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	<title>ActSeed is for Entrepreneurs and Startups &#187; funding</title>
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		<title>VC Profile &#8211; Moore Venture Partners</title>
		<link>http://actseed.com/2011/08/04/vc-profile-moore-venture-partners/</link>
		<comments>http://actseed.com/2011/08/04/vc-profile-moore-venture-partners/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 04 Aug 2011 13:09:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bill Attinger</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[actseed]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[entrepreneur]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[entrepreneurs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[funding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[investment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moore Venture Partners]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[smallbiz]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[startup]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[venture capital]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.actseed.com/blogs/?p=1499</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Terry Moore has been building and funding companies for two decades.  As the Managing Partner of Moore Venture Partners, LP, Terry sees up to 500 deals per year. From this list, he may seriously review a dozen of them and make an investment in about four of them. Moore Venture Partners has established a unique niche in [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h2>Terry Moore has been building and funding companies for two decades.</h2>
<p><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-1497" title="Terry Moore, Managing Partner of Moore Venture Partners" src="http://actseed.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/TerryMoore-MooreVP.png" alt="TerryMoore-MooreVP" width="110" height="136" /> As the Managing Partner of Moore Venture Partners, LP, Terry sees up to 500 deals per year. From this list, he may seriously review a dozen of them and make an investment in about four of them.</p>
<p>Moore Venture Partners has established a unique niche in venture investing.  Moore doesn&#8217;t seed or lead transactions, but the firm does source and qualify deals that fit the interests of the top VCs in Silicon Valley and beyond. Then, they participate in deals with top VC firms.  Through this approach, Moore Venture Partners enables its limited partners to participate in investment opportunities to which they might not otherwise have access.</p>
<p>The Fund&#8217;s focus is technology and life sciences, particularly in southern California - companies with strong intellectual property (e.g. patents) in the early growth stages, and sometimes even in the expansion stage.</p>
<p>Terry has a solid track record of investing with returns coming from both acquisition opportunities and IPOs. His own operational experience helps him assess deals and their management teams.  His extensive relationships with top VC and corporate investors enable his portfolio companies to have the best chance to grow and succeed.  His leadership as Chairman of <a title="The VC Roundtable" href="http://bit.ly/TheVCRoundtable" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff;"><strong>The VC Roundtable</strong></span></a> further indicates his commitment to bringing best practices and a collaborative spirit to venture investing.</p>
<h2>ActSeed is glad to have firms like Moore Venture Partners involved in its Investor Group.</h2>
<p>ActSeed provides Terry with visibility into a community of innovative startups &#8211; each having a series of ActSeed Scores that provide an indication of the company&#8217;s &#8220;investment-readiness&#8221;.  The scores calculated for each startup in ActSeed&#8217;s Entrepreneur Group enables Terry to immediately get a sense of whether the startup has established a solid foundation on which to grow and where gaps in the business might exist. Gaps won&#8217;t necessarily kill an investment opportunity, but not knowing what issues need attention may become quickly fatal for both entrepreneur and investor.  ActSeed&#8217;s contribution to the VC process is to bring any issues to the front of the conversation.</p>
<p>Moore Venture Partners is on track to provide great value to both its portfolio of startups and its limited partner investors. Terry Moore leads this effort by leveraging his experience and administering a thorough due diligence.  Each year a few startups may become part of the Moore Venture Partners&#8217; investment portfolio and benefit further from Terry&#8217;s guidance and extensive network.  The hundreds of deals that don&#8217;t quite make the cut will need to look elsewhere for their capital needs.  ActSeed is glad to help Moore in his quest to find appropriate deals for his fund and provide a resource for the deals he sees that may not be &#8221;investor-ready&#8221; and need to find funding elsewhere.</p>
<p>To learn more about Moore Venture Partners, <a title="Moore Venture Partners" href="http://bit.ly/MooreVenturePartners-website" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff;"><strong>please visit the Moore Venture Partners web site</strong></span></a>.</p>
<p><strong>To learn more about how ActSeed can help your startup become investor-ready and find VC or individual investors who may be interested in your venture, please</strong></p>
<ol>
<li><a title="Preparation Matters" href="http://bit.ly/PrepMatters_WP" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff;">Download ActSeed&#8217;s 5-page white paper</span></a>,</li>
<li><a title="Register on ActSeed.com" href="http://bit.ly/RegisterActSeed" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff;">Register on ActSeed.com</span></a> and</li>
<li><a title="Join ActSeed's Entrepreneur Group" href="http://bit.ly/EntrepreneurGrp-ActSeed" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff;">Join ActSeed&#8217;s Entrepreneur Group</span></a>.</li>
</ol>
<p> </p>
<p> <a href="http://bit.ly/MooreVenturePartners-website" target="_blank"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-1495" title="Moore Venture Partners logo" src="http://actseed.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/MooreVP-logo-Med.jpg" alt="Moore Venture Partners logo" width="272" height="73" /></a></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;.</p>
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		<title>Finding Angel Halos within Higher Education</title>
		<link>http://actseed.com/2011/07/14/finding-angel-halos-within-higher-education/</link>
		<comments>http://actseed.com/2011/07/14/finding-angel-halos-within-higher-education/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 14 Jul 2011 13:19:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bill Attinger</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[actseed]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[angels]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[angel_investing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Baylor Angel Network]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[entrepreneur]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[entrepreneurs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[funding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[investment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[investors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[startup]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[startups]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.actseed.com/blogs/?p=1523</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[How University-Affiliated Angel Groups are Helping Fuel Startups While Supporting Higher Education. Angel investors typically congregate into formal angel groups based upon geographic proximity and interests in certain industry sectors and/or specific growth stages.  While these characteristics generally reflect the commonality within the Baylor Angel Network (BAN), what makes this angel group unique is how they [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h2 style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #006400;">How University-Affiliated Angel Groups are Helping Fuel Startups While Supporting Higher Education.</span></h2>
