Its important to understand that VCs primarily invest in great management teams, exceptional technologists or marketing experts. So, if you don't have the background, I strongly recommend you get it before pitching your idea. Generally, you need to have either several years of senior corporate experience in the right area for your venture or be a technical expert in the field of your products/business model. If you don't want to wait until you acquire the knowledge yourself, you need to recruit it into your team.

If you've got the goods, research the vc firms to find those that invest in your product/business area. Then, network to get a referral if possible. It is much better to get a referral than mailing your plan in. VCs get hundreds of busines plans & pitches and it is very hard to standout if you mail it in. Make sure you are really prepared with a well-thought presentation and be prepared to answer questions about your market and competition.

An attorney or business associate can be a good place to get a VC referral. You also can network among business executives in the field of your business. One thing to do is don't try to get a referral to just any VC. You want one that is interested in your particular type of business. VC's websites can be helpful at indicating their investment focus (and can show you if they already invested in a competitive venture) but they are often very broad when in reality they favor certain sectors that change over time with the business climate. Again, networking with executives that have received funding or pitched to a particular VC is the best way to gather insight if you don't know any VCs to ask directly.

The National Venture Capital Association (nvca.org) has a lot of information including a listing of members. Also, Entrepreneur magazine published a top 100 VC list: http://www.entrepreneur.com/vc100
But remember, target those that are focused on your business segment. Good luck.

If you were interested in a DMAT account for trading in India, then you can try by going to ICICIDirect or HDFCDirect websites. For India, you need a DMAT (Dematerilized) account as well as a Savings Account linked to each other.

What we are going through - right now - is an economic revolution where there is going to be the greatest redistribution of wealth that we've seen in the last 100 years. The greed of banks have really made a mess of things.

However, the mortgage meltdown and the credit crunch have tremendously depressed real estate prices and created a lot of motivated sellers. Private Investors in your real estate projects have the opportunity for extraordinary returns and you can make a huge fortune using our strategies.

Why? Because with credit so tight, buyers with cash (e.g. private money), can literally dictate their own price. Those with cash can demand to buy property at 20% to 40% of the market value, and get it! And, with those kinds of deals, the property can be sold to homeowners at a great discount while the investor and his private money partners walk away with a boatload of cash.

Wouldn't it be tremendous, if you could get in on the secrets of borrowing private money? I'm talking about friends, family, private money funds, and angel investors.

WHAT'S IN IT FOR ME?

The first key ting you have to address is WIIFM (which is not a radio station) it is an acronym that stands for "What's In It For Me". That's right- private individuals just like the banks are motivated by the greed factor.[\hb] So "What's In It For Me" is really the million dollar question.

Since this is the first thing on a potential investor's mind, wouldn't it make sense to start the conversation by telling them?

HOW MUCH really depends on the private lenders you are talking to, and what their expectations are.

For family and friends, their consideration is influence by their investing experience with CD's or the stock market. So, for private investors who are friends or family, consider offering returns of 10% or higher. This is usually offered in the form of a promissory note that is secured or unsecured by the real estate being used as collateral.

On the other hand, for private lenders of high net worth (like angel investors), they regularly look for investments with much higher returns. To be at all interested, they would expect returns of 15% or higher.

Wouldn't it be even better, if you could borrow private money without having to make regular interest payments?

Then consider offering instead of interest, an equity-a percent of the profits. In this scenario the private lender shares in the risk as well as the profit, so he's apt to demand a much higher return. And if the private lender does want regular payments, you can use mixed funding.

That is, offer low monthly interest payments supplemented with an "equity kicker". So the investor can supplement his yield by receiving a share of the profits.

Real Estate investors who would like to learn more about finding private investors, working with private lenders, presenting to high networth individuals, structuring their entities, and creating a financing plan can take advantage of a new resource I've created called the INVESTOR WEALTH NETWORK (See Resource box).

Richard Odessey
http://www.articlesbase.com/finance-articles/-what-bank-failures-teach-us-about-borrowing-private-money-723676.html

Most of us who qualify as accredited investors or qualified investors know, that most of these venture investments will fail. How do you choose the next big angel investment?

Here are a few things to look for:

You want people who are totally dedicated to their business, not those who are trying to make a fast buck on the latest fad. If they have the company logo secretly tattooed on their arm, they are for you. If they say things like ?If this tech thing doesn?t work, I can always go back to truck driving? then run! Your team must be willing to take those strong pains that are the growing pains of a small business.

