VC and angel investments are very difficult to get. You can spend months perfecting your pitch and never find an interested investor. Less than one percent of businesses receive this kind of funding. As our pie chart shows, private investment capital only represents about 4% of the total capital that is available for investment. The [...]
Greg Steltenpohl, the founder of Odwalla, spoke to a rapt audience at the recent Social Venture Network spring conference in San Diego. Here are some excerpts from his talk: The riskiest thing I ever did was bring an investment banker in to invest in the company. Us entrepreneurs don’t think nearly enough about the decision [...]
In California it is possible to do a private securities offering without a great deal of regulatory compliance work. This offering under Section 25102(f) of the California Securities Code is sometimes called a “friends and family” offering. Using this exemption from the general requirement that securities offerings must be registered, you can sell securities to [...]
When the predatory and irresponsible practices of mortgage lenders like Countrywide caused a financial meltdown, who did the Countrywide CEO blame? In April 2007, Angelo Mozilo, Countrywide’s CEO, in a speech at the Millken Institute, blamed the Greenlining Institute, a nonprofit organization that had been advocating for more lending to minorities. Mozilo stated that Greenlining’s [...]
Check out CEC President John Katovich‘s provocative Triple Pundit article on the choices social enterprises make when choosing a law firm. Do we apply the same standards as when we’re buying a shirt, a car, or a head of lettuce? We want to hear your feedback – how do you decide where your legal fees will sleep? [...]
CONTENT Direct Public Offerings Community Investment Funds Direct Private Offerings Consulting Projects IndieGogo Partner Page Partnerships DPO Software Testimonials To Our Supporters and Potential Investors… It’s been almost nine months since we started our own Direct Public Offering, and thanks to those who believe in us and support our mission to transform the capital [...]
So, say you own a startup company that’s trying to raise seed funding to create the next great software platform for social change, such as Kiva or Echoing Green. You’ve exhausted all your personal finances, maxed out your credit cards. You’ve already taken on some investment capital from family and friends—now it’s time to really scale and hire [...]
A coop incubator is an organization set up to help coops form. Most coop incubators are nonprofit 501(c)(3)s or they are coops themselves. How can a 501(c)(3) justify setting up coop businesses as a charitable/educational activity? Generally speaking, an organization that provides business services to disadvantaged populations qualifies for 501(c)(3) status. So if a nonprofit [...]
This is common question and the answer is – it can vary quite a bit! There are three stages of a DPO: preparation compliance filing selling the investment opportunity Preparation The preparation to do a DPO can take as little as a few days or several months. This process involves ensuring that the entity that [...]
I recently listened to the TedX talk by Chinwe Onyeagoro of Fundwell called “I’m an Inefficient Market Entrepreneur.” The talk provided good insight into the small business financing market and its many inefficiencies. Ms. Onyeagoro provided some very interesting information about small business financing: 7 out of 10 small businesses are rejected for loans businesses with revenues [...]