<p>Angel investors typically congregate into formal angel groups based upon geographic proximity and interests in certain industry sectors and/or specific growth stages.  While these characteristics generally reflect the commonality within the <strong>Baylor Angel Network (BAN)</strong>, what makes this angel group unique is how they have integrated Baylor University into their operation.</p>
<p><strong>Operating an angel group within a university setting drives benefits to a broader group of beneficiaries, from business students to the business schools they attend.</strong></p>
<p>In addition to the standard angel-entrepreneur activity, Baylor&#8217;s Hankamer School of Business receives an angel-designated percentage of the profits from each successful investment in the form of a gift to the University &#8211; on average, 25% of the profits  generated by the donor from a successful exit. Also, a few students at Baylor are selected to serve as research analysts who contribute to the evaluation of prospective deals.  Baylor Angels also mentor the student analysts and share their wisdom with students taking entrepreneurship classes.  BAN doesn&#8217;t require its angel members to be alumni of Baylor, but they do expect each BAN angel to contribute some of their returns to the University.</p>
<p><strong>ActSeed is grateful to have the Baylor Angel Network involved in the ActSeed Investor Group.  </strong></p>
<p>The disciplined, methodical approach that BAN applies to their investment decisions meshes well with ActSeed&#8217;s own methodical process for helping investors quickly understand &#8220;what&#8217;s under the hood&#8221;.  While BAN does very well in analyzing their deal flow internally, ActSeed Company (Entrepreneur) Scores provide BAN angels with another indication of how well a startup will perform in the due diligence phase.  In other words, ActSeed can help entrepreneurs quickly &#8220;bubble up&#8221; to the surface with angels and reduce the time it takes to go from first contact to funding decision.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>Kevin Castello, Executive Director of the Baylor Angel Network, shares his thoughts:</strong><br />
<em>&#8220;Excellence is revealed in execution. A lot of emphasis is placed on the vision, the business plan, the team, and other components but without execution they are just words on a page. There are so many challenges for a new entrepreneurial venture and it is critical to have an honest evaluation of your business. I love that ActSeed is committed to help entrepreneurs be prepared for their venture and to provide them tools for that process. BAN looks forward to a continued partnership with the ActSeed community.&#8221;</em></p>
<p>Before approaching the Baylor Angel Network or any angel group, an entrepreneur must first explore whether  investors would even be interested in their venture. ActSeed&#8217;s Investor profile helps clarify this.  For example, an entrepreneur can review the <a title="Baylor Angel Network - ActSeed Profile" href="http://bit.ly/BaylorAngelNetwork-ActSeedProfileURL" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff;"><strong>Baylor Angel Network&#8217;s ActSeed profile</strong></span></a> to learn:</p>
<ul>
<li>What types of deals generally interest the 40+ angel investors who are members of BAN,</li>
<li>Where BAN angels are looking to invest (across five southwestern states), and  </li>
<li>How much they intend to invest (amounts usually between $100,000 and $300,000, including participation in larger deals up to $2 million when there&#8217;s a lead investor already established). </li>
</ul>
<p>For entrepreneurs who may be thinking about approaching the Baylor Angel Network, consider approaching them through <a title="ActSeed Entrepreneur Group" href="http://bit.ly/EntrepreneurGrp-ActSeed" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff;"><strong>ActSeed&#8217;s Entrepreneur Group</strong></span></a> where you can do more than pitch them an idea &#8211; you can demonstrate your &#8220;investor-readiness&#8221; through your ActSeed Scores and possibly get moved to the front of the line for consideration.</p>
<p> To learn more about the Baylor Angel Network and how they are integrating angel investing within the University, you can <a title="Baylor Angel Network Model - July 2011" href="http://bit.ly/BaylorAngelNetworkModel-PDF-Jul11" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff;"><strong>download their introductory document here</strong></span></a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://bit.ly/BaylorAngelNetworkModel-PDF-Jul11" target="_blank"><img class="size-full wp-image-1521 alignnone" title="Baylor Angel Network" src="http://actseed.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/BaylorAngelNetwork-logo.jpg" alt="Baylor Angel Network" width="330" height="90" /></a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;.</p>
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		<title>Kick the Tires: A Continuing Series for a New Generation of Small Business Investors</title>
		<link>http://actseed.com/2011/05/23/kick-the-tires-a-continuing-series-for-a-new-generation-of-small-business-investors/</link>
		<comments>http://actseed.com/2011/05/23/kick-the-tires-a-continuing-series-for-a-new-generation-of-small-business-investors/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 24 May 2011 01:04:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bill Attinger</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[actseed]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[angels]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[angel_investing]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[funding]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Kick the Tires]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[small business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[smallbiz]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[startups]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.actseed.com/blogs/?p=1461</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ActSeed&#8217;s mission of reducing small business failure rates depend upon both well-prepared entrepreneurs and well-informed investors. This new series of articles, called &#8220;Kick the Tires&#8221;, will help both investors and entrepreneurs align for the best chances to achieve reciprocal success.  ["Kicking the Tires" - an idiom - giving something an initial inspection before making a decision to pursue [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h2><span style="color: #006400;">ActSeed&#8217;s mission of reducing small business failure rates depend upon both <span style="text-decoration: underline;">well-prepared entrepreneurs</span> and <span style="text-decoration: underline;">well-informed investors</span>. This new series of articles, called &#8220;Kick the Tires&#8221;, will help both investors and entrepreneurs align for the best chances to achieve reciprocal success. </span></h2>
<p><span style="color: #696969;"><em>["Kicking the Tires" - an idiom - giving something an initial inspection before making a decision to pursue a transaction - origin: early car buyers would kick a vehicle's tires to see if they properly held air]</em></span></p>
<p>So far, we have been more visible on the entrepreneur-preparation side of the equation.  Recently, we have started to make significant inroads on the other side of the same equation - sharing &#8220;best practices&#8221; with a new generation of small business investors and attracting seasoned investors with our methodologies that will help them accelerate the review process (&#8220;due diligence&#8221;) for making investment decisions.</p>
