Start-Up Guide for the Technopreneur: Financial Planning, Decision Making and Negotiating from Incubation to Exit, + Website

Chapter 1

Finance for Start-Ups 101

An appropriate starting point for this book is a review of some basic financial terms and concepts that will be useful in understanding the principal themes to be found in the ensuing chapters. This chapter consists of seven sections: fundraising stages, risk/return, types of funding, capital structure, intellectual property, valuation, and exit strategy.

Fundraising Stages

According to standard definitions, a company’s fundraising stage is determined by a number of factors, including the number of employees, amount of revenues, capitalization, profit, and the status of product development. For purposes of this book, it is more accurate and useful to define a fundraising stage as a period during which the cost of funds, whether in terms of equity dilution or rate of borrowing interest, is comparable throughout such period. Reaching the next fundraising stage requires progression to the next stage of business development and/or attainment of the necessary financial objectives permitting the solicitation of additional capital at more favorable terms vis-à-vis a higher valuation or a lower interest rate that can be secured from prospective lenders. The significant implication is the derived value of raising funds efficiently via raising only the necessary funds in each funding round at the lowest cost of capital currently available to reach the next fundraising stage. Determining the “necessary” amount of funds and identifying the sources of funding ...