Question: Start-up Funding
You plan to start your own company after graduation. Throughout university, you have been working on a new technology and have done plenty of research for your thesis. In preparation for graduation, you have already created a detailed business plan. In addition, you have talked to several potential stakeholders and potential clients and have already designed some prototypes. By the time you graduate, you manage to sell some prototypes, and you already have a group of clients waiting for an even better prototype. You decide that it is now time to invest in the required production facilities so that your small business can take off. However, you need financing from institutions and/or individuals to undertake the required investment. You dig out your business plan to review it and realize that, to present a strong case to convince potential investors, you need answers to the following questions:
a.From a practitioner's point of view, what is the overall picture of the structure of the investment process?
b. What types of investment are relevant for you as a start-up company? Provide reasons and realistic explanations.
c. When looking for investment, what is particularly important to you from your founder's perspective?