Who Wants More Money?

Me please! Earlier this week I had the pleasure to learn- up-close and personal- about the world of entrepreneurialism, from a very serious financial perspective. (Keep reading, this is good stuff. I promise not to bore you.) I went to the Connect 09 conference where I sat with about 300 men, and only 30 women (sad) and I learned a ton about how to get funded.

Just for one little province in Canada -British Columbia- has, on average $100 MILLION dollars per year to invest in start-up companies! Yes, g' ahead and read that again - put your pinkie to your mouth and say “$100 MeeLEon Dollahas”. I can’t image what a major US/Australian state or the UK can offer? I'm sure double/tripe that! Who has this money? Angel Investors and Venture Capital Investors- and guess what they’re biggest problem is? There are not enough entrepreneurs.

Wha? Yep. On average, entrepreneurs are down 50% year over year. That’s just in BC…but when asked, it seems to be a global trend (their opinion). And, there is no end to investment funding in the foreseeable future. These guys do it full time; they search for companies to invest in - they need companies to invest in. Great. So, where are all the entrepreneurs? Are they trying to make a go of it without funding? Or have they just wimped out and taken a salary gig?

So before you forward this to your Aunty Roberta who has a million ideas, email subject line: Aunty R- lets ask for $50,000!- there are few things to note/to put this into context:

1. A company should be incorporated – see these links/learn about it (click on your country to learn more on how to do this): Canada United States Australia England


2. Your company should have a great board of advisors (smarty pants that you find/who are accomplished, can offer great experienced advice and are willing to sit on your board and ‘advise’ you). This will make you look good- and will help you tremendously and will make your investors love you even more.


3. Investors won’t just hand you the money. Of course. They need a business plan/clear vision to what your company is about, and most importantly what their return on investment will be. They’ll want ½ your company – so you better be ready to negotiate what their ROI will be i.e. it will have to be a win/win; good for them and great for your company to make it work. Learn how- read Ask for it!


4. When you’re ready to go- you will have to SELL the company to them ie pitch it in 30 minutes or less! This is key. Some entrepreneurs have called their investor of choice (angel or venture) every day for a month- just to get funded. Gutsy. Now, you’re a Wilma- be polite, but have your case button down ie tight- and be persistent. Apparently it's the price of entry.

In close, the keynote speaker: Leonard Brody, President of Clarity Digital (he’s a shorter version of Robert Downey Jr.) did a presentation about where we’re headed as a global entity- how, because of technology, life cycles are shrinking, and businesses are forced to be more environmental etc. I was mesmerized. So smart. Like Obama smart! Yep, I just said that! His start-up company closed on the NASDAQ IPO at $240 million. Chump change really. Gulp.

So Wilma…do you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur?