Marcus Venture Consulting: Entrepreneurs

One of the biggest challenges for any company is understanding the 'ins and outs' of raising money for a venture -- having a firm grasp of all aspects of the process including being aware of the financing landscape, knowing which options are available and appropriate for your venture, understanding how best to access and approach the funders, and how best to present the company to different potential investors, and having insight as to how best to negotiate and close the deal to the satisfaction of all parties.

Marcus Venture Consulting works closely with companies to develop comprehensive investment and funding strategies to secure good and smart money, ensuring that they understand the venturing opportunities, from angels, venture funds through corporate venturing, helping to match the venturing needs against the opportunities, and helping organizations to reach out and attract funding opportunities effectively.

A couple of key thoughts on seeking funds and funding options:

Round Hole, Square Peg: building a business plan that you think the financier wants to see...

One of the most common mistakes young businesses make is building a plan that they think will make a particular venture capitalist fund them. It is also one of the fastest ways to become frustrated and disenchanted with bringing your business to fruition. Build a plan that will make a good business and it will get funded by the right funder -- in the end the extra work to find the right match will pay off...

Understanding the 'ins and outs' of corporate venturing

Entrepreneurial ventures seeking financing from corporate venturing arms need to be armed with the foreknowledge of what the positives and negatives are in working with this type of investor.

To walk in thinking that these relationships, or any venturing relationship for that matter, is a panacea, has time and time again proven to be a great error. Entrepreneurs need to be prepared to work with funders who may potentially have a conflict of interest in the future should the venture expand their offering to compete more directly with the funders. Corporate venturing can present a problem if a year from now the recipient of these funds is courted for partnership or acquisition by the funding organisation’s competition. Also, the person responsible for corporate venturing may not be experienced in the ways of funding and may be surprised at the ups and downs that the venture takes and some of the choices the entrepreneur needs to make.

Another important thing to note is that recent months have shed light on a new challenge. Corporate entities that may have gone into corporate venturing but then became victims of the market and have had to pull their venture funding and acquisition activities. A number of small firms have fallen through the cracks as they depended upon promised funds that did not materialize once companies reassessed their funds.

On the other hand, the positives can be very exciting and helpful: the investee gains a knowledgeable business partner, gains access to useful resources and a network of people directly related to their venture, is provided with something of a sheltering port which may prove useful during stormy weather, or even better has a large powerful partner/advocate by his or her side so it appears more reliable to potential partners or more threatening to competition, and there is a natural route for acquisition if both companies are inclined.

The most important thing is to go into this, and any other venturing relationship, understanding fully the risks and opportunities and with a complete understanding of the priorities and needs of your own organisation and of the organisation from whom you are taking the money.

To contact Marcus Venture Consulting email us at information@marcusventures.com

Also, we welcome your comments, suggestions and queries about entrepreneurs seeking venture financing...