VentureInc.

ign="center"> Most small businesses fail within the first five years. This fact can be a little discouraging for new business owners. Positioning your company properly in a market space with a market-driven idea is the first step to enhancing your odds of attaining a successful result. Assembling a good team of players and attracting capital is next. Keep in mind the following questions while you're searching for seed funding and startup capital. You should know the answers to all of the following questions as you request money from investors. 1. Which need in the marketplace have you identified? 2. What is your business and how does it fill the need? 3. How much money is consumed in the market you...

Often entrepreneurs will be in the process of building their businesses and suddenly be struck by a need for cash. The business wins a big contract or general growth has increased in speed. On the down side, the slower economy slows sales growth or customers slow down their payable cycle. Either way, this is not the time to go looking for capital. If you ever believe you may need capital, the time to start the process is now, be it debt or equity. Take the time to get to know your banker. If you bank at a large bank, such as Bank of America, get to know the local branch manager. Find out how they process business loans. If there is a local loan officer, ask to meet with him or her. Find out what the...

id="body"> "Bozo" - A clown with a forlorn look, always finding negative implications in every activity or event. A person who tries to find a way to prevent you from moving ahead, giving excuses such as "we've always done it this way, or this is not our culture" when presented a new opportunity or challenge. Normally associated with people who are uncomfortable with learning new techniques, processes, or relationships. Guy Kawasaki from - a venture capital company, used to have a segment in his presentations called "Don't Let the Bozos Grind You Down." This segment discussed how every organization will have a corps of people who simply try everything in their power to stop innovation, new...

Depending upon the way in which we choose to view it, the strengths or weaknesses of the concept of social entrepreneurship lie in the fact that most of its applications are in the form of a hybrid between private, non-profit and public sectors. As described, one such hybrid is found in non-profit organisations with an entrepreneurial offshoot that generates revenue for the organisation’s social objectives. With greater emphasis on the private, for-profit sector, a hybrid model is emerging whereby businesses lend money and expertise to non-profits. Increasingly, this latter model is linked to public pressure for businesses to demonstrate a measure of social responsibility. The most realistic and...

v> Do you have a hot new idea or must-have product? Are you ready to take the dive and start your own e-business? While not overnight, thousands of e-business start-ups have become massive success stories in the past few years. The Internet is a prime entrepreneurial environment, fostering creativity. But even Google, Amazon, MySpace, Flickr and NetFlix had to start somewhere, and that somewhere is probably just where you are right now. Most entrepreneurs find that starting a web business can be daunting. Where do you start? How do you get the word out? Where can you acquire funding? “The first three years are the most trying,” states one entrepreneur. “Not only are you faced with...

While "Traded" or "Update" sets were originally conceived to deal with players who changed teams, they became increasingly important for a reason. In order to fill out a 132-card set (the number of cards that fit on a single sheet of the uncut cardboard used in the production process), it would contain a number of rookie players who had just reached the major leagues and not previously appeared on a card. They also included a few single cards of players who previously appeared in the regular set on a multi-player "prospects" card; one notable example is the 1982 Topps Traded Cal Ripken, Jr.. Since a "rookie card" is typically the most valuable for any given player, the companies now competed to be...

As a business consultant, I see more entrepreneurs not able to obtain funding than I see entrepreneurs obtaining the necessary money to see their ideas transformed into a viable business. This difference is very large. It maybe one idea is funded for every 10 that go unfunded but it may be as high as 1 is funded with 100 never obtaining a nickel. This kind of difference and the struggles of the entrepreneur who is frustrated by not ever seeing his idea transformed into reality and making him rich, prompts the question; is there enough funding for new ideas and companies? How one market's the idea can sometimes be more important than the idea when it comes to obtaining venture capital. The...

ign="center"> A direct public offering is when a company raises capital by selling its shares directly to what is refer to as affinity groups, unlike an IPO which are sold by a broker dealer to its customers and the general public through other broker dealers who have customers interested in buying shares in the company. In IPO's you have a firm commitment underwriting, where the underwriters promise to purchase the securities for their own account if they can not sell them to customers. Best-effort underwriting: The underwriters do not guarantee any specific number of shares to be sold, they merely act as brokers. In an IPO the lead underwriter is refer to as the syndicate manager, he keeps the...

ign="center"> Blogs have become very influential components of the internet and their importance is still growing exponentially. People rely on blogs for relevant ideas, thoughts and opinions for a certain topic or business. Almost all businesses nowadays are trying to create and maintain their own blog sites to achieve higher readership and to continuously provide information to people interested in the same field. The financial industry, being complex and sensitive in nature, is one field that unquestionably needs write-ups or blogs so as to feed concrete information to its reader. In this same reason, millions of blog sites arise from all parts of the world discussing about insurances, funds...

