Matthew Lesko of http://lesko.com/leskofreeradio interviews Vladlena Taraskina of http://rusini.org/, to talk about a wonderful Russian crowd funding site th…
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Denver, CO (PRWEB) June 20, 2013
The Guppy Tank, an event based capital provider and a kinder, gentler, non-televised version of the ABC television show “The Shark Tank,” is offering $ 500,000 to innovative Colorado businesses. Up to 10 enterprising business owners could receive equity investment funds, loans or a combination of both during a one-day funding event September 12 at Galvanize, a co-working space for local entrepreneurs in Denver.
Business owners seeking funds through The Guppy Tank must operate a for-profit organization that has been engaged in their current business activity for at least one year. Candidates have until September 8, 2013 to submit an online application to participate in the program, which requires participants to pitch the viability of their business concepts to a panel of investors and lenders. The Guppy Tank and its sponsors, including – Southern California lender Super G Funding, LLC – will make investments from $ 25,000 to $ 500,000 per business.
“We’re excited about bringing The Guppy Tank to Denver and the potential of helping the local economy by providing small businesses with the capital they need to grow and reach their full potential,” said The Guppy Tank Founder Darrin Ginsberg.
The Guppy Tank held its first funding event in October 2012 in Newport Beach and provided over $ 600,000 in funding to three local Southern California companies. A second event was held in April 2013 in Santa Monica, California, with several fundings in progress from that event.
To qualify for funds, local entrepreneurs will need to effectively identify the challenges they face, explain what makes their businesses unique, how they would utilize the funds, and how their team is poised for success. At the end of the application period, the Guppy investors will review the applications and select potential candidates to appear before the Guppy panel.
The Guppy Tank will attempt to fund at least two, and up to 10 businesses at this event. Investments are negotiated shortly after the candidates make their presentation at the event. In addition to the funding, each of the recipients will be given the opportunity to work with the Guppy investors to gain insight on how they might best grow their businesses.
“As investors, we’re always looking for exciting new businesses and this process exposes us to companies we may not learn about through traditional funding channels,” added Ginsberg. “For the participants, The Guppy Tank provides a unique way to gain capital, while also offering them the chance to gain solid feedback on their business plans and presentations.”
For more information or to apply for The Guppy Tank, visit http://www.theguppytank.com.
If you would like an opportunity to become an entrepreneur, contact Jo Johnson below by texting “Become An Entrepreneur Today” to the number then click the l…
Third grade entrepreneurs at BCES
Each student was assigned a role in the business including budget manager, advertising/marketing manager and project or resource manager. The students are using Edmodo, an education type of social networking, to communicate and share their ideas …
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How to Improve Your Current Advertising Strategy
… the advertising business is in trouble worldwide. Agencies are becoming heavily dependent on their campaigns being led by metric this is zapping the creativity from today's campaigns and fewer ads produce the desired result. Thus, new ideas are needed.
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Birmingham, MI (PRWEB) December 06, 2013
StartupNation.com, a leading online resource for entrepreneurs, has announced the re-launch of a new radio show for entrepreneurs and small business owners on greater Detroit’s WJR 760AM. Hosted by Jeff Sloan and Dan Glisky, the StartupNation radio show will premiere on Saturday, December 7 at 2-3pm EST and will focus on real-world startup and business growth advice.
The StartupNation radio show format will feature listener call-ins, along with interviews of successful business leaders. The inaugural show will feature an interview with Dan Gilbert, Founder and Chairman of Quicken Loans, the nation’s largest online home lender, and the majority owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Listeners can expect to hear action-oriented and inspirational guidance to help them start and grow a business of their own.
“The StartupNation radio show is about entrepreneurship and people achieving their dreams, by starting their own business. Many entrepreneurs have a business idea in their minds but are not sure how they can turn their idea into a real business,” states Sloan, co-founder and CEO of StartupNation. “Our radio show will demonstrate that entrepreneurial dreams can come true – and we’ll be giving entrepreneurs tangible tips, strategies and guidance to get them going in the right direction.”
In addition to spearheading many small businesses himself, Sloan also served as co-founder of the Michigan Venture Capital Association and Digital Detroit, both non-profit organizations promoting Michigan’s high tech and venture communities. Sloan was also a winner of a 2013 Small Business Influencer “Champion Award”. Glisky is President and COO of StartupNation and is a serial entrepreneur with experience in launching technology, media, import, distribution, security and marketing companies. Consistently leading award-winning growth companies, Glisky was named one of the top 100 emerging business leaders in greater Detroit.
StartupNation’s mission is to catalyze the launch of one million new businesses in the coming 10 years. The launch of the radio show is an important extension of the brand to reach additional would-be entrepreneurs as well as current business builders in pursuit of this mission. In addition to the broadcast on WJR 760AM, the show will be streamed on the StartupNation website at http://www.startupnation.com/radio.
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About StartupNation:
StartupNation has over 130,000 members, more than 3 million annual users, and over 200,000 pages of business advice, resources and networking opportunities for entrepreneurs. StartupNation was founded by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs, with the intention of providing a one-stop shop for entrepreneurial success, including articles, blogs, tools, coaching, forums, award-winning step-by-step advice, and more.
About the StartupNation’s Founders – The Sloan Brothers:
StartupNation co-founders and “chief startupologists,” Rich and Jeff Sloan, are two of the country’s leading small business experts. The Sloan brothers speak frequently at entrepreneurial forums and act as sources for top media venues nationwide. They are authors of StartupNation: Open for Business, published by Doubleday, and provide their insight online at StartupNation.com. The Sloan brothers are regularly quoted and featured in media such as The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Fortune Small Business, Entrepreneur Magazine, CNN, PBS, CNBC, MSNBC, FOX News and many others.
