investor

Like this article? PLEASE +1 it!

investor Tagged Articles

Why Every Business Big or Small Should Take Advantage of Shareholder Agreements.
One of the worst things that can happen to a company is to have a minority shareholder who is unhappy with how the company is being run and no way to force him to sell his shares back to the company at a fair price. This situation can foster a devastating lawsuit by an unhappy investor.

Cash flow forecast software

Cash flow forecast software the bear essentials. In preparing a good cash flow forecast for a bank or and investor you need to know what the forecasts should include. I have therefore put together a list of what you should include, as follows: - The cash flow projection should realistically be for a period of not less than 36 months ahead. And for each of the three years these should be presented on a month-by-month basis. - The forecasts should distinguish between the business cash flow and the business profit and loss figures. Cash flow of a business relates to the timing money is received by the company and paid out of the company and would include VAT in the UK and Europe and Sales Tax in America.

Investing in Gold
There are many ways that an investor can invest in gold. The popular method is buying gold bullion where you can have a direct and measurable exposure. This will come at a premium, but you have a commodity which can be traded globally.

A New Opportunity for Business Growth
If your company has a potential investor, what would you need to quickly put in place to ride on the waves of the new opportunity for business growth?

Wikipedia for Patents

John Funk, an entrepreneur (I’m an investor in John’s newest company – Evergreen IP) and friend has a innovative proposal up concerning changing the rules on the current patent system. I’ve been on both sides of the patent aisle with John – we like to joke that early on in our relationship John’s company sued one of my companies (and then my company sued John’s company back) for patent infringement (the companies settled several years later for a cross license and $1 – much to the delight of the lawyers who got all the bucks.) Fortunately we got past all that crap and have developed a nice friendship.

Do Your Investors Use Your Product?
Brad Spirrison has a nice article in the Chicago Sun-Times titled Feedburner’s investors have its technology at their fingertips. Among other things, he highlights that three of the FeedBurner investors – me, Fred Wilson at Union Square Ventures, and Matt McCall at Portage Ventures are active bloggers that use FeedBurner’s services regularly.

Managing Emotions Under Pressure

I got the following note the other day from a friend: After reading your latest post on Board Room Rules, I started thinking about the pressures that entrepreneurs experience starting, growing and managing start-up companies (whether it's their first company or their fifth.) So I wonder if you as an investor/board member/partner/cheerleader have ever had to counsel your entrepreneurs on this topic and if so what advice did you dispense?

I'll Never Do An Investment In That Kind of Thing Again
Every great investor has made some investments that he wishes he’d never made. Occasionally he’ll make another one like it. And another one like it. Eventually you learn. Or maybe you don’t.

Getting Value From Experimental Technology

David Cohen (who I have done a few angel deals with – including ClickCaster and Solidware) recently spent a couple of weeks building a cool new tool called earFeeder. earFeeder scans your music collection and automatically creates a single RSS newsfeed containing news about your favorite artists including new releases on iTunes, concert dates and ticket availability, Rolling Stone articles, etc.

As Usual Im Nobodys Market

After a brief email exchange today from an extremely smart and capable friend suggesting a potential feature for my blog, his response was “As usual, I’m nobody’s market.” He provided a humorous followup to the comment “that’s a great blog title” from one of the people on the email thread with “Ah, if only I didn't have to suck up to the world, that would be a great title for my contrarian-curmudgeon blog.”

Talking to Directors
On Saturday, I called a director at a company I’m on the board of to get a reality check on something that is going on. Ten minutes on the phone solved three things: (1) I was able to road test my idea with someone I respect and (2) I incorporated his feedback into my idea, and (3) we were calibrated.

Failure Comes From Not Following Your Additive Rules
The cliche “rules were meant to be broken” is a common one in the world of entrepreneurship. Paul Berberian – a great entrepreneur (and dear friend) almost died yesterday when flying his airplane because he broke three of his rules of flying in a row. Paul got lucky and I very glad he’s alive.

Lighten Up / Tighten Up
As I was writing my previous post about The Constipation of Scale I got an email from a co-investor talking about a CEO / CTO conflict. It had an interesting phrase in it that I realized applies to many CEO / CTO relationships – “CEO needs to lighten up and CTO needs to tighten up.”

