> Greetings, > I'm starting a small business, and I have what I would think is an > great Idea for a new Product. Unfortunately I'm a little short on rich > Uncles. Anyone know of any good Venture Capital/Sponsors/People with > Money to burn? Also any tips on the best way to go about contacting and > presenting your idea(s) to them? > > Peter
This is obvious but (judging by new venture failure rates) not obvious enough: Starting a business is not only very hard, but very time consuming, and very risky. You'd better be positive that you are willing to put the necessary time to make it work. Even if you do put in the time, some businesses just don't work. Make sure that your idea doesn't suck by bouncing it of off as many people possible. Find people that have gone through the hoops before and that have nothing to lose from being brutally honest with you. It may save you a lot of heartache. If it really is a good idea and you're sure you want to do it, you might consider bootstrapping it. That way if it doesn't work, you didn't loose very much. If a time comes that you need outside funding in order to grow, a profitable company will get you much better terms than a good idea will. If your dead set on seeking funding, you might check these guys out: http://www.fundingutah.com/utah-investors.php http://www.utahangels.org/ There are also venture capital firms available. They're all down by Walmart in Orem. You might talk to Josh Coats about that option. He's very knowledgable and will give you a good reality check if you need one. There are also quite a few entreprenurial groups around that have access to good information. If you want to be successful, you should consider involvement with those kind of groups. There's a lot of that info about those groups in Paul B. Allen's blog here: http://www.infobaseventures.com/blog/ It should be a good place to get started. Paul is slated to come talk to UVLUG (http://uvlug.org) about e-businesses this summer, so watch out for that. Other than that, good luck. Jordan .===================================. | This has been a P.L.U.G. mailing. | | Don't Fear the Penguin. | | IRC: #utah at irc.freenode.net | `==================================='
