An excellent guide for first time entrepreneurs who think they need venture capital http://www.accel.com/work/resource1.php

What a Start-up is really like

Start with a lesson from the top VC in the Silicon Valley. John Doerr's Start-Up Manual. http://www.fastcompany.com/online/07/082doerr.html

Accel Partners gives you an in-depth presentation on building World Class companies http://www.accel.com/work/resource3.php

Read the best start-up book to date. Jerry Kaplan went through $75 million of VC's money and then went bust. Reads like fiction, but it's all true.
http://www.amazon.com

The Rewards. People that made it. Big.

Four millionaires from Oracle's early days share their views of success. http://www.fastcompany.com/online/09/oracle.html

Frequently Asked Questions

1.	Where would we start looking for Venture Funding? Because we develop Software, we have a had time with people seeing the "tangible" asset the software is.

2.

Hi Brent: Which venture capital firms are still interested in investing in telecommunications networks these days? This company (our client) is a start up with a plan to do infrastructure building, leasing and revenue sharing with carriers for wireless and broadband networks in remote areas. Thanks, Lorraine

3.

I am a recent SFU finance grad currently taking CFA II and I am interested in working for a venture capital firm. I was wondering if there are any VC associations in the Vancouver area that I could join? I read about the Angel forum but it appears to be a meeting place for entrepreneurs and venture capitalists already immersed in the industry. How can I get exposure to this fascinating area of finance? Thank you for your time.

4.	our company is looking for working capital to finch part's of our product that we are developing :

5.

I have a business plan that includes manufacturing of voice activation software. My business plan also includes the retail store aspect of this niche market. Should I separate the products we will manufacture, from the overall business plan so that financing for the manufacturing side would be easier to obtain? The software is for the special needs markets

6.

Is there a min amount that emerging companies can access thru venture capital. We are doing an analysis of a fictitious firm and have determined that thru grants etc. we only need $200,000 in external financing and are trying to decide whether to access venture capital, angel financing, sub-ordinated debt or LOC. We are students in an MBA program. Thanks for any help, Mike Cass

7.	Can you tell me where i would find a list of BC companies receiving Venture Capital Funding.

8.

i would like to try to riase some venture capital. we have a growing company manufacturing hockey equipment. we have a policy with edc and are set up with i-trade finace for our financing. we need an injection to grow more. we are currently exporting to japan and the U.S.. how can you help??? thasnks in advance, Gary Sande

9.	Hello; Our young company is in the process of attracting investors, and would like to know if you have a list of questions that we should be asking of them, or if you can direct us to existing info. Any suggestions that you have are very much appreciated. Thank you. Regards, Lynn

10.

Mr. Holliday; I have a quick question for you. Is there a formal route that individuals/a business must go through to start the stream of communication between entrepreneur and VC or venture partners? Should one just call up an office and ask to meet with someone or would it be better to send in an exec. summary and hope for someone to call the entrepreneur? Given VCs and capitalists are inundated with the number of business plans that come across their tables, how do you make it stand out as “the plan of plans?” Thank you in advance for any help, ideas, or suggestions. Chris Reid

11.	I'm looking for funding for an Internet based project. Angel Investment or seed capital looks like our best be right now. Do you know of any networks or programs(other than the VEF Angel Network) for linking up angel investors with entrepreneurs? Or do you know of any local seed capital funds?

12.

We have developed a idea, prepared a Business Plan, Executive Plan, Power Point Presentation and we also will have a working model of the actual site in a couple of weeks. We are now at the stage where we can actively seek investors. My question is how much can we expect an investor to take of the company, shares etc.. We are looking for first stage financing for $600.000 with the grand total being $5M.

13.	We have an excellent concept which we feel was made for the internet. We have an executive summary and a business plan and are ready for the next step, but no money or contacts. How do we go about getting someone like you interested or even getting a meeting setup, with the right people. Lorenzo

14.

In our discussions with Internet/ecommerce technology start-ups we have found that having a sound technology plan can add allot of credence to a business plan. Many organizations approach us a with very sound business models but their success will be almost entirely be based on their ability to translate that business model into a technology model. Not to mention, in most cases, the need to execute in a compressed time-frame in order to competitive in the .COM space. We are preparing a presentation on the subject of developing a sound technology plan and its benefits to the both the organization rasing capital and to the investor. Do you have any ideas as to the organizations that would be interested in this topic? I look forward to your input.

15.	Brent, I'm working on a research project and am looking to find out all the big venture capitalist in Vancouver who might invest in BC High Tech Company's. Is there some sort of magic list? Your help would be greatly appreciated, as soon as possible. Regards, Kelli Gayford

16.	I hold the Canadian franchise for a software product developed in the U.S. The U.S. company is looking for venture capital. Do these tNet services only apply to products or services developed in B.C.?

17.

Is a gypsy swap the shortest means to an end, or should we pursue venture capital to close the $150,000 acq of an e-mail bill/invoicing company. This being complicated of course, we further have a recognized IT professional to placate and comfort the V-Caps spoken to in Aug. I have in hand a number of expressions of interest for Tier 1 billing software we have not built from our Tier 3, which is ready for sale. So chicken or the Egg, and here we are at the worst time of year to raise capital. respectfully Mike Tymo 250-335-0999

" R&D Funding " Angel Financing " Venture Capital

" Debt Financing " Subordinated Debt " Going Public