Posts Tagged ‘fund raising’

I received a comment to last week’s blog, “Funding for the Rest of Us Entrepreneurs“, asking for specific alternative lending sources that start-ups could access. I had mentioned peer-to-peer financing as a potential funding growth area. Peer-to-peer financing or crowd financing are financial transactions between individuals without the intermediation or participation of a traditional financial institution. Peer-to-peer financing can take the form of debt, equity or grants.

Peer-to-peer lending sites registered with the SEC, such as Prosper and Lending Club, have become viable funding sources for debt capital, with $196 million and $113 million funded loans to date. This past week’s announcement that Diaspora.com, a proposed Facebook alternative, had raised more than $100K in pledges in less than 12 days on Kickstarter.com increased awareness and greater hope for peer-to-peer pledged capital.

Read the rest of this entry »

The first time I met John I was really surprised.  He was introduced to me from an investor in my new company at the time and John was an old friend of his. What surprised me about John how human he was.  He was in his late sixties and somewhat stubborn and opinionated.  But not it an arrogant way.

John’s wealth started with his grandfather’s company.  The family ran and grew it into a conglomerate that was eventually sold.  John now managed the family’s assets of over a billion dollars. I was really nervous when I pitched him, knowing what he could mean to my company.  But after listening to me for a few minutes and asking a few questions, John politely rejected my request to invest.

Read the rest of this entry »