Big News at Y Combinator

Posted on Monday, February 7th, 2011 at 10:20 pm.

As I was reading the news I found an interesting article about the small business incubator Y Combinator. It appears that Russian venture capitalist Yuri Milner will be investing $6 million into this year’s class of 43 Y Combinator companies. Each company will receive an investment of $150,000 in seed financing. I’m wishing I would have applied for Y Combinator this year.

http://blogs.forbes.com/parmyolson/2011/01/31/facebook-backer-milner-bets-on-y-combinator/

Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs

Posted on Monday, January 31st, 2011 at 11:38 pm.

Market Conscious:
Understanding your market and sales distribution method is critical to any start-up company. Entrepreneurs must have the ability to connect with their market and effectively communicate their sales distribution methods with investors. Cash is king with any business and investors want to see sales performance.
Adapt to Change:
With startup companies growth occurs rapidly. Everyday there is a difficult decision that needs to be made. Often times you don’t have the luxury of extensive due-diligence. Entrepreneurs need to be able to make quick prompt and prudent decisions. “The only thing certain in life is change”.
Strong Minded:
Entrepreneurship seems glamorous and sexy to most. People enjoy the idea of creating a successful business. It is entrepreneurship which is essentially the American Dream. But, in reality entrepreneurs are warriors that go to battle every day. It is a constant fight for survival. It is the true essence of natural selection. Entrepreneurs must be strong willed individuals that will fight until the end.
Attention to Detail:
Successful entrepreneurs have extraordinary attention to detail. This is a vital attribute that helps entrepreneurs minimize the mistakes that effect the survival of the business. Small mistakes add up to one big mistake. Investors want to invest in individuals that are detail oriented.
Competitive Nature:
Successful entrepreneurs are fighters. They hate to lose at anything and want to win the battle. Entrepreneurs enjoy the fight and like to be in the trenches. Investors want to invest in a warriors that will fight for their companies.
Get it Done Attitude:
Investors are looking for result oriented and driven entrepreneurs who get the job done. It is important to establish goals and work to achieve them. Investors want to see entrepreneurs who have worked and achieved major milestones.
Fight:
In order to be a successful entrepreneur you must have a relentless approach in accomplishing your goals. Determination is found in every successful entrepreneur. Without being a driven and confident in your abilities start-up ventures are extremely difficult. Investors need to see this attribute in order to feel comfortable making an angel investment.
Risk Tolerant:
It take a special person to accept the risk associate with starting a business. Striking out on your own and working full-time on a given business venture is a scary thing to do. Dealing with the uncertainty of entrepreneurship is a major barrier to entry for most people who consider starting a business. Investors want to see that you believe in your abilities as well as your business model enough to devote yourself fully to the ventures success.
Diligent:
In order to set a business in motion. Entrepreneurs must have the ability to effectively work through problems and adversity. Each day there will be a mountain of problems to move. Investors want to see your ability to accomplish difficult tasks with accuracy in a timely manner.


By Nathan Jorgensen

Sparkspeed

Posted on Friday, January 28th, 2011 at 2:00 am.

I came across an interesting investment group today called Sparkseed. I thought that I would share what I learned about the company. Sparkseed is a non-profit investment fund that is focused on investing in college age social entrepreneurs that are looking to make an impact on society.

Each year Sparkseed selects 10 student-led social ventures. Then for six months these social ventures receive high-impact support from Sparkseed. The support includes Mentoring, consulting, seed capital, skill building support, Networking, Web Design and SEO consulting.

During the first six months of operation Sparkseed is designed to provide a support system for successful social entrepreneurs. After six months the top performing ventures are selected to receive on-going support. This allows Sparkseed to provide a valuable experience to all participating companies and prudently invest resources toward ventures that will significantly impact society.

Favorite VC Blogs

Posted on Monday, January 24th, 2011 at 10:12 pm.

At GrowConnect we enjoy studying business ventures, entrepreneurship, investing and the venture capital investment process. We study the best in hopes of one day becoming the best. We decided to put together a small list of our favorite venture capital blogs to share with you. We know that if you check out these blogs you will be impressed. These blogs are written by very smart / savy investors that never fail to deliver insightful blog posts. Enjoy!

1. Fred Wilson, Union Square Ventures, A VC
2. Guy Kawasaki, Garage Technology Ventures, How To Change The World
3. Paul Graham, YCombinator, Essays
4. Brad Feld, Foundry Group, Feld Thoughts
5. Bill Gurley, Benchmark Capital, Above The Crowd

Welcome to Grow-Connect

Posted on Tuesday, January 11th, 2011 at 10:02 pm.

Welcome! Here at GrowConnect we are focused on helping entrepreneurs obtain equity investment from VC’s, angel investors and accredited investors. By using time-tested, battle harden fund raising techniques we work to connect entrepreneurs with investors. The GrowConnect team is excited about entrepreneurship and wants to help business owners realize their dreams. Please check out our website to see an overview of our products and services.

We are launching a blog for our website. We’re busy working to get funding for start-up businesses. But, we’re going to start posting interesting and relevant blog posts about entrepreneurship, fund raising, venture capital and investing. We invite you to please follow our blog.