Hey, What if the Founder Gets Hit By a Bus? Nada
One of the questions investors in early-stage companies -- both private and public -- often ask is this: What if the founder gets hit by a bus? It is, of course, an investor's way of saying, "How much of this company's continuing success requires this man/women at the helm?"

Bernie Madoff -- A Cynic's Take: Frauds within Frauds
Over the weekend as a host of reasonably intelligent people and organizations 'fessed up to having been weakened by Bernie, a colleague of mine posited the following plausible take on the Madoff fraud:

Be the CEO of Your Job
Sometimes a person says one sentence that just sticks with you and is so perfect that it defines a whole category of behavior. Mark Pincus, the CEO of Zynga, riffed on the phrase “be the CEO of your job” in a board meeting a year or so ago. It stuck with me and I’ve thought about it many times since.

Don’t Be A Twammer
I hate spam. Over the years I’ve been an investor in a number of companies that address the spam problem, including Postini and Return Path. I’ve also been involved in lots of other companies in the email ecosystem and spam has always been something I’ve paid close attention to.

THE INVESTOR AS FRANCHISEE
THE INVESTOR AS FRANCHISEE

Raise the $takes for Success
3 steps to funding your dream business

Start Your Dream Business
If you’ve been dreaming of starting your own business, and are ready to put your plan into action, then we’ve got advice for you. Read on for the first steps any would-be entrepreneur needs to take in order to launch his or her own business.

Surviving Tight Credit Creative Financing
For the Investor/ Lender, determining the suitability of a projects is still a work in progress. The Borrower needs to provide a presentation of information easy to follow. Starting with a strong executive summary. The KISS formula still works miracles.

Steps to Prepare Your Mobile Home Park for a Recession
You probably already realize that we are heading into economic troubl. Well, if you're a mobile home park owner or investor, then it is worth your while to make preparations to survive and prosper during this cycle. It's important to remember that it takes time to make adjustments in your business plan, so you should start making these changes immediately.

Conversations with Venture Capitalists about Start-ups and Funding
What attracts a investor to an entrepreneur? Here's a conversation with two venture capitalists about start-up funding and other issues.

The Top 5 Things I Learned From Robert Kiyosaki

The book ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’ by Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter was a revolutionary read and inspired me to move past fears that have stopped me from doing more with my life financially. Reading the book a second time, I really focused on the opposite of all I knew – and those were the ideas of his rich dad. This article covers the top 5 things that I have either gained a greater understanding of or learned more about from Robert Kiyosaki.

The Millionaire Next Door Summary
This is a condensed summary of the book "The Millionaire Next Door" by Stanley and Danko. It is a quick read for those who have forgotten it contents or want an idea of what the book is about.

What is Attraction Marketing?

Attraction marketing is a method of selling, but one that offers a more personalized approach in such a way as to build trust from the potential buyer, investor or business owner. Whereas in a traditional marketing method, sales agents are persistent and ever "selling" to the potential buyer, attraction marketing allows the buyer to come into the sale on their own. This method is most successful because people just do not like being sold to. You do not like to sell and prospects do not like to be sold to.

Equity Markets are a Farce!

What drives an investor to buy a stock? Is it the fundamentals? The technicals? A combination of the two? Well I’m not quite certain anymore. You can basically throw all of the textbook answers out the window when it comes to today’s equity markets. Why do I say that? Because I believe that the only thing that is driving this market is the notion that the government is going to bail out everyone and their brother.

Starting Your Company With Angels...Can I Trust Them?

There is one common question I get asked quite a lot from friends and people I meet that are thinking of starting a business here in Japan or aboard. And that question is - Can I trust an angel investor? For those of you that don't know what an angel investor is, they are basically a wealthy individual that wishes to invest directly with a company or individual with a business idea that he/she feels would be successful.

Writing a Compelling Executive Summary
Most guides to writing an executive summary miss the key point: The job of the executive summary is to sell, not to describe. Your goal is not to explain your business to the investor; your goal is to convey the essence of what makes your business exciting. If you accomplish that, the investor will not only want to find out more, he or she will want to help you be successful.

Getting Investors to Notice Your Business
Seeking private investment in your business but not getting noticed by investors, maybe you are not seeking the right introduction. Try something that works.

