Should You Start A Company

When you want to raise investment funding from private or angel investors, you have GOT to do it the right way – or you could end up with both the federal SEC and 50 state securities boards coming after you – like what happened last month in Pennsylvania.

The risk of major penalties to you and your company are just too great to do this wrong. Look at what happened in this one case: (more…)

Do you still want to start that new company or home based business?

I’m pleased to tell you about my own new company – Start Up Company University – which is a division of Ceo Resource LLC. The first product offered by Start Up Company University might make all the difference to your own company’s future.

Funding Foreplay is a four module audio training course that teaches start up company CEOs like you – how to properly prepare and present the dozen documents you must have to successfully romance and seduce angel investors and VC to invest in your company.

I’ve condensed and distilled down the techniques that have taken me three decades to acquire and fine tune with my own real companies and my own real deals. Funding Foreplay includes over five hours of audio – and over 390 pages of real life, highly confidential, documents you can use as guides for your own dozen documents.

The introductory price of Funding Foreplay will double after the sale of the first 500 courses. You can learn to speak the language of investor love and grab Funding Foreplay at half the price…if you hurry. (more…)

As I get questions from readers from my Ask The Chief Dragon Slayer Campaign, I will take some of the questions that I think might have a broad audience and post them here on the blog.

This one is filed under “Dragons – Fundraising: Can I Use Investor Money To Pay Me Back?”

Question:

Love the blog! Finally someone answering real life startup company questions! I want to raise $1.8 million for my computer business to take it to the next level. Can I use $250,000 of the $1.8 million to pay me back the money that I have already invested in getting my company started?

Thanks again!

Walt

Answer:

This is one of the most frequent questions I get from clients: Can I get back all of my money that I have invested so far in starting my company from the new investment dollars I get from angel investors or venture capital?

The short answer is almost never. (more…)

As I get questions from readers from my Ask The Chief Dragon Slayer Campaign, I will take some of the questions that I think might have a broad audience and post them here on the blog.

This one is filed under “Dragons – Fundraising: Can I Spend The Investor Money As I Get It?”

Question:

Thanks for your comments about accredited angel investors. It was very helpful. We just finished your business plan and are starting to pitch our deal to angel investors and venture capital. Since we are already spending money on buying stuff for the company, can we start spending the investor money as we get it?

Steve

Answer:

The first thing you need to buy is a big sword – so you can fight off all the dragons that are getting ready to hatch! Firstly, you didn’t say – but I hope you have a Reg D PPM for a LOT of reasons. Please see FundRaisingDocuments.com

One of the things that should be covered in your Reg D PPM is how you handle (more…)

As I get questions from readers from my Ask The Chief Dragon Slayer Campaign, I will take some of the questions that I think might have a broad audience and post them here on the blog.

This one is filed under “Dragons – Fundraising: What Are Accredited Investors And Why Should I Only Raise Money From Them For My StartUp Company?”

Question:

I’m getting ready to raise $2 million for my startup real estate company. I’ve finished my business plan but a friend of mine said I should only talk to accredited investors. I’m not exactly sure what an accredited investor is and I don’t understand why I can’t talk to anybody I want to about investing in my company? Please make this one of your questions for your teleseminar.

Thanks,

Mark

Answer:

Thank you for submitting your question at www.StartUpCompanyQuestions.com. There are several critically important implications and potential dragons I gathered from your question. Since I want to keep you from battling some very vicious dragons as a result of your upcoming actions, I am answering it now so you don’t have to wait until the next teleseminar.

The term, accredited investors, has to do with securities laws – both federal and state – and making sure you comply with the very onerous restrictions that go with the fundraising for your start up company. I’ll give you both the short and long answer to what an accredited investor is in a minute. But the first thing you need to know is that if you raising capital from angel (AKA private) investors, you will almost certainly need more than just a business plan. You need what’s known as a Reg D Private Placement Memorandum – PPM – in order to comply with federal and state securities laws. (more…)

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If you are starting a company, are you REALLY ready to get started? Are you REALLY ready to develop a fully defined business plan? Are you REALLY ready to pull the trigger and start spending money, hiring people and REALLY invest your time, energy and emotion in your vision for the next several years of YOUR life?

Worried that you don’t have the diverse background to understand ALL the various critical components of forming, starting, funding and operating your new company? Concerned that you will be embarrassed by not knowing the answers to the questions that venture capitalists, angel investors and bankers may ask you when you pitch your deal?

Take a look at the 114 below questions that I cover with my Start Up Company Workshop clients. If you already know the answers to all or even most of these, then (more…)