Financing New Ventures

This book offers readers a practical guide, informed by the latest academic thinking, on business angel investing and describes the role and processes undertaken by business angels in funding entrepreneurs and new ventures. Many of the current books, which take as their title some variation of the term "entrepreneurial finance", are detail-rich on the mechanisms of investment and focus primarily on the topic of venture capital (VC). Another distinction of this book from current offerings is its focus on a "common ground" between entrepreneurs and investors, where investment is more likely to occur. Current publications are very much oriented towards describing investment as a "problem" i.e. in suggesting a cautious, even adversarial relationship between entrepreneur and investor that must be managed by various deal terms and contractual arrangements. This book will offer a more holistic approach in discussing the investment process and providing lessons from successful (and unsuccessful) investment deals between entrepreneurs and business angels. The book is expected to fill a current void in applied knowledge about business angel investing; resulting in part from the fact that much information and data on private equity investing and investment deals are often confidential. The author has spent the last few years engaged in research projects involving legal intermediation of investment deals and the study of business angel investment processes and insights from this research will be incorporated into the book. The concepts and principles described in Financing New Ventures: An Entrepreneur's Guide to Business Angel Investment are meant to be applicable across countries, industrial sectors and cultures. The book is expected to appeal to an international audience, as many emerging economies across the globe are attempting to stimulate business angel investing. The intended audience for the book includes potential or current entrepreneurs, business school students, students in other schools studying entrepreneurship and innovation (UG and postgraduate), executive education programmes on entrepreneurship and innovation and public and private sector business support agencies.