IS YOUR BUSINESS PUTTING YOUR ASSETS AT RISK? BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS: THE SOLE PROPRIETORSHIP

One of the first decisions a startup business owner makes is which organization form to choose. This is an important decision as it affects personal liability, income tax, and administrative costs. In this article, we discuss the sole proprietorship, arguably the easiest and most common form of business organization. The sole proprietorship has distinct advantages and disadvantages that should be understood before adopting this business form. If you are risk averse and don't want to lose your retirement savings, your cars, or your personal home, you need to read on.

The Insider's Guide to Penny Stocks, Part 2!
Despite all of the warnings, the appetite for penny stocks is greater than ever. Investors routinely see triple digit gains and think that even if they can capture even a portion of those returns they are ahead of the game. Sadly this rarely happens, as they become victims of a “pump and dump” scam. Here’s how it works.

Entrepreneurs – What Should Be In Your Business Plan?
You are setting up your business and know that you need a business plan but you have no idea what should be in it. Well here are a few ideas for you:

The 7 Ways to Save Your Retirement
Veteran Financial Planner gives you the steps to re-building you retirement portfolio and retirement dreams.

Customer Intimacy

Customer Intimacy is going beyond simply building a stronger relationship with your client base to seeking ways to build solid win-win relationships. It means finding COMPLETE solutions not partial ones, for your ideal clients. It means not reacting to every whim of the customer but becoming an indispensable partner. It means moving from a simple transactional mentality to an investor in the customer's success.

2 Steps to Trading the US Employment Report on Friday
Learn to trade the “recession proof” market – the Currency (Forex) Market! It’s one more way you can diversify your portfolio and also get into trades that are heading higher NOW and not months or years from now. There are two steps to take before you "go live" into this market.

Commercial Property: 10 things to do
Jones Commercial wants to help you be successful with your Commercial Real Estate experience so have put together 10 things to do.

More Common Missed Deductions
VETERAN FINANCIAL PLANNER GIVES YOU MORE COMMON MISSED TAX DEDUCTIONS.

7 Tactical Reasons To Use Mini Campaign Websites
How many websites should your company have? That's a question that comes up often in discussions with clients, but perhaps the idea never crossed your mind. Why would any company need more than one website? Not to be glib but the answer is as many as you need, but how many is that?

Money is Tip Toeing Back into the Emerging Markets
The tide is starting to change and I want to make sure my readers are aware. Last year, the yen literally beat the performance of 177 currencies. Wow!

Make a fortune buying under performing businesses.

The fundamental principle of investing is to buy low and sell high. Every investor seeks to achieve this principle, regardless of what they invest in. Whether you trade stocks, bonds, gold or real estate, everyone seeks to find the diamond in the ruff or “The Bargain”. If you’ve ever read my blogs, or spoken to me on the phone, you know that I look at business ownership as an investment, and just like all the other investments, there are “Bargains” here as well and you could make a fortune buying under performing businesses as long as you know what to look for.

Gold Will Shine Once Again in 2009! (Part 2)
Learn more reasons why gold is going to rise in 2009.

Venture Capitalists – What Makes Them Tick?
Are you in the process of launching a business and having a major problems when it comes to financing. The difficulty is that even with a great idea and a great team of people, venture capital companies are hesitant to put any money into a company that is not already making millions. What can you do?

Make Big Money The Real Story
This article address a question posed to me by one of my candidates - Hi Rick....quick question.....in talking with a friend this weekend......wondering: is there an opportunity to earn a six figure income with a franchise that is strictly home office-based?...all communication done by phone, email, fax, UPS etc.......

SWOT Analysis Is No Magic 8 Ball

Q: A key investor in my business has suggested that I hire a consultant to do a SWOT Analysis to help plan for the future. I try not to argue with my investors, but I'm not so sure I need to have this done. What do you think? -- Laurie B. A: Laurie, before you call in the SWOT team to deal with this investor (sorry, couldn't resist that one), let me tell you exactly what a SWOT Analysis is and how it can not only help you plan for

Do You Have What It Taks To Be An Entrepreneur
There are a variety of skills you'll need to succeed as an entrepreneur and chances are do not possess them all. One of the great things about being an entrepreneur is that if you lack certain skills you can always hire people with those skills to help round out your company skill set.

Rule 6 Do Something Thats Totally Outrageous
This is Rule #6 in a series of articles on "21 ways to Increase the Power and Profit of Your Advertising Without Spending an Extra Cent," by Brad Sugars.

