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http://www.sbaer.uca.edu/docs/Publications/pub00190.txt
The Small Business Advancement Center at the University
of Central Arkansas provides a number of information sources available
free to entrepreneurs and small business owners. One of the services
is to make available papers on topics of interest. The paper available
at this website is entitled "The ABCs of Borrowing" and is taken from the
U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Business Development, "Management
Aids," Number 1.001. The paper discusses the fundamentals of obtaining
a loan. It deals with credit worthiness, kinds of loans, amount of
money needed, collateral, loan restrictions and limitations, the loan application,
and standards which the lender uses to eveluate the application.
The paper includes typical questions asked by a bank loan officer and suggestions
for preparing for a loan request.
Accel Partners is a private venture capital firm
which invests in entrepreneurial companies it believes can be leaders of
selected technology-driven markets. With a capital base of over $500 million,
the firm states that it is able to consider virtually any size project.
Investors, who will sometimes participate in the firm's financings, include
international financial institutions, corporations, other venture capital
firms and entrepreneurs.
The AARC is an independent corporation of the U.S. Department
of Agriculture that makes equity investments to commercialize bio-based
industrial uses for agricultural materials. This web site is affiliated
with the Industrial Agricultural Clearing House - a site dedicated to bringing
business and technology together with funding sources.
American Venture Capital Exchange lists over 250 start-up
and expanding companies seeking financing. Entrepreneurs list a summary
of their business plan and accredited investors from venture capitalists
and angel investors to commercial bankers and other finance providers review
the summaries and contact the ones that they are interested in.
http://www.sba.gov/ADVO/acenet.html
The Angel Capital Electronic Network, also known as ACE-Net,
is an internet listing service for qualified, high-wealth investors and
for small companies that are seeking equity capital. ACE-Net is sponsored
by the U.S. Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy and helps
companies that need $250,000 to $5 million find capital. The SBA established
the ACE-Net service because funding in this range is not large enough to
attract typical venture capital investors.
Avix Ventures is a newly formed venture capital firm focusing
on technology and Internet companies. It is actively looking for entrepreneurs
and investment opportunities. It considers a variety of ventures,
including seed or early stage companies.
The Business Finance Center from GetSmart matches business
owners with prospective lenders. Users select the type of financing
they want, such as line of credit, equipment, business, real estate loan,
or accounts receivable financing, and fill out the web site's "SmartMatch"
application - a short test that records loan preferences and business and
credit history. The SmartMatch information is then used to generate
a list of appropriate lenders from GetSmart's 14-member database for small
businesses. According to information provided by PC Magazine (9/22/98,
p. 40), potential lenders will then contact the business owner by phone.
http://http://www.esg.nl:80/corpfin/
CorpFin is a group of financial companies, covering a
broad range of financial services, who have associated to create a 'one-stop
shopping' financial information and services organisation. Financial
services providers are invited to join the CorpFin association.
http://www.datamerge.com/index2.html
DataMerge is an international financing offering financing
sources and expertise for any business or commercial project. DataMerge
provides financing sources and financing "how to"programs to more than
21,000 business owners, commercial real estate finance professionals and
finance consultants internationally.
http://www.ci.des-moines.ia.us/economy
The City of Des Moines, Iowa Office of Economic Development
hosts this web page. The office offers financial assistance, resource identification
& referral, and site selection to anyone interested in starting or
expanding a business in the area.
Draper Fisher Jurvetson considers itself a leader in the
start-up venture capital business, having invested in over 150 high-tech
companies. In the majority of cases, it is the lead investor for a company's
first round of financing. Its role is to help entrepreneurs achieve
their maximum potential through contacts, advice, and support. By pursuing
a people-focused, back-to-basics, early-stage approach to venture capital
investing, the firm wishes to fund entrepreneurs with the energy, vision,
experience, and desire to build great companies.
http://www.financehub.com/welcomef.html
FinanceHub -- Perceiving a great need for some organization
of information on the web, ISS chose to focus on the area of things financial:
banks, stockmarket, online commerce, law, and most particularly the domain
of venture capital. And so, in Jan 1995, InterSoft Solutions created and
launched the FinanceHub. Since then, the FinanceHub has developed a good-sized
following: 14,000 visitors in October 1996, averaging nearly 500 visitors
per day. The FinanceHub has been and remains a freely accessible, fast-access,
no-registration, no-fee, (no-junk-mail) website.
This web site offers to connect entrepreneurs needing
financial assistance with investors. The site also offers articles
of interest to high tech investors and entrepreneurs.
Herring Communications, Inc. is a San Francisco-based
media company specializing in high-level business information on technology
and entertainment. The company delivers this information to a worldwide
audience of executives, entrepreneurs, and investors via three media: print,
an Internet-based information service, and industry conferences. Herring
Communications currently manages The Red Herring and HITS magazines, Red
Herring Direct, and the Venture Market and Web Market conferences.
The Industrial Agriculture Clearing House web site is
dedicated to bringing business and technology together with funding sources.