You've done everything that your coaches have told you. You've written a convincing business plan. Your financial projections outline a reasonable investment opportunity for someone. You have piles upon piles of legal documentation making you compliant with securities laws. You have letters of intent, letters of endorsement and some high-powered personal references. Your PowerPoint presentation is professional. You have your presentation down pat. You're getting in front of people with money, but no one is writing checks. If this sounds like your frustrating situation, you're definitely not alone! Raising capital is not an easy task. In the majority of cases, the first investors are by far the...

The Indian economy has witnessed crucial changes in the last 15 years. Simultaneously, all industrial sectors have felt the influences and after-effects of this positive atmosphere. Now, India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world, with an 8% GDP growth for last three years. IT, retail, infrastructure and industry; all these sectors have now attained a high altitude. Indian Real Estate industry has flourished keeping pace with feel good economy. In the last fifteen years, and more specifically in the last 3 years, this segment has observed a boom phase. The graph is on the compounding increasing path. The growth in the Indian real estate sector may be attributed to several factors...

Famous in the field of photonic integrated manufacturers we are familiar with Infinera, but recently an original focus on fiber access ups OneChip also entered the field, and is expected to achieve good results. OneChip's management hopes to reduce the use of photonic integration technology with fiber-optic transceivers FTTH cost. Particular attention is that this new innovation in Canada's goal is to optical transceivers in all the components into a single InP photonic integrated circuits (PIC) on. If the implementation goes well, OneChip will enter into a huge potential markets - from those associated with the photonic integrated high-volume, low-cost manufacturing process to get great benefits...

Local search is searching information on geographic search engine on the internet. Typically local search queries will include "what" the the site visitor is searching along with the "where" for e.g. Taj Hotel in Mumbai. About 30% of all global searches are local in nature. All of us use Google to search India specific information. It seems very logical to have India specific search engine. Indians conducts about one billion searches every month and it seems very logical to have India specific search engine. As a result, as many as 24 search engines have been launched in India in past couple of years. Justdial.com, Guruji.com, TolMolBol.com, AskLaila.com, and are some of the most popular local...

The future of robotics in security surveillance, geo-monitoring, commercial applications and military is growing at an aggressive rate. Currently many smaller companies are formulating strategies, gathering venture capital, investment bankers and investing in research and development to have the new thing in robotic technology. But no other robotic sector in robotic unmanned vehicles is growing quite like the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle or UAV sector. Now then what is the best way for a UAV start up company to approach the market with a new technology? Well, we know testing, engineering, research and development are not cheap and since you need the best bang for your buck perhaps it is a better bet to...

> What makes for good online learning? Perhaps one of the strongest temptations when approaching online solutions is to start by converting existing training resources into web resources. Since much face-to-face delivery is backed up by print materials, putting print documents online is often a popular starting point. If learners are academic, highly motivated and good at organising their study, they'll probably cope with large volumes of text. They'll print it out, read it, file it logically and use it. Is this the profile you're dealing with? Probably not. The reality is that the Web is a visual medium. It's also true that reading large amounts of text from a screen is unpleasant and learners will...

There are many benefits to Incorporating in Florida. For one, there is an able work force, reflected by the fact that Florida's unemployment rate is consistently lower than the national rate. Florida is the center of more than a few thriving industries, such as aerospace, and the state enjoys strong state support for business development, reflected in its pro-business stance on taxes. Florida is well-known for its outstanding academic and research achievement in aviation, aerospace, biotechnology, microelectronics, optics, photonics, and - of course - real estate development. As such, Florida is also an attractive spot for venture capital. Despite the devastation of having four hurricanes hit in...