<p><strong>&#8220;Kick the Tires&#8221;</strong> is a new series of articles that highlight the many issues that a small business investor or &#8220;startup angel&#8221; should address before making an investment decision. We&#8217;ll include red flags to watch for. We&#8217;ll review &#8220;tangibles&#8221; and &#8220;intangibles&#8221; alike. We&#8217;ll explore small business investing from almost every angle, including legal, financial, organizational, strategic and cultural.</p>
<p>To date, our primary efforts toward building new reservoirs of investor capital have been through our workshops and webinars (&#8220;<a title="How to Evaluate Prospective Deals Like a Professional Angel Investor&quot;" href="http://bit.ly/InvestWorkshopArticle-SDUT-Mar9" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff;">How to Evaluate Prospective Deals Like a Professional Angel Investor</span></a>&#8220;).  These workshops are well-attended, but it feels like we try to cram two months of information into a two hour presentation.  Seriously, we do share a lot of information in a short period of time. From there, we develop a relationship and rapport with the attendees to assure they have tools to find and evaluate small business investment opportunities within the ActSeed entrepreneur community and beyond.  <strong>Kick the Tires</strong> is meant to supplement, expand and reinforce the knowledge shared in our workshops.</p>
<h2>Who will benefit from reading the articles in this series?</h2>
<p><strong>Small business investors - both novice and seasoned.</strong>  Whether you want to invest $5,000 or $5 million, you still should apply a defined due diligence methodology and process to assure your interests are aligned with your investment choice.</p>
<p><strong>Entrepreneurs.</strong>  These articles don&#8217;t contain fabricated hurdles or secret handshakes, but they do outline the issues that together create a solid business foundation that will give the business the greatest resistance to failure, which is another way to say the greatest chances for success.  Investors don&#8217;t want to invest in a company destined for failure any more than the entrepreneur wants to build a business exposed to avoidable failure.  In other words, what&#8217;s good for the investor is also good for the entrepreneur, making this series equally relevant to those building businesses.</p>
<h2>Beyond the articles in this series, what can be done to help connect &#8220;well-prepared entrepreneurs&#8221; with &#8220;well-informed investors&#8221;?</h2>
<p><strong>Join ActSeed.</strong>  Apply the knowledge that is shared in the articles by joining the <a title="ActSeed Entrepreneur Group" href="http://bit.ly/EntrepreneurGrp-ActSeed"><span style="color: #0000ff;"><strong>ActSeed Entrepreneur Group</strong></span></a> or the <a title="ActSeed Investor Group Page" href="http://bit.ly/InvestorGrp_ActSeed"><span style="color: #0000ff;"><strong>ActSeed Investor Group</strong></span></a>.  The principles and issues we highlight in &#8220;Kick the Tires&#8221; are the same that we use to connect compatible &#8216;treps and investors within ActSeed.com using our scored profiles and filtered search tools.</p>
<p>Finally, please send us suggestions or questions about small business investing that you&#8217;d like us to cover.  We&#8217;ll do our best to address these issues here as well.  Please send your questions about small business investing to: <a href="mailto:groupadmin.investor@actseed.com"><span style="color: #0000ff;"><strong>groupadmin.investor@actseed.com</strong></span></a>.</p>
<p>Together, let&#8217;s get to work and build some wealth!</p>
<p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1462" title="Good ActSeed Scores Generate Investor Interest" src="http://actseed.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/GiveMoneyActSeedScore.jpg" alt="Good ActSeed Scores Generate Investor Interest" width="426" height="282" /></p>
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		<title>The Realities of Being an Entrepreneur in One Book</title>
		<link>http://actseed.com/2011/05/06/the-realities-of-being-an-entrepreneur-in-one-book/</link>
		<comments>http://actseed.com/2011/05/06/the-realities-of-being-an-entrepreneur-in-one-book/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 06 May 2011 07:58:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bill Attinger</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Book Review]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Scott Shane]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.actseed.com/blogs/?p=1402</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;Most people start businesses simply because they just don&#8217;t like working for someone else.&#8221; If this quote resonates with you, or even if you have another motive for becoming an entrepreneur, you should read this book. Scott Shane packs this book with statistics and information that really helps you understand the realities of building a [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h2><span style="color: #008000;">&#8220;Most people start businesses simply because they just don&#8217;t like working for someone else.&#8221;</span></h2>
<p>If this quote resonates with you, or even if you have another motive for becoming an entrepreneur, you should read this book.</p>
<p>Scott Shane packs <a title="Buy Illusions of Entrepreneurship by Scott Shane" href="http://bit.ly/IllusionEntrep-SShane-Bookstore" target="_self"><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;">this book</span></strong></a> with statistics and information that really helps you understand the realities of building a business. If you are a true entrepreneur, this book should sober your expectations and then bolster your resolve. If you aren&#8217;t quite there yet as an entrepreneur, this book will properly discourage you from burning too much of your own time and money (not to mention the time and money of others) until you are truly ready to &#8220;do it the right way.&#8221;</p>
<p>In this book, Shane shares statistics and data about where funding comes from for new business creation, what impact VC and angels have on new business creation, which industries receive most of their funds and who may likely be the best source of funds for your own business.  He shares data about how long it usually takes to &#8220;turn the corner&#8221; with a new business and the demographics of entrepreneurship, too.</p>
<p>The Illusions of Entrepreneurship pulls data from a multitude of resources, including the Federal Reserve Survey of Small business Finance and the Center for Venture Research in New Hampshire.  Essentially, Scott Shane has condensed thousands of pages of research into a single, coherent book.</p>
<p>This book is one of the first ones you should read if you are contemplating the plunge into the world of entrepreneurship.</p>
<p>You can purchase this book from ActSeed&#8217;s Amazon store <span style="color: #0000ff;"><a title="Buy Illusions of Entrepreneurship by Scott Shane" href="http://bit.ly/IllusionEntrep-SShane-Bookstore" target="_self"><span style="color: #0000ff;"><strong>here</strong></span></a></span>. </p>
<p>Enjoy!</p>
<p><a href="http://bit.ly/IllusionEntrep-SShane-Bookstore"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1400" title="Illusions of Entrepreneurship - Book by Scott Shane" src="http://actseed.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/IllusionEntrepBook-SShane.jpg" alt="Illusions of Entrepreneurship - Book by Scott Shane" width="300" height="457" /></a></p>
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		<title>Compatibility Counts</title>
		<link>http://actseed.com/2011/05/03/compatibility-counts/</link>
