rarely work with brokers/consultants or invest in unsolicited opportunities. VC fund managers tend to be very relationship oriented and get most of thier deals from people they have known in the industry for many many years, including founders they have backed previously, attorneys they have closed deals with, some of the larger investment banking firms like Goldman, Merrill, etc... as well as other VC funds. One way for someone like yourself to possibly get through the VC door would be to attend local VC or financing conferences or events. You can locate some of these conferences online by merely doing a search. Again, be sure the event and the VC's match your space/industry. You don't want to attend a biotech conference when you are a software developer.

Regarding lines of credit of any other form of bank/debt financing for a start up, it would be next to impossible (especially in this credit market) for a small start up to get any form of credit for their business if there is no revenue, cash flow and/or hard assets like receivables or real estate. If a broker or consultant tells you they can get you a line of credit or debt financing and your company has no meaningful sales, existing cash flow (not projected but existing and current) or hard assets such as receivables or real estate then you better RUN since they are not real... especially if they want to charge you something UPFRONT. A company at your stage would probably be better approaching other founders of larger companies or businesses that are complimentary to what you are offering and show them your biz plan. If they truly believe you have something of value then it's conceivable they'd probably want to invest.

Hope this helps you.

Mike