Private practice professionals typically conduct a very personal, intimate service that address the biggest, most important human needs, goals, and challenges imaginable. In any other industry the ability to solve such hugely critical problems would attract venture capital investment and make the providers of such expertise very wealthy. Yet, why are so many practitioners struggling to get clients and make a living? They are motivated by ideals, not profits. They shy away from calling attention to themselves, preferring to be of service to their clients. They resist marketing and are uncomfortable asking for money. They undervalue their services, and therefore, their services are undervalued. Is a...

Shui On Construction and Materials Ltd. (983) - Financial and Strategic Analysis Review Shui On Construction and Materials Limited (SOCAM) is a Hong Kong-based investment holding company engaged in the Construction industry. A member of the Shui On Group, SOCAM's principal business activities include property development, cement production, construction, and venture capital investment. The company conducts its business in four divisions, namely, Property, Cement, Construction, and Venture Capital. SOCAM operates in over 14 cities and strategic areas in Hong Kong, Macau, and China. The company's operations are located in Hong Kong and other regions in the People Republic of China. Its subsidiaries...

Law firms work long and hard to achieve financial success. Today however a team of professional financial consultants have developed innovative tools to assist law firms achieve even greater financial success via a unique program called "No Win...No Pay...No Risk" Attorney Lawsuit Loans. With "No Win...No Pay...No Risk" Lawsuit Loans cases are leveraged TODAY that deliver capital as the program unleashes potential future earnings sitting dead in a firms case files. "No Risk" lawsuit loans are secured only by the case themselves as there's no reimbursement obligation a firm assumes if the case in unsuccessfully litigated. With "No Risk" Attorney Loans, the investors not the firm absorbs 100% of the...

A new door to partnership is opened by the Chinese government to the foreign investors under this post-financial turmoil era in order to attract more foreign investment and provide more employment. On November 25, 2009, the State Council of the PRC promulgated the Measures for the Administration on the Establishment of Partnership Business by Foreign Enterprises or Individuals in China adopted at the 77th executive meeting of the State Council on August 19, 2009, which shall come into effect as of March 1, 2010 ("the Foreign Partnership Measures"). The Foreign Partnership Measures is regarded as supplementary to the Partnership Business Law of the People's Republic of China ("the Partnership Law...

One of the most commonly question asked by investors is "what is the best way to invest money?" The answer to this question is simple. To make the best investment possible you will need to research your options, know what risks are involved, look for opportunities that are right for the amount of investment capital that you have, and find an investment opportunity that will provide you with the largest return for the smallest degree of risk. Investment opportunities come in all shapes and sizes, and business investment opportunities are one option that is available. This type of investment can involve either investing in other people's companies or investing money in the start up of your own...

Following the success of Shing Road, communications over the meeting, Foshan plate augmented "new." April 2, Foshan, Guangdong, China Star Electrical Co., Ltd. successfully reviewed by the SFC, thus, Foshan City Adds a publicly traded company. It is reported that this year, more than 10 companies Foshan will submit application materials to the Commission in succession, more than 20 companies listed on restructuring of work in progress and will be 5-8 years for promoting the companies listed. Governor to survey Country star power is now the mainland of China, one of the top three LED packaging, LED Foshan leading enterprises. The company became IBM in 2010 qualified supplier, and China won the bid in...

Despite its brief history of just over twenty-five years, Sun MicroSystems' record of eminent employees is a long list indeed. Some are long-standing staff who helped Sun accomplish its innovative advances in the technology industry. Others are people who have worked with Sun for a few years before moving on to do greater things with their own companies. Still others are computing pioneers who were brought under the Sun umbrella when Sun acquired their companies. Although there is not near enough space in this article to do give each of them their due, we can at least briefly examine some of the more distinguished individuals. To start, the founding members of Sun Microsystems - Andy Bechtolsheim...

NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR BUSINESSES BROUGHT BY ENTERPRISE 2.0 The social network phenomenon has already transformed the consumer Web into so-called "Web 2.0." Now Web 2.0 is affecting business processes in thousands of organizations by offering incredible communication and collaboration opportunities known as "Enterprise 2.0." "All these things that are thought to be consumer services are coming into the enterprise," says former Oracle Corp. President Ray Lane, now a general partner at the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Major corporations all over the world, such as IBM, Procter & Gamble, and Walt Disney, have embraced Enterprise 2.0 technologies. We are witnessing the...

