Do You Need Venture Capital?
"Point B Solutions Group, a Seattle company that provides project management consulting to dozens of clients, was started 10 years ago with a $200 investment from the three founders.
The profitable company now employs 185 people and last year posted sales of $31 million.
Not bad considering that Point B has never raised a cent of venture capital.
"We just didn't need it," co-founder Tim Jenkins said, adding that the initial $200 investment was used to buy letterhead and business cards.
Though often overlooked, there are plenty of companies like Point B that build their businesses organically through revenues and profits."
"Heidi Neck, an assistant professor of entrepreneurship at Babson College, estimates that fewer than 2 percent of companies ever receive venture capital financing. That leads her to believe that too much emphasis -- including media attention, education and government support -- is given to venture-backed startups."
""Historically, some of the greatest companies in the world have started with less than $5,000," Neck said. "There's too much weight put on venture capital. In the last five years, we have put venture capitalists on pedestals where we think they are going to create these great companies.""
"A study conducted on behalf of the National Venture Capital Association found that venture-backed companies were responsible for 10.1 million jobs and $1.8 trillion in revenues. Venture-backed companies headquartered in Washington state -- including Microsoft, Costco and Starbucks -- accounted for 399,863 jobs nationwide in 2003, according to the NVCA's report. "
Read more here.
The profitable company now employs 185 people and last year posted sales of $31 million.
Not bad considering that Point B has never raised a cent of venture capital.
"We just didn't need it," co-founder Tim Jenkins said, adding that the initial $200 investment was used to buy letterhead and business cards.
Though often overlooked, there are plenty of companies like Point B that build their businesses organically through revenues and profits."
"Heidi Neck, an assistant professor of entrepreneurship at Babson College, estimates that fewer than 2 percent of companies ever receive venture capital financing. That leads her to believe that too much emphasis -- including media attention, education and government support -- is given to venture-backed startups."
""Historically, some of the greatest companies in the world have started with less than $5,000," Neck said. "There's too much weight put on venture capital. In the last five years, we have put venture capitalists on pedestals where we think they are going to create these great companies.""
"A study conducted on behalf of the National Venture Capital Association found that venture-backed companies were responsible for 10.1 million jobs and $1.8 trillion in revenues. Venture-backed companies headquartered in Washington state -- including Microsoft, Costco and Starbucks -- accounted for 399,863 jobs nationwide in 2003, according to the NVCA's report. "
Read more here.
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For more information, visit www.EvanCarmichael.com. |
1 Comments:
Great point. We're just in the middle of having several companies want to invest in us. I was looking around and found your firm.
Thanks for this post. We're still undecided on if we want / need outside investing, but it is certainly attractive.
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