Venture capital is a type of private equity funding that is offered by venture capital funds or private equity firms to small, emerging, and sometimes ultra-new businesses that have been clearly defined as having high potential for success or that have proven very successful in prior venture-capital financing rounds. V Venture Capital is a highly-risky type of financing, which involves much more than putting together a winning business plan and a prospectus. This type of financing can involve much higher fees than other types of private financing, and the final cost of venture capital can be very high. Yet, if you are a small business that is in need of additional capital, venture capital may be the only way to go.
V Venture Capital is different than traditional venture capital in many ways. Traditional venture capital funding levels are determined by the performance of a company’s stock price during the relevant time period. Venture capitalists assess a company’s viability on the market based on this standard. When a company is not generating sufficient cash flow or has little prospect of doing so in the future, venture capital funding is unavailable. On the other hand, when a company is performing very well and is seeing continued increases in cash flow, venture capital becomes an attractive alternative.
There are also some differences between venture capital and angel investor funding. Most angel investors are professional traders with years of experience and sophisticated financial instruments who are willing to invest a significant amount of their own personal capital into a startup business. They are typically wealthy entrepreneurs who are seeking to purchase a successful startup for a large amount of money. In contrast, venture capitalists are generally wealthy individuals who seek to provide an investment in a startup for less than the typical price they would receive if they sold the startup to another angel investor. This allows investors in both categories to acquire a large stake in a company without requiring the same level of personal risk as is often associated with angel investor funding.
Because venture capitalists are usually highly experienced traders and knowledgeable investors, they can make significantly more reliable decisions regarding investments in startups. Because these investors make money trading securities, it is not difficult for them to assess the potential financial value of a company. However, they are not usually in a position to obtain a seat on the board of directors or the actual CEO of a company. This limits their ability to provide additional funding to a company, although they may continue to fund the company under different circumstances.
Unlike many traditional financing options, venture capital provides the greatest opportunity to obtain a seat on the board or at least a major share of the equity. The equity in emerging companies represents a high value due to its high growth potential and limited exposure to current market factors. Venture capital also provides the greatest leeway in pursuing strategic business objectives. These objectives could include building manufacturing facilities, finding new distribution channels, or identifying new niches that can be profitable for the company over the long run.
The greatest disadvantage to working with venture capital firms is their extreme confidence in the knowledge and goodwill of the companies in which they invest. Venture capitalists place a high emphasis on the quality of the company’s management team and its ability to execute strategies that will maximize the value of their investment. They often have a high degree of impatience with companies that do not meet their expectations. This means that they may lose patience with emerging companies if they do not see immediate results from their efforts. For this reason, it is very important that entrepreneurs work closely with the venture capital firm in order to determine their anticipated return on investment.
