Category Archives: Small Business

BusinessWeek: Structuring a Business with Investors in Mind

Posted on February 22, 2012 | Leave a comment

In the early days of starting a business, you might be tempted to gloss over ownership structure, equity stakes, and other seemingly boring details. After all, you might think, as long as you keep taxes low, paperwork uncomplicated, and partners motivated, better to deal with the big stuff first. But these decisions can have a significant cost down the road, particularly for entrepreneurs who seek outside investors. Read more of my latest column at businessweek.com

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Posted in BusinessWeek, More on Start-ups, Small Business, Start-up Finance, Uncategorized

Tagged 83B election, Bloomberg BusinessWeek Small Business, founders vest, How to structure a start-up

BusinessWeek: Get your personal finances in order before startup

Posted on November 30, 2011 | Leave a comment

Aspiring entrepreneurs preparing to start businesses will find that savings, credit access, and credit scores matter more than market research and investor presentations

Read my latest story for BusinessWeek

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Posted in BusinessWeek, Print, Small Business, Start-up Finance, Uncategorized

Tagged personal finance and small business, start-up finance

BusinessWeek: Don’t undercut your equity stake

Posted on August 12, 2011 | Leave a comment

By Monica Mehta

After a decade’s lull, the IPO is back, stoking dreams of entrepreneurs looking to cash out. Yes, dramatic market swings have changed some game plans recently, but in the first two quarters of 2011, 79 companies issued initial public offerings generating $24.3 billion, more than double the amount raised in the same period last year, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers. Often overlooked by newbies: By the time a company is ready to go public, the founders usually have diluted their personal ownership stakes considerably through previous financing rounds.

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Posted in Angel Investors, BusinessWeek, Finance, More on Start-ups, Print, Private Equity, Small Business, Start-up Finance, Uncategorized

BusinessWeek: The Science of Risk-Taking

Posted on April 21, 2011 | Leave a comment

Conventional business planning teaches us how to identify risks, not how to take them. For aspiring entrepreneurs seeking to take a leap, learn from veteran entrepreneurs and the scientists that study them. Check out my latest story in BloombergBusinessWeek on how to take entrepreneurial risks.

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Posted in Articles on Risk & Instinct, Book Write Ups, BusinessWeek, More on Start-ups, Small Business, Teaching Entrepreneurship, The Entrepreneurial Instinct

Tagged BusinessWeek, collegesolved, entrepreneurial risk-taking, frank murtha, Monica Mehta, richard peterson, risk-taking

BusinessWeek: Raising Seed Capital Now

Posted on February 18, 2011 | Leave a comment

Investors and entrepreneurs who won at the fundraising game during and after the Great Recession offer advice on landing equity money

By Monica Mehta

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Posted in Angel Investors, BusinessWeek, Finance, More on Start-ups, Print, Private Equity, Small Business, Start-up Finance

BusinessWeek: Raising Capital With Convertible Notes

Posted on January 25, 2011 | 1 comment

Converts look like equity, but taste like debt. To serial investors they’re brussel sprouts. But to certain entrepreneurs and angels, they’re what’s for dinner.

By Monica Mehta

(Read the full story)

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Posted in BusinessWeek, Finance, Print, Private Equity, Small Business, Start-up Finance

Tagged bloomberg businessweek, convertible notes, converts, little passports, Monica Mehta, raising capital, start-up finance

ABC News: Easy to Start Businesses

Posted on December 10, 2010 | 1 comment

Monica Mehta speaks with ABC News Good Money anchor Tanya Rivero about four businesses ideas poised for success, even during tough economic times.

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Posted in ABC News, More on Start-ups, Small Business

BusinessWeek: Three Alternatives to Big Bank Borrowing

Posted on November 23, 2010 | Leave a comment

Small businesses that are rejected by the banking behemoths shouldn’t overlook nonbank lenders, community and regional banks, and community development financial institutions

Bloomberg Businessweek
By Monica Mehta

If you haven’t had luck landing a business loan or credit line from the big banks you’ve approached, don’t expect your odds to improve any time soon. The Basel III guidelines, intended to prevent further financial crisis, will require lenders such as Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup (C), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), and Wells Fargo (WFC) to substantially increase the capital they hold against risk-bearing assets—up to five times what they are required to maintain today. In anticipation of the changes, which will start to go into effect in 2013, big banks are making changes to lending practices now. They’re increasingly “terming out” small business lines of credit as they reach maturity, according to several lenders and intermediaries with whom I’ve spoken recently.

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Posted in Bank Lending, BusinessWeek, Finance, Print, Small Business

BusinessWeek: Using a Joint Venture to Expand

Posted on October 8, 2010 | Leave a comment

Bloomberg BusinessWeek
By Monica Mehta

Small businesses can benefit from formal and informal partnerships. Both sides should be clear on the terms of the deal from the start

In an environment where capital is scarce, I urge small business owners to consider collaborating with other businesses to reach new customers or broaden their offerings without the cost of developing additional expertise or hiring more employees. Unlike a merger, a joint venture lets two companies maintain separate identities. They can enter into the partnership understanding that it may be short-lived and predicate the steps to unwind it. To give you a sense of how such arrangements work, I spoke recently with two entrepreneurs who described the nuances and offered their advice.

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Posted in BusinessWeek, Finance, Partnerships, Print, Small Business