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Venture capitalists are higher risk investors and, in accepting these risks, they desire a higher return on their investment. The venture capitalist manages the risk/reward ratio by only investing in businesses which fit their investment criteria and after having completed extensive due diligence.
Venture capitalists have differing operating approaches. These differences may relate to location of the business, the size of the investment, the stage of the company, industry specialization, structure of the investment and involvement of the venture capitalists in the companies activities.
The entrepreneur should not be discouraged if one venture capitalist does not wish to proceed with an investment in the company. The rejection may not be a reflection of the quality of the business, but rather a matter of the business not fitting with the venture capitalist's particular investment criteria. Often entrepreneurs may want to ask the venture capitalist for other firms that might be interested in the investment opportunity. |
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| Venture capital is not suitable for all businesses, as a venture capitalist typically seeks : |
Venture capitalists look for companies with superior products or services targeted at large, fast growing or untapped markets with a defensible strategic position
such as intellectual property or patents.
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Venture capitalists must be confident that the firm has the quality and depth in the management team to achieve its aspirations. Venture capitalists seldom seek managerial control, rather they want to add value to the investment where they have particular skills including fund raising, mergers and acquisitions, international marketing, product development, and networks.
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As well as the requirement of being an attractive business opportunity, the venture capitalist will also seek to structure a deal to produce the anticipated financial returns to investors. This includes making an investment at a reasonable price per share (valuation).
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Lastly, venture capitalists look for the clear exit opportunity for their investment such as public listing or a third party acquisition of the investee company.
Once a short list of appropriate venture capitalists has been selected, the entrepreneur can proceed to identify which investors match their funding requirements. At this point, the entrepreneur should contact the venture capital firm and identify an investment manager as an initial contact point. The venture capital firm will ask prospective investee companies for information concerning the product or service, the market analysis, how the company operates, the investment required and how it is to be used, financial projections, and importantly questions about the management team.
In reality, all of the above questions should be answered in the Business Plan. Assuming the venture capitalist expresses interest in the investment opportunity, a good business plan is a pre-requisite. |
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08 Jan 2008
Global Trends in Cleantech Investing (Mumbai) |
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