Apparently, the Russian spies in the USA were acting just like other Americans. Are spies from other nations doing the same? After all, Russia is hardly the only nation with spies in the US, there must be at least 50 nations with spies here in America. Who are they, what are they doing, and are they also blending amongst us? How many of them will come to love America, how many will turn themselves, how many will carry out a future mission after they've been under deep cover for decades? There was a very interesting editorial article in the opinion section of the Wall Street Journal after the FBI announced it had captured 10-Russian Spies; the article title was "Spies (All Too Much) Like Us," and in...

Are you looking for Private Equity Classes?  This article will serve as a guide to you for finding private equity classes and what options you have in finding a private equity class.  Classes on the industry are not incredibly common because the industry is not as large as say the banking industry or corporate finance.  This does not mean that you are completely out of luck.  Here are some options if you can't find a university class on private equity: - Financial modeling courses:  These courses are very important if you want to get an entry level job at a buyout or venture capital firm.  Analysts at these firms have to use financial models to conduct valuation and evaluate various possible...

A loan package is typically used for real estate development projects and acquisitions, but there are parts of the package which are applicable to the other types of business and commercial loans and finance. If you are seeking a loan or funding from a commercial or business lender or funding from a venture capital firm or investor, it is important to present a well organized, detailed loan package. The package gives the loan officer, investor or venture capitalist the necessary information to gauge the viability of your loan or finance request, and in turn, providing you a loan term sheet and commitment. All lenders and funding sources have different requirements, so customize your finance package...

There are many options for advancing your career in private equity (PE), either through degree programs or certification training programs. The top private equity degree and certification programs have something in common: They provide participants with many resources to understand the industry more in-depth, and they rely on a staff that is dedicated to serving its clients (you) and the staff or advisors have a background in the field. Unfortunately, some certification and degree programs are administered by people without any proven knowledge in the field and actually come from largely unrelated areas like real estate or general business. Unless the administrators and developers have worked and...

Who does not know about eBay nowadays? This worldwide phenomenon has grown to be the world's largest online marketplace chalking up millions in transactions in various currencies worldwide on a daily basis. eBay is a place to buy and sell just about anything in the internet, in just about anywhere around the globe. Any business in this magnitude, most would think, would probably have necessitated a huge amount of capitalization. Not quite for eBay.eBay started out in 1995 as AuctionWeb, a part of the personal site of 28-year old French-Iranian computer programmer Pierre Omidyar. What is odd is that this worldwide phenomenon was actually propelled by the sale of a broken laser pointer. As far as...

An executive summary summarizes your entire business plan in two or three pages. This is a tall order and can be very difficult to accomplish. You want the summary to be concise and brief, yet complete, encompassing and inclusive. This article will show you how to write an summary that is effective, concise, yet adequately covers your entire plan. This article will also provide an overview on the sections of a plan which are important to include in your executive summary and explain different uses for an executive summary. Process First, you must complete your business plan before writing your executive summary. Then pick out the important sections of the plan to put in the summary. Order the...

When investor group evaluates a start-up proposal, they report about 25% of the final decision is based on the team. It is a good idea to look at the criteria used by investors, even if external funding isn't in the start-up's future plans. Investors have seen thousands of start-ups flare up and flame out quickly, and they've seen the stellar successes that have become household names. Investors look at a start-up with an objective eye. They aren't emotionally attached to the company or the product concept. A team is an organized group of people working together to achieve a goal. Many of today's hi-tech products are so complex that no one person is capable of understanding every aspect of the...

Private equity is a difficult industry to enter, as many graduates of top-tier business schools are drawn by the high pay and challenging work environment. With so many qualified applicants, buyout firms face a tough decision selecting a candidate. Firms will look for what separates one applicant from another. This means that in a close hiring decision, any extra qualification such as a private equity training program could make the difference in working at a buyout firm or having to settle for a less desired career. Few business schools offer much in the way of PE training except financial modeling and the general tools you need to analyze and execute a deal. Many graduates leave school feeling...

Fargo & Company (WFC) is a huge Western and Midwestern bank that provides a diverse array of financial services to its more than 23 million customers. The company employs more than 150,000 people at its over 6,000 locations nationwide. Wells Fargo has about $500 billion in assets. While the company continues to derive more than half its revenues from interest income (about $26 billion), its activities are not limited to collecting deposits and lending money. Wells Fargo engages in other businesses such as brokerage services, asset management, and investment banking. The company also makes venture capital investments. Over the last ten years, Wells Fargo has averaged a 1.57% return on assets and...

