My American Dream

There is an ancient African adage that states “If you wish to move mountains tomorrow, you must start by lifting stones today”. As a first generation immigrant to the United States and reminiscent of countless other immigrants who have come before me, moving to a new country literally means starting your life all over again from scratch, but symbolically it signifies a rebirth of oneself and a chance to metamorphose into whatever new creature you aspire to be. Some of the challenges I faced included culture shock, language barriers, financial barriers, but the utmost significant one was the education barrier. I quickly realized that if I could bridge the education gap I would be able to overcome all the other barriers. For myself, having an education epitomized my assimilation into my new life by enabling me to chase my dreams and realize my unique American dream.

Historically, venture capital firms and angel investors played a paramount role in the early stage financing for startups. However, crowdfund investing has become increasingly popular for many reasons to be explored later in the paper. With increased competition in the capital raising field, the startup environment is changing so radically that one of the most recognized venture capitalists, Fred Wilson, suggested that “venture capital could be swept away altogether by a flood of crowdfunding money” (Kantar, 2014). According to Fred Wilson, he estimates that over time, Americans will eventually invest 1% of their assets through crowdfunding, equating to around $300 billion (Caldbeck, 2014). This amount 10 times greater than the $30 billion that VC funds have deployed per year, on average. (Caldbeck, 2014). The question begs: will crowdfunding crowd out venture

Mankind has thrived off of the dependability of ideas and the application of them for centuries. Moreover, humans have sustained healthy lives through developments and inventions that have improved the world around them. From the earliest Mesopotamian creation of the wheel to Apple’s recent release of the iPhone 7, groundbreaking revelations have perpetuated and molded human survival in some aspect. Anyone can generate an idea, but rather, it is the ability to transform that idea into a development that is valued by many--which is what makes being an entrepreneur remarkable. Entrepreneurs are some of the keenest, most creative, and passionate people that walk the earth.

Venture capitalists who cared for the computer industry right when it was starting were well know because of their risk taking and for their hands-on operating experience, but things are different in today’s age. Today's venture capitalists are more cautious and timid than the VC risk takers in the past. These not so timid venture capitalists have created a new niche in the capital markets. They are the foundation for meeting the needs of investors looking for high returns,

Has the message of dreaming big been overly exaggerated; that living life without limits sets us on a path of corruption and destruction? Are we to believe that the self-interests lies in the hands of the greed and power -hungry young Americans? The desire for more gives the illusion that obtaining happiness and fulfilment leads to immediate gratification. In the article “ One Startup’s Struggle To Survive Silicon Valley’s Gold Rush,” Gideon Lewis-Kraus reveals that among the most successful startup companies, struggling startup companies in particular worry not only about survival but the conflicting problems of funding and investing. If we can diminish the lust for greed and despite our own self-interests, we might be able to find that

“A good teacher can inspire hope, ignite the imagination, and instill a love of learning.” Brad Henry, the former governor of Oklahoma, said this. Every student reminiscences the teacher that made learning gratifying; however, students also remember the teacher that made them realize the displeasure of learning because of having different views than the teacher. In this this essay, I will tell about the teacher that impacted my education for the better; therefore, the teacher that I chose is Mr. James Pfaffly.

Walnut Venture Associates is a small group of angel investors with backgrounds in the software industry. RBS is a small software company that makes billing and enterprise management software specifically targeted at other software companies. RBS and Walnut are deciding whether Walnut should invest in RBS, and then if they are willing, whether RBS finds the terms of the deal satisfactory. This case memo illustrates that the venture capitalists are looking for good managers in a particular industry, while entrepreneurs typically think funding is dependent on having a good idea. It also discusses why or why not RBS and Walnut might be a good fit for each other.

Since the economic crisis of 2008 and the collapse of financial institutions, entrepreneurs are clamoring for alternative financing choices and investors yearn for investment options with the potential for greater returns. With this in mind, the President and Congress enacted the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act of 2012 to grow entrepreneurship and provide investors with opportunities to fund private companies in exchange for equity. The partners at Group Capital, a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) registered broker-dealer, lamented that the options available for innovation are minimal until they discovered equity

Many ecosystem have a less than stellar track record when it comes to growing new businesses. They attempt to remove the barriers that act as a headwind that might prevent entrepreneurs from advancing their ideas. They invest in incubators, provide access to prototyping tools through maker spaces, and even award seed money to promising ideas.

In 2003, the Rise Initiative on Social Entrepreneurship (RISE) completed a comprehensive study on the venture capital market for social funding. The researchers sought answers to two main questions:

Since 2009, the renowned reality show, Shark Tank, has been giving small business entrepreneurs hope – allowing them to achieve dreams which previously appeared impossible. In this television show, five multi-millionaire and billionaire investors, known as “sharks”, invest their time and money into small businesses which they believe will succeed with their expertise. Each entrepreneur who enters the “Shark Tank” must attempt to convince these “sharks” that their business is worth their investment. If the entrepreneurs succeed, the “sharks” may battle between each other so that they can partake in this business. However, not every entrepreneur receives an offer. Only those with the greatest ideas and business plans receive investment offers from the “sharks”.

Historically venture capital represented a small portion of alternative assets, which in turn represented a small, but sizeable, portion of the global financial asset base. (INSERT CITATION). Prior to the semiconductor boom in the 1960s, venture capital was closer to what today is described as angel investing. During this period, the majority of new venture financing originated from individual investors, and often financed by the entrepreneur or his or her family and acquaintances. (INSERT CITATION).

One of the biggest challenges of many start-up companies is funding, more specifically the seed capital. Countless number of great ideas have been abandoned simply because the entrepreneurs were unable to obtain their seed money to kick off their project. With this new phenomenon of crowdfunding, brilliant ideas now have a platform to attain the necessary funding for them to be launched to the public. Kickstarter, one of the largest crowdfunding sites, currently covers US$237 million in funding pledges to over 40,000 projects (Mollick, 2014). This figure is only expected to rise in the coming years. However, this is not merely a one-time success; there has also been proof of the sustainable success of crowdfunding. Out of the fifty highest funded projects through 2013 on Kickstarter, 45 have turned into ongoing entrepreneurial firms (Mollick, 2014). New businesses now can have more alternatives other than the traditional sources of venture investment and financing.

One of the first options an entrepreneur should investigate is venture capitalism or venture capitalists (VC) as a means to fund the project of their dreams. Steier & Greenwood (1995) expressed that " Venture capitalists represent an outside source of finance that generally takes an active interest in managing the firm. Two common practices within the venture capital industry are co-investing and staged financing." These two approaches dictate what routes are available for the one seeking the much needed help in starting the business.

Venture Capital has been used as a tool for economic development among developing countries in relation to financial markets that struggle both financially and developmentally. In many countries, venture capital is known to play a role in facilitating access for choosing firms that may be at risk for standard capital markets. The people chosen in the investment firms are referred to as a Venture Capitalist. In the last 25 years, venture capitalists often have replaced the individual and corporation as the catalyst for innovation and technological change. The background of venture capitalists has risen from corporate, financial or consulting backgrounds with various titles in firms that each play significant roles in the development of a company. With positions similar to investors and the interest of successful ventures, these capitalist provides experience in dealing with situations, extensive contacts, cross selling, supervision, management skills, and enhancement value of the company. Formed primarily by a group of investors, their initial responsibility is to provide suitable financing to small and early stage firms which are new in the industry and who are not able to generate finances from any other available sources. These venture capitalists increase start-up or expansion capital, and provide advisory services during the term of their investment.