		<comments>http://actseed.com/2011/05/03/compatibility-counts/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 03 May 2011 21:13:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bill Attinger</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Investors, Investing, Investment]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.actseed.com/blogs/?p=1378</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[What is compatibility in the context of small business investing and why is it important?  Private direct investment is very different than buying a publicly traded security. Investors do not have the same regulatory support or liquidity as a publicly traded stock.  While we have witnessed a number of publicly traded companies mislead the public with incorrect or incomplete [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h3>What is compatibility in the context of small business investing and why is it important? </h3>
<p>Private direct investment is very different than buying a publicly traded security. Investors do not have the same regulatory support or liquidity as a publicly traded stock.  While we have witnessed a number of publicly traded companies mislead the public with incorrect or incomplete information in the past, at least there is a formal structure with a set of reporting regulations and consequences for failing to adhere to those regs and provide certain information to investors.  With startups and small businesses, there is much less information available and very little regulation on what must be shared with investors.</p>
<p>Because of this, there is a greater element of compatibility required between the small business investor and the small business.</p>
<h3>Trust and Alignment of Purpose</h3>
<p>Understanding this need for compatibility is one of the key topics in the ActSeed Investor Workshop (&#8220;How to Evaluate Deals Like a Professional Angel Investor&#8221;).  Simply stated, we strongly recommend that seed stage investors and startup entrepreneurs are fully aligned in purpose and culture as well as around expected return on investment and &#8220;exit strategies&#8221;.  At the early stages of a business, investors should be viewed as a partner, not as a transaction &#8211; a co-pilot and navigation assistance, not merely gas in the tank. The business risk is extremely high in the early stages of a new company and the investor should play an active role in helping the entrepreneur steer clear of pitfalls.</p>
<p>Last year, we created a fun vignette about how ActSeed was like an &#8220;<a title="ActSeed - the eHarmony for Startups" href="http://bit.ly/eHarmony_for_startups" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff;">eHarmony for startups and investors</span></a>&#8221; &#8211; how we help match investor-entrepreneur compatibilities.  Recently, we had an inquiry from an entrepreneur who didn&#8217;t quite understand our analogy, and interestingly, was persistent in trying to understand how we were an &#8220;eHarmony to investors&#8221;.  So, we drafted a candid reply:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="color: #8b4513;"><em>&#8220;Simply put, most early/seed stage investors look for strategic and long term compatibility, not “quick hits”. The days of throwing money into something based upon a whim or basic concept are gone.</em></span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="color: #8b4513;"><em>eHarmony markets their community as one where “people are brought together based on the things that really matter” (the current front page quote on eHarmony.com). ActSeed does the same for investors and entrepreneurs.</em></span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="color: #8b4513;"><em>To further apply the personal relationship / eHarmony metaphor: investors aren’t interested in “one night stands” and &#8220;casual encounters.&#8221; Investors are no longer being seduced by what sounds good without verifying what IS good. ActSeed provides a mechanism to help the investor verify and accelerate the due diligence process by 60-90 days.</em></span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="color: #8b4513;"><em>The common theme from our growing Investor Group members is that they don’t have time to see millions of interesting ideas, but they want to quickly find a few good ones that match their interests AND that provide evidence of preparedness in the core areas of business &#8230;PLUS a demonstrated ability to execute a sound plan.&#8221;</em></span></p>
<p>We know ActSeed isn&#8217;t for every entrepreneur, but we pledge to our growing group of Investors that the companies and entrepreneurs they will find within ActSeed&#8217;s Entrepreneur Group are ready to &#8220;extend trust&#8221; through an early presentation of the due diligence issues that will eventually need to be addressed anyway. The sooner this information is &#8220;on the table&#8221;, the faster a deal can be done or the parties can move on.  If you can use the ActSeed process to cut 60-90 days out of the due diligence process, why not?</p>
<p>Within ActSeed, in order for a successful investment to occur:</p>
<ol>
<li>ActSeed presents the questions to be answered</li>
<li>The Entrepreneur must provide the answers</li>
<li>The Investor must trust the answers</li>
</ol>
<h3>Are you an ActSeed Investor?</h3>
<p>If you are someone who wants to invest an amount between $5,000 and $5 million in early stage, seed stage, startup or small businesses, please join ActSeed&#8217;s Investor Group.  It&#8217;s free to join, takes 15 minutes to set up, and allows you to interact on a username basis and allows you to reveal your real identity when and if you choose (to avoid the possibility of &#8220;overly ambitious&#8221; entrepreneurs). </p>
<h3>Learn more about ActSeed&#8217;s Investor Group through the resources below:</h3>
<p><a title="Investor Group Intro" href="http://bit.ly/InvestorGrp-PDF-ActSeed" target="_blank"><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;">Click here</span></strong></a> to download a 1-page PDF about ActSeed&#8217;s Investor Group</p>
<p>Watch a two-minute video about ActSeed’s Investor Group:<br />
<iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/gvgPHvpeOnM?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p><a title="Join ActSeed" href="http://www.actseed.com/registration.php" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff;"><strong>Join ActSeed</strong></span></a> (no cost).</p>
<p>Then <a title="ActSeed Investor Group Page" href="http://bit.ly/InvestorGrp_ActSeed" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff;"><strong>join ActSeed’s Investor Group</strong></span></a>.</p>
<p>Let us know how we can help you get set up.</p>
<p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1377" title="Compatability and Trust for Investor and Entrepreneur" src="http://actseed.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/RingsOnly.jpg" alt="Compatability and Trust for Investor and Entrepreneur" width="294" height="212" /></p>
<p>&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;.</p>
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		<title>Make the First Pitch Count</title>
		<link>http://actseed.com/2011/04/22/make-the-first-pitch-count/</link>