A home-based business is a dream come true for many entrepreneurs; you can set your own hours, you don't have to waste time commuting and you get to spend more time with your family. However, like all businesses, home-based businesses need capital to start up and to finish projects. So where do you start looking for funds? Loans are the most widely available source of funding for home-based businesses. A business loan program that suits your needs may be a little hard to find at first, and you may feel that banks and commercial lenders do not want to take a chance with a small business. But do not let this dishearten you. We'll discuss how to get that crucial loan approved for your home-based...

Unique differentiation has become the most vital part of any business plan. Now more than ever, entrepreneurs need to be able to answer three key questions: 1. Who are you? 2. What do you do? 3. Why should I care? The ability to effectively communicate that message and grow the infrastructure to support it comes with a high price tag. Even with the adaptation of social media, firms are spending a large part of their marketing budget to sustain it. Therefore, a key component to any fledgling business is knowing where to look for opportunities and getting an audience with the right people. This is especially true when trying to raise money to grow and start your business. As the economy begins to...

Take a look at your prospecting list, if you have one. Where did all those names come from? Most likely they're a hodge podge of names from a hodge podge of sources...with few added to your list solely on the criteria that they're especially good leads. Now ask yourself how successful your clients would be if their lists were compiled in such an unscientific manner? When you consider that the single most important element of a direct mail campaign is the list (followed closely by the offer, and THEN the copy), it becomes painfully apparent that a sloppy list is a liability indeed! So how do you go about creating a solid list of quality prospects that you can mine for years to come? There are some...

Investing in India has been a prime factor for the rise of the Indian economy in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) and vice-versa. Investment advisors who have been guiding investors on the prospects of favourable investments in India are quite optimistic. In such a trend quite evident lately, the private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) investments into India have been somewhat remarkable. This trend is further strengthening the confidence of all investors alike. According to a recent report released by global consultancy Bain & Company, titled 'India PE Report 2010', there is renewed confidence among the leading global PE investors about the Indian market. Private equity and venture...

April 13, 2010, Businessweek article it was announced that the head of equities for TMX Group Inc. That operated the Toronto Stock Exchange and the TSX Venture Exchange had high hopes for the Canadian IPO or initial public offerings market and believed it could top CAD 6.4 billion for the year. This amount he said would be the highest in over a decade and the new issue pipeline reflected the belief the recession is over as stocks and the economy rebounded. At the end of May, a Reuters article noted that while a number of Canadian companies were ready to go public, a handful would expose themselves to the market due to the recent turbulence. Despite this, investors at the annual Canadian Venture...

Although penny stocks don't cost a penny any more they still hold a lot of potential for new traders trying to make money on the stock market. While penny stocks have been around for a long time, they became really popular in the mid 1990's when the so called dot com boom took over Wall Street. This dot com phenomenon was known as the Penny Express. A lot of money was made at either end of these trades. For aspiring entrepreneurs, they turned to the OTCBB to get venture capital and to get their ideas off the ground. Often these companies went from 10 cents a stocks to ten dollars a stock overnight - the kinds of returns that most traders only dream about. While this propelled a lot of entrepreneurs...

Startups love "Talking about the Baby"; they are just like new parents. The founding team's passion and engineer's enthusiasm heavily influence the company's early messaging. Up on launch, the company should be proud and celebrate. Realistically, startups have often been totally immersed twelve to fourteen hours a day six to seven day a week for three to four years in product development. Each and every corner case, feature, and capability has been painstakingly debated, argued and rehashed numerous times. The product/software knowledge depth within the team is vast. It is human nature to be enthusiastic about years of work and want to tell the world all about it. Unfortunately, the rest of the...

The percentage of people willing to start up a new business has increased proportionally. But to start a new venture capital needed is huge. This factor hinders those who are really willing to take it up. But many sources are available to give ideas about the best start up businesses. When it's a new venture and when the person starting is also a amateur to the field it is always advisable to start one at lower budget. In such situations Franchising might be a good option. Some amount must be paid to get the franchises,but after that it's the individual's responsibility to invest and develop the business in their area. Being patient and moving at a slower pace at the beginning is the base factor for...

