I finally did it: I’ve moved my contact database over to the web. After extensive research of different CRM solutions (thanks BestVendor), we’re working with Salesforce.com. We also used Salesforce heavily at one of my prior companies, Circle of Experts. I’ve been a loyal Act user for my personal CRM system since 1996, and have...
[Continue Reading]More Cash for Entrepreneurs, Crowdfunding, and Indiegogo
As Steve Case has said, it’s ridiculous that anyone can gamble and be guaranteed to lose money, but there are strict regulations around who can invest in early-stage private companies and earn (in some cases) a 27% IRR on their capital. * The Entrepreneurs Access to Capital Act helps to redress this. It allows small...
[Continue Reading]The reality of Profitably raising money from angels and VCs in New York
Adam Neary wrote an unusually open post about his experience raising $1.1m for Profitably, a provider of small business analytics. (Disclosure: I’m a Mentor for Founder Institute. Adam was one of our star students from the first class in New York, when Profitably was just Adam, a Powerpoint, and a really amazing domain name. I...
[Continue Reading]Buying private companies on marketplaces of primary and secondary interests
Congratulations to the team at AxialMarket on raising $2m from First Round Capital and Windcrest Investments. I take this as a sign that they’re starting to gain traction among corporations and private equity funds, despite the fact they’re threatening the lunch of lower-tier business brokers and others who benefit from the currently highly inefficient, fragmented...
[Continue Reading]Raising Fund X: Trends in Private Equity Fundraising and Fund Evaluation
I enjoyed listening to a panel this morning sponsored by Broadgate Consultants on “Raising Fund “x”: Trends in Private Equity Fundraising and Fund Evaluation.” My rough notes follow: Panelists were: Dr. Oliver Gottschalg, Assistant Professor of Strategy and Business Policy, < ?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />HEC School of Management; Co-director, HEC-INSEAD Buyout Research...
[Continue Reading]Raising Capital with Online Networks
We just posted the draft of an article we’re working on about how to raise capital with online networks. We’re particularly interested in more success stories about institutional investors who have used online networks to raise capital successfully.We welcome feedback! Here’s the article: Raising Capital with Online Networks...
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