		<comments>http://actseed.com/2011/04/22/make-the-first-pitch-count/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 22 Apr 2011 19:40:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bill Attinger</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[For & About Entrepreneurs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[actseed]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[angel_investing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[entrepreneur]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[entrepreneurs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[funding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[investment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pitching hacks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[preparation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[smallbiz]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[startup]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[startups]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tips]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.actseed.com/blogs/?p=1370</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Thoughts for your first pitch: Relax and enjoy the experience. Let your passion come through, but keep it simple and concise, and don&#8217;t get defensive if you &#8220;cross nerves&#8221; with your audience. Make sure you can quickly and clearly explain: what customer &#8220;pain&#8221; you&#8217;re solving, why your solution will sell, how you make money (and [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h2>Thoughts for your first pitch:</h2>
<p>Relax and enjoy the experience.</p>
<p>Let your passion come through, but keep it simple and concise, and don&#8217;t get defensive if you &#8220;cross nerves&#8221; with your audience.</p>
<p>Make sure you can quickly and clearly explain: what customer &#8220;pain&#8221; you&#8217;re solving, why your solution will sell, how you make money (and when), and how your investor can expect to realize their return on investment.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s ok to not have answers for everything. If you don&#8217;t have an answer, offer that you will get back to them with the answer. You might even acknowledge that their question is a good one and ask them if they have any insights to share toward converging on an answer.</p>
<p>Things we suggest not saying:</p>
<ul>
<li>&#8220;We have no competition.&#8221;</li>
<li>&#8220;Our revenue projections are conservative.&#8221;</li>
</ul>
<p>1. Investors may only listen when you tell them about a good idea.</p>
<p>however&#8230;</p>
<p>2. Investors may &#8220;open their checkbook&#8221; if you (A) have a good idea and (B) can demonstrate that you have a plan to implement that good idea and turn it into a profitable one.</p>
<p>We champion all of this and more within our ActSeed.com community.</p>
<p>This note was originally a reply to a young entrepreneur on LinkedIn who was about to make his first investor pitch and was looking for advice about pitching.</p>
<p>In addition to our quick response to &#8220;making the first pitch count&#8221;, we also recommend buying the book, &#8220;<a title="Buy Pitching Hacks" href="http://bit.ly/PitchingHacksActSeed" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff;"><strong>Pitching Hacks</strong></span></a>&#8220;.</p>
<p>Now, go out there and make every pitch count!</p>
<p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1371" title="Baseball Pitch" src="http://actseed.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/BaseballPitch.jpg" alt="Baseball Pitch" width="273" height="239" /></p>
<p>&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;</p>
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		<title>We Just Found $1 Million and Want to Share It with You</title>
		<link>http://actseed.com/2011/03/24/found-1million-and-want-to-share/</link>
		<comments>http://actseed.com/2011/03/24/found-1million-and-want-to-share/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 24 Mar 2011 15:16:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bill Attinger</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investors, Investing, Investment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[actseed]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Angel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[angels]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[angel_investing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[entrepreneurs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[funding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[investment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[preparation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sbdc]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[smallbiz]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[startups]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.actseed.com/blogs/?p=1312</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Earlier this month, we led our first formal seminar entitled &#8220;How to Evaluate Prospective Deals Like a Professional Angel Investor&#8221; and helped about 40 attendees get started in the world of small business investing.  For two hours, we worked with this group to share the ins and outs of finding, assessing and engaging startups and entrepreneurs. Through an [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Earlier this month, we led our first formal seminar entitled &#8220;How to Evaluate Prospective Deals Like a Professional Angel Investor&#8221; and helped about 40 attendees get started in the world of small business investing.</p>
<p><a href="http://bit.ly/InvestorGrp_ActSeed" target="_blank"><img class="size-full wp-image-1314 alignleft" title="Invest Yes No" src="http://www.actseed.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/iStock_000011722757XSmall-InvestYesNo.jpg" alt="InvestYesNo" width="181" height="271" /></a> For two hours, we worked with this group to share the ins and outs of finding, assessing and engaging startups and entrepreneurs. Through an informal poll, we estimate this group represented about $1 million of investor capital. Some were interested in investing $5,000 to $25,000. Others were interested in $50,000 to $100,000.</p>
<p>Some were young and had full time jobs, but craved the opportunity and upside of investing in a startup. Some wanted to use some funds from a self-directed IRA and one person had recently sold his long-held business and was driven to explore investing to keep his mind and business acumen stimulated.</p>
<p>What all attendees had in common was a desire to understand some of the nuances of small business investing – what to look for, what to expect and what to avoid.</p>
<h2>What our attendees learned:</h2>
<ul>
<li>Understanding the early stage investor landscape, the different types of early stage investors and how investing in a small business is different than buying and selling publicly traded stock.</li>
<li>The importance of identifying deals that are in areas where direct experience exists.</li>
<li>The Tangibles: A &#8220;checklist&#8221; approach of the issues a prospective investor should address with the entrepreneur before proceeding.</li>
<li>The Intangibles: Issues beyond intellect and into instinct, where a shared sense of trust and aligned purpose are important.</li>
<li>Actual testimonials from angels who have invested in and have nurtured multiple early stage businesses.</li>
<li>Forms and compliance: Documents each prospective investor should know about when pursuing a deal, as well as the role and importance of legal counsel in &#8220;doing the deal.&#8221;</li>
<li>Action Items and Next Steps: sharing tools and tactical activities that transform small business investing into a systematic process so investors can make informed decisions.</li>
</ul>
<h2>What we learned:</h2>
<p>The interest in small business investing is enormous. Through this inaugural conference, we have received <a title="ActSeed Press Page - In The News Section" href="http://bit.ly/PressRoom-InTheNews-ActSeed" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff;"><strong>local media attention</strong></span></a> and will soon have some national exposure. We have been invited to host this workshop in three other cities and are exploring two potential national webinars as well. In short, we learned that we have an important role to help coach a new generation of investors.</p>