GlobalData's "Alternative Energy Monthly Deal Analysis M&A and Investments Trends – March 2010" report is an essential source of data and trend analysis on the mergers and acquisitions and financings in the alternative energy market. The report provides detailed information on M&A, Equity/Debt Offerings, Private Equity, Venture Financing and Partnership transactions registered in the alternative energy industry in February 2010. The report portrays detailed comparative data on the number of deals and their value in the last six months subdivided by deal types, segments, and geographies. Additionally, the report provides information on the top financial advisory firms in the alternative...

When you have to make a business presentation or pitch to group of senior executives it's often the case that you might be just one of many presenters that they have seen that day. So it's important to start strong and capture their attention from the get go. One way of doing this is to let them set the agenda. I've just finished watching the first in a new series of the British X-Factor. It was obvious that by the time the final few performers were due to sing that Simon Cowell had had enough of average acts. When the last singer came on to the stage, Simon was distracted, bored and angry. But then Daniel, a teacher from England started singing, and he lit up the room. He was brilliant, but seemed...

In 2005 we saw some real progress in NanoTech Research and apparently all that venture capital money rolling in is really starting to pay off. The many University and small entrepreneurial start-ups are indeed showing the true spirit of ingenuity and innovative talent. We have seen huge advances in many areas through NanoTech solutions such as; extended battery performance for hand held personal tech devices, hybrid cars and back-up power sources. We have also seen incredible solar cell efficiency increases both in performance and less cost to build, thus helping solar become a sensible option. In Nano self assembly we have seen potential for medicine, material creation, bonding materials, virus...

Tweet Share Joint venture Partners often involve a company individual which will negotiate with you to either place your products services as advertisements on their site, or to pump your products services to their subscriber list, and in return you will pay them a part of your sales or your income. The best thing about a partnership is that the intended outcome is a win-win for both parties, and the costs can be shared also. The dictionary definition of a collaboration is a contract between several parties to join together with the aim of executing a specific enterprize. The profits and losses of the enterprise are agreed to be shared between all parties. 2 folk, or a party of more, join...

To many marketers in the "Internet Marketing" niche, setting up a joint venture has become identical with recruiting "super affiliates" to promote a product launch. For more detail go to: joint-venture-secret. For more help visit to: While only one of many possible types of joint ventures that are the type of JV that this article focuses on. This article addresses facts that you need to recognize in order to become a Master of " This article is specifically addressed to the individuals seeking to persuade super affiliates to JV with them. Mastering "The Art of the JV" actually isn't that difficult. It's something that many seasoned veterans within "The Internet Marketing Inner Circle" have done. It...

ign="center"> With 60,000 square feet of retail and warehouse space, Sierra Snowboard is as real a bricks-and-mortar business as you can get. And like many businesses, the sports equipment store in Sacramento, Calif., also has a website (sierrasnowboard.com) to augment sales. Nothing special there. But as co-owner and vice-president of marketing Erik Christiansen explains, Sierra is pursuing a third business strategy that's pure fantasy -- buying up virtual property in a make-believe world that he says is paying real-world dividends. does not exist on any National Geographic map but its inhabitants nonetheless can own or manage everything from hot real estate and popular Web domains to consumer...

SONEX INVESTMENT INC. is a private investment company that provides financing to Small-cap, publicly traded companies. Our mission is to add value by providing not only financial resources and industry knowledge, but hands-on M&A strategy and implementation. Acting as principal, we maintain successful long term relationships with our portfolio companies. Our expertise lies only partly in creating flexible financial structures. More importantly, our ingenuity and financial resources enable a company to grow both internally and externally via acquisitions. We're a hard working, creative, highly experienced and successful team that can take a company to the next level. Contact us to see how we can...

Nearly all inventors need extra funding to bring their product to market. But where do you find this funding? Who can invest? Are there other ways to get financial help besides through investments? These are the questions we will answer in this two-part article. Funding from Individuals Finding individuals to invest in the early stages of your product development is usually the easiest and best way to get your project started. Below are the most common forms of individual investing. Self Funding Self funding can be money from checking or savings accounts, credit cards, personal loans, or the sale of personal property or stocks. Family and Friends Investments from friends and family are often the...