Venture Capital

This book addresses the lack of academic and practical research into corporate venturing by examining the role of this activity as both a form of large firm-small firm collaboration and as an alternative source of equity finance for small firms.

'It provides a comprehensive review of existing literature and an analysis of international trends in market development as well as a global comparison of the major issues.' - International Review of Administrative Sciences This book presents up-to-date evidence on the issues facing financiers and intermediaries involved in venture capital and management buy-outs. It provides a comprehensive review of existing literature and an analysis of international trends in market development as well as a global comparison of the major issues. It addresses venture capital at the industry/market and firm level and provides full coverage on both informal and formal venture capitalists, management buy-outs, and competing and complementary sources of finance including bank finance and trade credit. The contributors also discuss important but neglected issues on the nature of venture capitalist-investee relationships and the revelation of knowledge, the costs of information searches, the development of appropriate forms of managerial and financial control systems, the role of the entrepreneur and bargaining models of contract negotiation. It uses case study examples from the US, the UK, and West and Eastern Europe. This book will be of interest to practitioners, researchers and policymakers in the area of the financing and management of firms as well as academics and students interested in management buy-outs, venture capital, entrepreneurship and finance.

Policy makers--Republican and Democrat, liberal and conservative--call for federal intervention to fund emerging high-growth industries, believing they are starved for capital. Congressional hearings, newspapers, industry newsletters, and government reports all assert that capital gaps exist for these firms. But the widely held belief that emerging high-growth firms like those in high technology--so vital to the growth of the U.S. economy--face severe capital gaps, preventing them from starting up or growing to their full potential, is false. This book systematically brings together, for the first time, disparate sources of information from a wide variety of disciplines and synthesizes them into a compelling case against federal intervention.

In this volume Europe's leading industrial economists explore the theoretical basis for industrial policy in Europe and practical proposals for making industrial development happen. They approach the subject on a micro-, macro- and meso- level.

The ingredients for success in starting and developing a technology-based company aren't obvious. Why, for example, did Digital Equipment Corporation succeed--and indeed become one of the most successful high-tech corporations in the world--while dozens of other companies with similar beginnings fail? It is a question that demands careful consideration by anyone setting up a new company or who is interested in starting one. In Entrepreneurs in High Technology, Edward Roberts, a Professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, offers entrepreneurs a goldmine of information on starting, financing, and expanding a high-tech firm. His book reveals the results of research conducted over twenty-five years on several hundred high-tech firms, and it reflects the insights of the author's own first-hand experience as a company founder, director, and venture capitalist. Focusing on firms in the Greater Boston area--many of which have had technological links with MIT--Roberts traces the origins and the evolution of the high-technology failures and successes. He examines the work experience and family backgrounds of successful technical entrepreneurs, their sources of funding, and the ways they respond to the challenge of business growth. He compares the track records of firms with multi-founder teams and firms with individual founders, contrasts the performance of consulting firms and research-and-development contractors against companies that start out with a product, identifies the factors that limit an enterprise's ability to raise outside capital, and explores the critical influence of marketing orientation on successful companies. In a penetrating analysis of highly successful ventures, the author reveals the importance of strategically transforming the company to a market-oriented focus, and he examines the widespread tendency, even among the most successful high-tech firms, to displace the founder before the company achieves "super-success." For anyone planning to start a technology-based enterprise, Entrepreneurs in High Technology is essential reading--an invaluable preview of the financial, organizational, and marketing issues that confront every new high-tech venture. For business and technology watchers, it is an informative account of the promise and the perils entailed in bringing innovative ideas to the marketplace.

The Asian financial crisis, the advent of the Euro, the current banana trade war, and the erosion of America's manufacturing base all illustrate the changing and complex agenda for American foreign policy entering the new millennium. This book arises from a two-year project by the Council on Foreign Relations, one of the world's premier foreign policy think tanks, to articulate a "Next Generation" approach to American foreign policy. The book concludes that our conception of American security must change to address financial and technological opportunities, as well as emerging threats.

The Army has a growing need to collaborate and partner with industry. When we look at the nexus between wgat is available to the Army in terms of the various innovations occurring in industry and what the Army can actually do to exploit those innovations, three approached emerge as proming

High-stakes compensation and the promise of entrepreneurial excitement are just two reasons technology start-ups are an enormously attractive option for employees on the move. Sizing Up a Start-Up is exactly the book new economy careerists have been waiting for. It clearly presents the frontier of high-potential opportunities that were simply not available just a few years ago and offers practical methods for making well-versed decisions that are unique to the high-tech landscape.

Sizing Up a Start-Up shares crucial career guidance from experienced new venture veterans who have worked on the leading edge of some of today's three million U.S. start-ups. It draws valuable insight from the author, a seasoned expert with years of experience in the technology sector. Answering essential questions about new economy business and compensation that provide an insider's insight, Sizing Up a Start-Up is essential information for high tech enthusiasts and for entrepreneurs and investors appraising start-up opportunities.

Few would deny the crucial role that entrepreneurs play in our increasingly global economy--but exactly what is this vital, yet loosely defined business force we call the entrepreneurial spirit? This landmark study is the first to examine analytically the nature of the opportunities that entrepreneurs pursue, the problems they face, the traits they require, and the social and economic contributions they make. Until recently, entrepreneurs have been largely ignored in modern economic theory. But at the dawn of a networked age, marked by the advent of e-business and the home office, there's no question that entrepreneurs have recaptured the popular imagination. Studies now show that most men and women dream of starting their own businesses rather than rising through the corporate ranks. Yet in spite of increased attention by many of today's leading business schools, entrepreneurship has remained largely a mystery, an apparantly intuitive sense of values possessed by certain individuals. This book targets the issues central to successful start-up ventures, such as endowments and opportunities, planning versus adaptation, securing resources, corporate initiatives, venture capital, revolutionary ventures and the evolution of fledgling businesses. Focusing on hard data and evaluations of numerous start-up businesses, including many of today's major industry leaders, this book presents a new economic model--a key to understanding the guts, determination, luck and skills that constitute the underpinnings of corporate success. Written in clear, concise prose, The Origin and Evolution of New Businesses goes behind the charts and graphs of business theory to the true heart of success. It is essential reading for business students, would-be entrepreneurs, or executives wanting to incorporate the vitality of the entrepreneurial spirit into their organization.