<p>The diversity of those interested in learning how to approach startup investing is broad. Men, women, all age ranges and ethnicities. There seem to be quite a few people who want to be part of the startup revolution, but don&#8217;t have the ability to strike out on their own, or just don&#8217;t have their own &#8221;big idea&#8221; they want to commercialize. But they want to be part of the new business ecosystem and they have some of the estimated trillions of dollars that are &#8220;sitting on the sideline&#8221; ready to support an entrepreneur with well-prepared business model.</p>
<p>Finally, we learned that responsible investors want to be as well-prepared as the entrepreneurs they are considering investing in. We learned that ActSeed&#8217;s Investor Group is a great tool for new investors to evaluate startups looking for funding.</p>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>In summary, what&#8217;s good for the entrepreneur must be good for the investor, and vice versa too. It cannot be out of balance. Intangibles like trust, synergy, purpose and company culture are important. Investment should only occur when there&#8217;s a focus on &#8220;business basics&#8221; with transparency and reciprocal communication between investor and entrepreneur; this is not the same as buying a share of Microsoft or GE. As a small business investor, you must be engaged as an ongoing partner in helping your business investments succeed.</p>
<p>ActSeed carries a clear message to all participants in early stage business creation and growth: &#8220;Preparation for success helps avoid behaviors that lead to failure.&#8221;</p>
<p>If you are interested in hosting one of our Small Business Investor Workshops locally or via webinar or if you are interested in becoming a small business investor, please contacts us at <a href="mailto:info@actseed.com"><span style="color: #0000ff;"><strong>info@actseed.com</strong></span></a>.</p>
<p>If you are an aspiring seed stage or angel investor and want to get started now, you can join ActSeed&#8217;s Investor Group (there is no cost to join) and start applying the principals we share in our workshop immediately.  <a title="ActSeed Investor Group Overview" href="http://bit.ly/InvestorGrp_ActSeed" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff;"><strong>Learn more about the ActSeed Investor Group here</strong></span></a>.</p>
<p><strong><em><span style="color: #008000;">We are already working diligently to find and guide more investor millions that we can connect to well-prepared entrepreneurs.</span></em></strong></p>
<p><strong><em> </em></strong></p>
<p><strong><em>&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;.</em></strong></p>
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		<title>RevenueLoan: Filling an Important Gap in Small Business Funding</title>
		<link>http://actseed.com/2011/03/17/revenueloan-partners-with-actseed/</link>
		<comments>http://actseed.com/2011/03/17/revenueloan-partners-with-actseed/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 17 Mar 2011 18:56:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bill Attinger</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investors, Investing, Investment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[actseed]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[entrepreneurs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[funding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[investment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[investors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RevenueLoan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[royalty based financing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[small business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[smallbiz]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[startups]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.actseed.com/blogs/?p=1297</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[You need an infusion of capital to grow your business. The bank says you have insufficient collateral or they don&#8217;t lend to businesses in your industry. Venture capitalists and angel investors aren&#8217;t usually interested unless they think you are going to unseat Facebook or cure cancer (home run plays in healthcare and IT) in the next 18 [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>You need an infusion of capital to grow your business.</p>
<p>The bank says you have insufficient collateral or they don&#8217;t lend to businesses in your industry.</p>
<p>Venture capitalists and angel investors aren&#8217;t usually interested unless they think you are going to unseat Facebook or cure cancer (home run plays in healthcare and IT) in the next 18 months.</p>
<p>So where can you get the funding you need to grow your business? Who is going to step boldly into this funding gap that the majority of American small businesses fall into?</p>
<h2>RevenueLoan!</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.revenueloan.com" target="_blank"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1294" title="RevenueLoan logo" src="http://www.actseed.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/revenue-loan-logo-BG.jpg" alt="RevenueLoan logo" width="272" height="51" /></a></p>
<p>Utilizing the Royalty-Based Finance (also known as &#8221;Revenue-Based Finance&#8221;) model of lending, RevenueLoan provides growth funding to businesses who are not being served by conventional lenders.</p>
<p><strong>No collateral? No Problem!</strong></p>
<p>A royalty-based loan does not require any collateral.</p>
<p><strong>Not interested in giving up 10%, 20% or even 50% of your company for funding? You may have an alternative!</strong></p>
<p>A royalty-based financing <span style="text-decoration: underline;">does not</span> require you to sell part of your company to the investor. You remain in complete control of your business. You simply agree to pay a small percentage of your monthly revenues &#8211; generally less than 5% - until an agreed-upon multiple of the original loan amount is reached.</p>
<p>Yes, this does make royalty-based financing more expensive than a bank loan (if you even qualify for a bank loan), but a royalty-based deal also makes your monthly payment vary in harmony with your revenues.  Try telling your bank that you missed your revenue target this month and don&#8217;t want to pay the usual amount, and see what they have to say! With a RevenueLoan, flexible monthly payments that don&#8217;t deplete your operating capital are business-as-usual.</p>
<p>Since this loan structure is based upon your revenues, this is not a good fit for most startup businesses that haven&#8217;t started generating consistent revenues.  &#8230;but if you have an established revenue stream and just need a cash infusion to bump your business up to the next level, RevenueLoan may just be the lone <strong>YES</strong> in a forest of <strong>NO</strong>.</p>
<p>ActSeed is glad to welcome RevenueLoan as a valuable resource to the ActSeed community for small businesses and the entrepreneurs who are building them into durable, sustainable, competitive participants in our economy.</p>
<p><strong>Learn more at </strong><a title="ActSeed Partners with RevenueLoan" href="http://www.RevenueLoan.com" target="_blank"><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;">www.RevenueLoan.com</span></strong></a><strong>.</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.revenueloan.com" target="_blank"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1295" title="RevenueLoan" src="http://www.actseed.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/RLlogoSquare.jpg" alt="RevenueLoan" width="184" height="204" /></a></p>
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		<title>ActSeed partners with peerbackers</title>
		<link>http://actseed.com/2011/03/07/actseed-partners-with-peerbackers/</link>
