Michigan – Innovative Ventures

Financing the Venture Capital Ecosystem—Day #1 in Lima, Peru

Entrepreneurs and investors speak about the need and urgency to increase investment and Scale Up start-up communities in their countries. Yet when it’s time to invest capital, the culture of risk impedes the flow of money from the wallets of local investors into the pockets of entrepreneurs. What are the fears which domestic capital has for technology up-starts and emerging growth companies—& what solutions exist to reverse such behaviors? It was these subjects which I spoke to at the global…

Scaling Up Start-up Communities: Engage Risk as Your Friend, not a Foe—to Impact Investor DNA—& Raise $ for Your Venture

The most frequent complaint I hear from entrepreneurs in the emerging markets is the lack of risk capital in their country; investors willing to finance start-ups and early stage companies. Many founders travel to America seeking money and connections in the US venture ecosystem. While a few are able to raise cash, most don’t—and return home empty handed—to face an unknown future. With trillions of dollars invested in food & beverage, fast moving consumer goods, retailing, wholesaling and construction to…

Keeping Entrepreneurship Alive

New Series, beginning soon, ‘Keeping Entrepreneurship Alive.’ The idea for this series came from a post to Brad Field’s blog Startup Revolution»Communities by Namek Zu’bi from Jordan, titled ‘Young Startup Communities: Beware of the Excitment Bubble.’