A must-have guide for entrepreneurs and emerging companies seeking capital for
growth and expansion.
Whether your business is just a gleam in your eye, a newly launched operation, or a
full-fledged firm that's humming right along, you'll never experience real growth without
a substantial infusion of cash. Long gone are the days when venture capital groups seemed
to pour millions into every "next big thing." Now it's clear that there is real
competition for investors, and that only the most viable businesses - and carefully
executed fundraising - will reap the capital necessary to drive continuous growth.
Raising Capital is the definitive guide for entrepreneurs and growing
companies that need to raise capital. The book covers every phase of the growth cycle, and
provides tools for building business plans, preparing loan proposals, drafting offering
materials, and much more. Now in its second edition, Raising Capital includes a
wide variety of updates to reflect the realities of the post-dot-com bust, new trends in
private equity markets, and the impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, a crucial piece of
legislation that establishes new corporate governance requirements in the wake of
high-profile accounting scandals.
The book takes you through every stage of the capital process, and provides a bevy of
alternatives to evaluate in determining your company's capital strategy. The four parts
cover:
Getting Ready to Raise Capital: capital-formation strategies, plus recent trends;
understanding legal and governance structures and how they affect your ability to raise
and use capital; and the role your business plan plays in securing capital
Early-Stage Financing: start-up financing; "bootstrapping," or doing less
with more at a stage in your business where "cash is king"; private placements
versus commercial lending; leasing, factoring, and government programs
Growth Financing: strategies for obtaining venture capital; how venture capital
transactions work; preparing for and executing an initial public offering (IPO)
Alternatives to Traditional Financing: franchising, joint ventures, co-branding,
licensing, and other strategic alliances; mergers and acquisitions; plus the Capital
Formation Business Growth Resources Directory
Raising Capital provides a huge selection of checklists, charts, sample forms
to expedite the capital formation process, and the author relates eye-opening "war
stories" and perspectives from the investor's side of the table that will help you
avoid pitfalls and guide your business confidently through every growth stage. Featuring
comprehensive coverage of all recognized capital strategies, this timely book will help
you navigate the murky (and often rough) waters of capital formation.
Andrew J. Sherman is a senior partner at Dickstein Shapiro Morin and
Oshinsky LLP, and internationally recognized as an authority on the legal and strategic
issues of growing companies. He is an Adjunct professor in the MBA programs at Georgetown
and U. Maryland.
Hardcover, 444 pages