		<comments>http://actseed.com/2011/03/07/actseed-partners-with-peerbackers/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 07 Mar 2011 16:03:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bill Attinger</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Partners]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[actseed]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[crowdfunding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[entrepreneur]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[entrepreneurs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[entrepreneurship]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[funding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[investment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[investors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[peerbackers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[smallbiz]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[startups]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.actseed.com/blogs/?p=1253</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ActSeed is proud to be a collaborative partner with peerbackers. Crowdfunding is becoming a popular approach for inventors and entrepreneurs to raise initial seed capital without incurring debt or giving up equity – a platform for essentially raising funds through donations from your own network and the crowdfunding community. When you are trying to raise [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h2>ActSeed is proud to be a collaborative partner with peerbackers.</h2>
<p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1251" title="peerbackers-logo" src="http://www.actseed.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/peerbackers-logo.jpg" alt="peerbackers-logo" width="84" height="83" /></p>
<p>Crowdfunding is becoming a popular approach for inventors and entrepreneurs to raise initial seed capital without incurring debt or giving up equity – a platform for essentially raising funds through donations from your own network and the crowdfunding community.</p>
<p>When you are trying to raise funds for your business or project, the task becomes much easier when you can demonstrate to your supporters that you are well-prepared to achieve your goals with the funding you seek. For this partnership, ActSeed has created discount codes for peerbackers users to join ActSeed&#8217;s Entrepreneur Group: &#8220;<strong>peerback11M</strong>&#8221; for a 10% discount on the monthly membership and &#8220;<strong>peerback11A</strong>&#8221; for a 25% discount on an annual membership.</p>
<p><img class="size-medium wp-image-1249 alignleft" title="andy-sally-peerbackers" src="http://www.actseed.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/andy-sally-peerbackers-300x258.jpg" alt="andy-sally-peerbackers" width="144" height="124" /> Sally Outlaw and Andrew Rachmell, the peerbackers cofounders, are seasoned entrepreneurs and have successfully partnered in the past to create and produce “The Next Wave with Leonard Nimoy”, a TV series was devoted to exploring innovative technologies for both start-ups and existing companies. Below, we share some insights from Sally about her experiences while building peerbackers.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>Q. Describe your “Eureka Moment”.</em></p>
<p>A. When I heard about the first-ever British soccer club funded via the web (ie., through many people paying a small subscription fee), I was hit with the idea that this “funding by the crowd” approach could work for small business. I knew the market opportunity would be huge as finding capital is the #1 pain point for entrepreneurs.</p>
<p><em>Q. How did you fund the company to its current state?</em></p>
<p>A. We funded the company in part through crowdfunding ourselves! We thought it was the right thing to do since we were building a crowdfunding platform and we wanted to have firsthand experience with raising money this way – in part so we could be in the best position to understand the requirements and to advise those using our service when we launched. The remaining dollars were contributed by us, the two founding partners, as well as a no-interest loan ($5,000) from an Advisor. We were fortunate also in that we worked out a payment plan with our web development company so we could pay over time as we built out the site so we hustled every couple of months to come up with that quarter’s payment.</p>
<p><em>Q. ActSeed champions the need for solid planning and preparation from the very beginning. How important is planning and prep to your company’s success?</em></p>
<p>A. There was so much planning that went into our site development &amp; launch as we had to think through the architecture of the site including all the ways our users would interact with our platform, as well as what functionality we as administrators would need to manage the projects &amp; financial transactions occurring through our website. Now that we have successfully launched, our ongoing planning has primarily been focused on how many projects we need to attract to post on our site &amp; how we are going to attract them in order to hit our financial numbers. This planning has consequently led us to reach out to specific partners (Universities, Community Programs, etc) who work with the types of entrepreneurs we cater to so we could form mutually beneficial referral relationships.</p>
<p><em>Q. How long did it take to get your idea into the market from initial concept to first customer?</em></p>
<p>A. Being an under-funded, boot-strapped start-up, it took longer than it could have of course to go from initial concept to first customer – I’d put it at about 1 year. Our development curve was as follows: 3 months to fully develop the concept including research on industry &amp; competition and financials, another 3 months to build a simple mock-up site &amp; to crowdfund through it to raise some capital (the crowdfunding part was a 60 day raise), 4-5 months to design, build out &amp; test the fully functional website and launch.</p>
<p><em>Q. What influence have the internet and new media had on the way you are marketing, selling and supporting your products/services?</em></p>
<p>A. Our venture would simply not exist without the internet and new media. It is because of the viral nature of the internet &amp; social networking that our site, and crowdfunding in general, has ignited. Crowdfunding works best when you have a crowd (!) or can attract one using all the new media tools (we have embedded numerous sharing tools into our site for entrepreneurs to use to promote their ventures).</p>
<p><em>Q. Describe the challenges you faced as you built your customer base, including defining the customer target, establishing the right price and pricing strategy and of course, closing the first few deals. What wisdom can you share with other entrepreneurs?</em></p>
<p>A. Defining our target customer was easy – entrepreneurs needing capital – especially those needing $25,000 or less (and there are hundreds of thousands annually in that market). Our biggest challenge has been in finding the right sort of entrepreneur to use our service – those that are social media savvy, creative, and willing to promote themselves. Believe it or not, about 75% of those that submit to our site to post for funding never even follow through – either with registering, posting or promoting their venture on the site – which, as a life-long dedicated entrepreneur, I found very disappointing. I’ve heard the term “Wannapreneurs” and I guess that would apply here…meaning if you are not passionate enough about what you do to follow through, to shout about it from the roof tops and tell everybody you know and ask for their support, then I say stop now! We’ve started to overcome this obstacle (of getting the right customers) through creating strategic partnerships with those that already work with our target market. In terms of the wisdom to share question – I guess the biggest mistake I see is start ups declaring a huge target market but not indicating what % of that market they intend to capture and how. They will go to a VC and announce they are in a “40 billion dollar market” but then will not define what part of that market they can engage and explain the strategy through which this will be accomplished. So, I’d suggest knowing this before pitching!</p>