The Do's and Don'ts of getting finance for your business
Let’s face it, if you want finance for your business, times are hard out there at the moment. Banks and other lenders are a lot more cautious about who they’re going to lend to…at the end of the day they want to be paid back! So bearing that in mind, here are my top do’s and don’ts for getting finance for your business.

Selling Your Business Plan: Tips for Hitting the Homerun

Now that you have written your business plan, what next? You have to sell it! Yes as a business owner with the next best idea, you have just become a sales person. You may have thought, “But I’m the thought leader and must develop the product/services for the market. I just want the lender or investor to give me the money I need to get to market.” This isn't enough. Your business plan must be a persuasive document that catches the lender's eyes and thoughts in the first 30 seconds. The first couple of sentences must grab his attention and beg him to read further. You must get the lender to say "Ah ha!"

Let’s Talk About Flooring
While tile of all sorts is often attractive and wears like iron, for real estate investment purposes, is too costly and cannot be completed in one day. It often involves 1 or 2 return trips. From both a labor and material standpoint, tile is prohibitive and (in most cases) I don’t recommend it for the investor.

The Real Road to Wealth in Real Estate
The following two strategies can be employed during the present market, which will hone your real estate investing skills as well as enable the savvy, alert investor to save for the next up market in the future. You can either fix & flip properties or wholesale properties for an even quicker, lower risk proposition.

ATTRACTING INVESTORS: A Compelling Executive Summary in 10 Items or Less

Attracting an investor is like attracting a mate—you want to pique the investor’s interest without showing all your cards at the outset. The perfect vehicle for achieving this delicate balance is the Executive Summary. The goal of an Executive Summary is to whet the appetite of the investor by presenting a compelling premise, an irresistible hook. Your short (5 pages or less) document is meant to give a potential investor every reason to say “yes” and little reason to say “no” to a face-to-face meeting.

Financing: ABC's of Approaching the Bank
Got the perfect idea and now all you need is money, but how do you approach the bank or potential investor you ask? Simple! Follow the simple ABC's of this article and you're ready to walk in and secure the financing you need!

Venture Capital - Preparing The Plan

Make it so that your mother or grandmother can understand it. Entrepreneurs too often fill their business plans with of acronyms, tech terms, and buzz words. Intermediaries can usually tell after the first paragraph how difficult it will be to raise capital for your business. Condense what you do and what you want into a statement that you can make very promptly in seconds or minutes. If you cannot communicate quickly, you will lose the investor’s interest.

How To Valuate Your Business
The venture capitalists will usually look at your projected, or pro forma, earnings 3 to 5 years from the point of their investment. From there they will deduct a 30% annual return that they expect to receive and will subtract a further percentage for the fact that you are a private and therefore non liquid company. This is known as the pre-money valuation.

Perfecting Your Pitch: Winning the Hearts and Minds of Investors
The keys to increasing your effectiveness with prospective investors. This article provides a detailed overview of the components of a winning presentation, and it provides tips on what to do, and what not to do, if you want to persuade investors to finance your company.

Great Example of Blogging Changes to Your Product
I'm a small investor in Shelfari. I read a ton and thought it would be fun to play along with them at home and both a user and an investor. About a month ago I started noticing increasing chatter about Shelfari spam during the invite process in my RSS search feeds on "Shelfari." I regularly passed them on to Josh Hug, the CEO of Shelfari.

The VC Version of Kick the Can
I got an email this morning from an entrepreneur that I know that has been trying to raise an early round from a "seed VC investor" for the past few months. He's put together (and closed) a decent angel round and left it open for this seed investor.

Entrepreneur? - What the Heck is that?
According to most dictionaries, an entrepreneur is a business person who willingly takes a new idea, concept or enterprise. He or She will take on the full responsibility for the outcome. They provide more then capital. Just providing capital would make them an investor, not an entrepreneur. An investor usually will let someone else handle all the day to day business activities.

Defining “Hard Money”
Even though the rates can be high, hard money can be quite useful when an investor has an opportunity to buy a property for a low price and sell it for a profit. Simply put, hard money even with its drawbacks can be a great tool in providing the capital necessary to facilitate a Real Estate Investor.

investor Tagged Articles

Other investor Related Articles