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On this episode of Startup Insider, we tackle the topic of what entrepreneurs should know about angel investing. Our panelists on this episode are: Don Golin…
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The ‘Damsels Den’ event is an afternoon of role reversal where “high net worth individuals” who invest in start-up companies, known as “angel” investors, ope…
Angels, or private investors, invest more money in more companies at an earlier stage than venture capitalists. They are the lifeblood for seed and start-up businesses. Why do they say no?
Angels Just Don’t Get It
Entrepreneurs who face rejection by angel investors often blame it on the angels: those investors cannot understand my wonderful technology, or the angels won’t bother to take the time to understand. Some of this is just a means to protect the entrepreneur’s tender ego, but it does point out how there can be critical gaps in communication: an entrepreneur thinks he’s doing a good job explaining the deal, but in fact he’s not getting through at all.
Angel Was The Wrong Audience
Angel investors invest smaller amounts of capital in earlier stage companies than venture capitalists do. They also take more of an interest in the day-to-day management of companies they invest in. Investors aren’t usually interested in investing in life style companies, ie., companies that provide a comfortable life style for the owner, but don’t have expansive growth opportunities. They want to see a company that can reach significant earnings in a short amount of time.
Lack of Preparation by Entrepreneur
Entrepreneurs are often guilty, in their eagerness to get started building their company, of seeking out angel investors before they are prepared to present their deal or carry on negotiations. Angel investors often have a great deal of business experience and can ask the kinds of probing, difficult questions that quickly puncture inflated projections or poorly thought out strategies.
ROI/Exit Strategy
Entrepreneurs emphasize bringing capital into the company; investors are quite reasonably interested in getting capital out of the company. Unless the entrepreneur can convince the investor that a lucrative exit is possible within a reasonable time frame, the deal is unlikely to get done.
Management Team
Angel investors invest in the management team of a company. Often there’s only the business plan, at best a prototype product, and no revenues. If the management team is weak or inexperienced, angels are reluctant to invest.
Deficiencies in the Presentation by Entrepreneurs
It is an unpleasant fact that entrepreneurs with good ideas can still miss out on obtaining funding because of poorly prepared business plans, executive summaries, and other presentation materials. A great business plan does not raise capital for a company (you need a great management team as well), but a poor plan sends a signal to investors that the founders may also be sloppy in the way they run the company.
The Concept or the Idea is Flawed
Some ideas have zero chance of getting funded, and that’s just the way it is.
Entrepreneur Was Not Able To “Sell” the Investment
Part of raising capital depends on simple sales skill, and if the founder of the company does not have that skill, he needs to develop it quickly or have someone with that skill assist him with the presentations to investors.
Subjective Factors
The decisions made by angel investors are not cut-and-dried based on analysis that leads to an easily obtained conclusion. Angels operate in an environment where the crystal ball can get extremely cloudy at times, and must rely on their instincts honed through many years of being on the firing line in their own companies.
How to Avoid Hearing ‘no’ from an Angel
1) Spend a lot of time discussing how the management team’s background will lead to growth and profitability for this venture
2) Do not skimp on the time and effort spent on developing and practicing the presentation to angels; Don’t ‘wing it’ with angels
3) Don’t assume everyone can pick up on technical jargon; keep the presentation in layman’s terms as much as possible
4) Test your business model out on experienced business people and obtain their feedback before seeking funding
5) Present alternative ways the investor can exit the deal, when and how.
Dee Power is the author of several nonfiction business books and a guide on how to write a business plan She writes on the topics of how to reduce credit card debt
Angel investment is a type of financial equity that is provided by Business Investors to budding businessmen in order to start a firm that operates on their dream idea. There are several people who have remarkable business ideas that are quite feasible if supplemented with appropriate funding and nurtured with the help of experienced industry personas. Erstwhile, the only options for the masses were taking loans from their families, friends, banks or moneylenders, as well as maxing out several credit cards. Then, venture capitalists arrived but they took up an active role in the management, which did not provide the entrepreneurs with the requisite freedom for Starting Small Business.
This led to the birth of Angel Investors, who were professionals with considerable wealth and extensive industry experience. As time passed, the investors combined to form angel networks, which pooled their resources and provided the requisite funds to individuals who had exceptional business ideas. They did not interfere with the working of the business, but offered valuable advice to the budding businessmen in order to allow them to grow on their own. As the networks comprised several people, the funds soon began to be distributed to individuals interested in establishing their business in diverse industries. For example, the same network can grant the financial help to a person who is Starting Small Business of manufacturing automobile components as well as to one looking to offer commercial cleaning services.
This type of investment option is gaining popularity all across the globe at a rapid pace among Angel Investors and budding businessmen, alike. The investors put amounts up to US$ 1 Million in the plans easily depending upon the soundness of the business plan and the expected rate of growth. Typically, an angel investment network looks to grant the capital, contacts and industry expertise to the entrepreneurs for a period of 3-5 years. After this period is over, the network looks to exit the business and take its share via mergers & acquisitions, strategic sales or IPOs. For an individual who is struggling to find the required amount of capital to start his business, such Business Investors are a godsend.
Usually, the angel networks grant these loans to individual who dream of Starting Small Business in the following fields:
Agriculture & food processing
Banking & financial services
Biotechnology, pharmaceutical & life sciences
Clean technology & water
Education
Healthcare
High-end BPO / KPO
Internet
IT products & services
Media, entertainment and mobile VAS
Retail
Telecom & embedded domains
Travel, tourism & hospitality
These are conventional lines of work that are considered safe by all business Investors, not just angel networks. But, upon the submission of the business plan, if the members find it to be feasible and fruitful, they also award the funds to entrepreneurs looking to make it big in peripheral industries.
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