The Insurance Information Institute is the nonprofit trade
organization which sponsors this web site. It provides information
on various types of insurance (auto, home, business, accident, etc.) and
on companies offering them.
http://www.iabankers.com/normal.htm
This web site provides information on obtaining a small
business loan.
The Mayfield Fund has a history of partnership
with entrepreneurs. It states that it has more than $700 million
of capital under management and has invested in over 300 companies that
today represent a market value exceeding $30 billion.
http://www.mertz.com/index.html
Mertz Associates considers itself a leading independent
merger and acquisition consulting firm in the Midwest. It has participated
in well over 100 transactions during the past 15 years. Mertz Associates
has conducted searches and sales for many leading companies--both Fortune
500 and small, privately owned companies. It works on a project basis
and assists its clients professionally, confidentially and knowledgeably.
Typical transactions range in size from $1 million to $50 million.
This web site offers advice, contacts, and business planning
templates from Money Hunt, a PBS program devoted to entrepreneurial finance.
The National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) was founded
in 1973 and is comprised of approximately 200 professional venture capital
organizations. It is organized to broaden the understanding of the importance
of venture capital to the vitality of the United States economy.
NVCA also works to stimulate the flow of equity capital to emerging growth
and developing companies.
Oak Investment Partners is a venture capital organization
with three areas of investment focus: information technology, healthcare,
and retail. It targets experienced, entrepreneurial management teams that
are resourceful, disciplined, and motivated by appropriate incentives.
http://www.product.com/olympic/
Olympic Venture Partners (OVP), located in the Pacific
Northwest, manages limited partnerships that invest in emerging companies
with unique products for growing markets; in technology-based industries
such as software, biotechnology, communications, multimedia, health care,
environmental technology and medical devices. Its initial investment is
usually about $1 million, almost always made with at least one other venture
capital firm.
This is Intuit's comprehensive loan broker web site. Business Cash Finder lists ten participating lenders, from American Express and Citibank to Union Bank of California (and more soon to join). Applying for a loan is a three-stage process: (1) Answer some questions about business and financial needs, (2) Build and download customized software containing the information and forms needed to complete the application process, (3) Complete, print, and send in the application. According to a review of this web site in the August, 1998 issue of PC World on page 192, the process was easy to complete with lenders responding in less than 48 hours to a request for a $3,500 business loan to buy a new workstation and a scanner.
Besides its Business Cash Finder, Intuit offers two other financial web sites:
Together, these three sites offer a comprehensive set
of financial services, thanks to Intuit's partnerships with banks, insurance
companies, brokerage firms, and the federal government. New partners
and services appear every month.
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) offers a
number of guaranteed loan programs designed to meet the needs of entrepreneurs
and small business. The SBA reduces risk to lenders (primarily banks)
by guaranteeing major portions of loans made to small businesses that demonstrate
the ability to repay the loan. It thus enables lenders to provide
financing to small businesses when funding is otherwise unavailable on
reasonable terms.
The Sourse offers free business reports. The 'OutBack'
Library has over 1200+ titles... also free for the taking. It contains
reports, white papers and articles from publications and experts around
the world addressing a broad range of business topics as well as matters
of personal finance.
Venture Associates provides information on Initial
Public Offerings-IPOs, Venture Capital, Business Plans and Planning, Small
Business Financing and Books, Private Offerings (Reg D, SCOR & Internet),
Financing Sources, and Venture Capital Clubs. Twenty five years of business
oriented networking has enabled Venture Associates to assemble a variety
of knowledgeable, hands-on, experienced individuals who cross over a broad
range of management disciplines. Experts and specialists are accessible
for almost any business or industry need from the concept rationalization
stage to maturity disbursement.
The Venture Capital Resource Library offers free tax,
legal,and strategic information. A free business plan template is
available for downloading. The plan can be submitted via a form to
obtain advice from the web site operators.
http://pacific.commerce.ubc.ca/evc/vc_title.html
The Venture Capital Web Links site is sponsored by the
W. Maurice Young Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Research Centre at
the Faculty of Commerce, University of British Columbia. This page
is intended to introduce both amateurs and experts to the myriad of venture
capital information available on the World Wide Web. Over 150 web
sites are linked to this site.
Venture Planning Associates sponsors this Guide to Financing
Any Project. Venture Planning Associates offers to assess client needs
and provide everything from do-it-yourself outlines and checklists to the
professional document preparation and guidance required for bank, government
or private financing. Its computer models for business development
have been accepted by investors, venture capital firms, major banks,and
private investment groups and used to successfully finance numerous projects.
The Vine is an online mall where entrepreneurs can meet,
share information, and find financing, services, and products.
Founded in 1995 with the primary goal of assisting female
business owners in acquiring capital, Women Incorporated (WI) has 30,000
members and is affiliated with 40 other groups. WI has built a multi-billion
dollar loan pool through relationships with a number of banking institutions.
Click here to return to Web Sites for Entrepreneurs Homepage
Page created by Dave Beatty
for J. David Hunger. Updated by S. Rashid & J.D. Hunger.
Send Questions and Comments to jdhunger@iastate.edu.
Last updated 9/6/98