Title: A financing diagnostic: matching 'type of venture' to 'class of cash'

Authors: Richard G. Caro

Addresses: TangibleFuture, Inc., 1801 Bush Street, #114, San Francisco, CA 94109, USA

Abstract: This paper describes a financing diagnostic designed to help new ventures to optimise the type of capital they seek at different stages in the life cycle of the venture. Based on the concepts of Value Milestones, Value Zones and the Cashflow Fingerprint of the venture, we describe a process of classifying the venture. We discuss the fact that ventures at different |stages| of their life cycle, and with different cashflow fingerprints, are suited to quite different types of investor and different types of deal. We discuss how to evaluate potential matches with six different |classes of cash|.

Keywords: financing; startups; investment; technology commercialisation; innovation continuum; value milestones; value zones; cashflow fingerprint; venture capital; new venture finance; new venture life cycle.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTTC.2008.021037

International Journal of Technology Transfer and Commercialisation, 2008 Vol.7 No.4, pp.398 - 412

Published online: 31 Oct 2008 *

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