<div id="attachment_1252" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 226px"><img class="size-medium wp-image-1252  " title="SallyandAmyEntrepMagazine" src="http://www.actseed.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/SallyandAmyEntrepMagazine-300x214.jpg" alt="Sally with Amy Cosper, Editor-in-Chief of Entrepreneur Magazine" width="216" height="154" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Sally with Amy Cosper, Editor-in-Chief of Entrepreneur Magazine</p></div>
<p><em>Q. What techniques have you used to establish credibility in the eyes of customers, investors, partners, personnel and the general public?</em></p>
<p>A. I guess I’d say that we have established our credibility through our good customer service (led to great word-of-mouth and referrals), our relentless desire to help other entrepreneurs (as everyone can see how genuine we are in our efforts to support small business owners even when they are not our clients), and through the media attention we’ve received (for example being covered within 60 days of launch by both The Wall Street Journal and Entrepreneur Magazine). The technique we used for the media coverage was simply being scrappy. We did not hire a high-priced PR firm – I subscribed to HARO (Help A Reporter Out) as a source for journalists and built relationships with them, as well as I reached out to editors who were covering my topic (boot-strapping a business). Believe it or not &#8211; it works! (This is how we got covered by The Wall Street Journal – it started by an email I sent the editor).</p>
<p><em>Q. Have government, University, or other community / economic development programs been useful?</em></p>
<p>A. The most effective entities for us in this regard are the universities as we are beginning to establish working relationships with their business schools, entrepreneurial programs and clubs to offer their students and participants our funding solution for the ventures they are trying to launch.</p>
<p><em>Q. What is the most important thing people never tell you about joining or founding an early-stage company?</em></p>
<p>A. That you have to make everything happen. As an entrepreneur with a good idea for a product or service, you tend to think that the world is waiting for you…but they’re not. Getting going &amp; noticed requires a constant investment of energy &amp; resources&#8230;you have to have an incredible and endless amount of drive. Even on the days when you score big wins, you can often feel like &#8211; as you sleep &#8211; your venture is losing ground! BUT the good news is that with enough hard work &amp; dedication eventually someone will hear about you and step up – whether it is an investor, an advisor, a media source, a big partner or customer and then your business can rock-n-roll!</p>
<p><em>Q. Is there anything else you’d like to share that we didn’t ask you in the questions above?</em></p>
<p>A. Find a co-founder (it’s hard working alone and you will need varied skill sets). Make something that people want.</p>
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		<title>A Conversation with Fellow &#039;Trep Community, GrowVC</title>
		<link>http://actseed.com/2011/02/17/a-conversation-with-fellow-trep-community-growvc/</link>
		<comments>http://actseed.com/2011/02/17/a-conversation-with-fellow-trep-community-growvc/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 17 Feb 2011 15:37:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bill Attinger</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[For & About Entrepreneurs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Investors, Investing, Investment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[actseed]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[entrepreneur]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[entrepreneurs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[entrepreneurship]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[funding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[investment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[investors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[smallbiz]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[startups]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.actseed.com/blogs/?p=1227</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Recently, we were invited to talk with Markus Lampinen of GrowVC.  The resulting podcast covers a range of topics that are of interest to entrepreneurs and even angel or seed stage investors. We constantly highlighted how &#8220;preparation matters&#8221; and why those who take a focused, committed approach to establishing their business can leverage services like ActSeed and GrowVC [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span style="color: #5f3811;">Recently, we were invited to talk with Markus Lampinen of GrowVC.  The resulting podcast covers a range of topics that are of interest to entrepreneurs and even angel or seed stage investors. We constantly highlighted how &#8220;preparation matters&#8221; and why those who take a focused, committed approach to establishing their business can leverage services like ActSeed and GrowVC to increase their chances for success.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #5f3811;">In the <a title="GrowVC interview with Bill Attinger of ActSeed" href="http://bit.ly/GrowVC-AttingerInterview-Feb11" target="_self"><span style="color: #0000ff;"><strong>interview</strong></span></a>, we talked about how ActSeed and GrowVC complement each other and how our focus is on providing resources to entrepreneurs who understand the importance of fundamental planning and preparation, including providing avenues to investors and other sources of capital that are needed to build a durable, competitive business.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #5f3811;">GrowVC is based in the UK, Finland and Hong Kong, but has a budding presence in the US, too.  With ActSeed&#8217;s growing international presence, our combined geographic reach enables our entrepreneur members in every locale to have a global reach almost instantly.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #5f3811;">ActSeed is looking forward to expanding its collaboration with GrowVC&#8217;s crowd-funding platform and other resources for its Entrepreneur Group Members. We are also excited about integrating ActSeed&#8217;s Scored Evaluation Profile into GrowVC&#8217;s community of entrepreneurs.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #5f3811;">We hope you enjoy the <a title="GrowVC interview with Bill Attinger of ActSeed" href="http://bit.ly/GrowVC-AttingerInterview-Feb11" target="_self"><span style="color: #0000ff;"><strong>podcast</strong></span></a>.  Click on the microphone below to listen.  You can also read the post on the GrowVC web site <a title="Grow VC interview with Bill Attinger of ActSeed" href="http://www.growvc.com/blog/2011/02/11/communities-of-tomorrow/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff;"><strong>here</strong></span></a>.</span></p>
<p> <a href="http://bit.ly/GrowVC-AttingerInterview-Feb11"><img class="size-full wp-image-1230 alignnone" title="Interview with Bill Attinger" src="http://www.actseed.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Microphone.jpg" alt="Interview with Bill Attinger" width="202" height="226" /></a></p>
<p><span style="color: #5f3811;">Again, we thank Markus and also Jouko Ahvenainen, Founder &amp; Chairman of GrowVC, for the opportunity to participate in the GrowVC podcast series.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #c0c0c0;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="color: #c0c0c0;">&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;.</span></p>
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