Category Archives: Uncategorized
(Don’t) Go West Young Entrepreneur
After launching my career in and around the high impact entrepreneurship space and venture capital in Silicon Valley in 1985, I moved on to North Carolina in 1990. After an .. exhilarating? … run as a venture capital investor (fund … Continue reading
Entrepreneurs with (Bad) Attitudes
Many high impact entrepreneurs have outsized personalities. They combine a big ego with incredible creativity, drive and energy. Pretty much all of them that I have known have had at least one serious personality … quirk. That said, there are … Continue reading
Foundational Issues for Prospective Angel Investors
The angel investment community in Wisconsin has been growing steadily for several years now, and given the limited availability of professional venture capital in the State this is good news. My purpose today is to offer some of the newer … Continue reading
Ben Bernanke Channels the Weimar Republic
Okay, Ben Bernanke has a tough job. The economy is still in the tank, at a time past business cycles suggest it should be rapidly accelerating and back on the long term growth curve. The political process is broken, and … Continue reading
Financial Forecasts: Budgets and Plans
Financial forecasting is something pretty much every entrepreneur knows has to be done, and also something many entrepreneurs don’t understand. The problem, I think, is that entrepreneurs (and a fair number of investors, for that matter) often confuse two quite … Continue reading
Seed Convertible Debt: Thoughts on the Default Conversion Price
Convertible debt financing structures, with or without equity kickers, are a popular choice for many seed stage entrepreneurs and investors. (Disclaimer: this blog is about first money in seed investments, and not about the many other situations where convertible debt … Continue reading
Some Thoughts on Investment Banks
In my previous post, I suggested, in my customary direct manner, that when it comes to finders and their fees, most early stage high-impact entrepreneurs should say no. I wanted to clarify that my comments in that post are directed … Continue reading
It could be worse. You could be Ben Bernanke.
It’s fashionable these days to be worried about deflation. And why not? Price levels are generally falling (with some awkward exceptions, like gold) and the economy is showing few if any signs of heating up. Me? I confess to being … Continue reading
Aerospace Valley????
I recently had the pleasure of attending one of Wisconsin’s – and the world’s – great events: The Experimental Aircraft Association’s annual AirVenture “fly-in” at Wittman Field in Oshkosh. This year, for the second year, AirVenture included a program – … Continue reading
The Smartphone: (Vacation) Enabling Technology
Now that the summer vacation season is upon us, the usual critiques of our increasingly connected society are popping up. People long for simpler times when going on vacation meant disconnecting from the world of work. Well I, for one, … Continue reading
Pajones1's Blog 