Smart investors always avoid unfair deals. Let?s face it, in almost all startups seeking seed money, the proposition boils down to ?With our brains and your money, what have we got to lose?? The investors should get a big enough piece of the company that if it wins, they win big, because most startups seeking see money will fail.

Granted, deals that favor the investor de-motivate the entrepreneurial team and are also to be avoided. The company should give the investors a chance to take over if the company fails. Most investors won?t want to, and even if they do, there is likely to be nothing to salvage, but give them a prayer.

The company must offer a fair deal. It is hard to put a value on startups and venture companies and impossible to give an exact value without the benefit of hindsight. However, it is easy to see that you should get an expert to tell you what the investor expects.

Seed money investors are looking for character in management. There are several indicators of this. The first is a successful track record.

The next is that the handling of investor funds is transparent. If you cannot check the inventory, it isn?t there.

Another sign of character is a scrupulous adherence to the securities laws. Anyone who invests in a deal where the principals are ignorant of the regulations, are making unlawful sales of unregistered securities, and who are paying illegal finders? fee and commissions to unlicensed securities ?brokers? deserves everything they inevitably get. We know that the securities laws are almost impossible to understand and comply with, but there must be a scrupulous effort. If the promoters do not bother to hire expert counsel, they do not care and should be avoided.

As most startups fail, let?s take a look at why. Probably the largest cause of failure is management. While managers need a living wage so they do not have to worry about their own finances while building their company, managers who pay themselves lavish salaries and perks should be shot. Beware lavish spending of any kind. The watchword for a venture company is frugality. Only the cheapskates will survive the hammer and pound of the business world.

Next, although this could be called incompetent management, having a faulty business model is probably the next most serious cause of failure. Volumes can be written here, but the worst crime in this category is failing to do many customer surveys and make them thorough.

Sadly, the next cause of failure is fraudulent conduct. Some ?entrepreneurs? want to do nothing more than milk unsuspecting investors. The worst of them lie to get the money. No matter how much due diligence you do, you may be up against professional scam artists who make a career of doing this. As this is their career, they are good at it. Or you may be lulled into a feeling of confidence by the stellar reputation of the promoters. It is at this point where the investor must be a suspicious swine. As guilty as he may feel about it, it is his only hope.

The last risk is not that of failure. The risk is that of dilution. The company succeeds but the business is soaking up much more cash than expected and the new stock that is sold dilutes your equity.

As all of us in this industry know, you will spend several times more than you expect and take twice as long as you expect to do anything.

As many venture investors will tell you, the way to really do due diligence is to invest and be inside the company for a year. Then you will really know what you have.

I believe that venture companies are our real hope for the future. They will fuel growth and competitiveness. I have a soft spot for the brave entrepreneur who wants to sacrifice his life for his goals. Let?s give him the resources he needs to succeed and do it fast. Then, a year or two from now, we can all look back on this as the start of a great deal for all concerned. That is what we all want, isn?t it?

John Lux
http://www.articlesbase.com/finance-articles/for-angel-investors-697371.html

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Shuffleboard Table

Is a total financial meltdown possible? And what does that mean anyway? Are we talking about something akin to the Depression of 1929 and beyond?  I don't see it heppening though I do see alot more pain; however, there are indications that things are not going to go well, nor get better, for a very long time. Maybe some nations will fall into depression, actually go into bankruptcy. 

The governor of the Bank of Spain on Sunday issued a bleak assessment of the economic crisis, warning that the world faced a "total" financial meltdown unseen since the Great Depression. "The lack of confidence is total," Miguel Angel Fernandez Ordonez said in an interview with Spain's El Pais daily. "The inter-bank (lending) market is not functioning and this is generating vicious cycles: consumers are not consuming, businessmen are not taking on workers, investors are not investing and the banks are not lending."

That is surely the case in many segments of the market.

Most stores ae advertising 50-70% off nearly everything in these last few days before Christmas, but people are tapped out and have been for a very long time. If retailers think things are bad now, wait until January non-sales activity begins. After the white Christmas sale period, stores are going to be deserted.

Falling oil prices and lower taxes could kick-start a faster-than-anticipated recovery, but a deepening cycle of falling consumer demand, rising unemployment and an ongoing lending squeeze could more than off set those factors. And then there's the surprises that could pop up that totally change the economic outlook like war, a major hedge fund goes bankrupt, or more major businesses need financial bail outs.

Enjoy the holidays because reality sets in after the first of the year.

Ernie Fitzpatrick
http://www.articlesbase.com/economics-articles/a-total-financial-meltdown-693580.html