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New Fund Could Help Finance Your Startup

Young entrepreneurs can apply for funding from Gen Y Capital Partners

November 1, 2011 RSS Feed Print

Twitter: @benbaden

Corrected on 11/02/11: A previous version of this story incorrectly described how the income-based repayment program works. Students enrolled in the plan will have their payments capped at 10 percent of their discretionary income.

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small business,
business school,
careers

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AJ of WA is spot-on! Rather than concentrate solely on 'the young' (age discrimination?) true entrepreneurs should seek-out the best, most promising ventures from ALL classes weighing the ROI of each idea through current market analysis AND future trends.

Those a bit older might remember the advent of the PC (Personal Computer - not 'Politically Correct'). Jobs and Woz were 2 college students with Woz thinking "Wouldn't this could be neat?!" while Jobs saw the bigger picture - one NOT supported by current (at that time) market analysis.

Even those young minds working at IBM saw their ideas shot down by 'current market analysis' resulting in denials such as "What're they going to use it for - storing recipes? Suggestion denied"

I, myself, have 2 innovations which became benchmarks in the IT and telephony industries globally marketed in such a way most people are dependent upon one or the other.

And, judging by my own experience, SCORE and SBIR programs are practically useless to early stage ventures and innovators. Most SCORE advisers had been corporate middle managers with limited exposure to the whole picture and anyone participating in SBIR grants face too much risk of loss to 'politically connected' businessmen.

Then there's UNICOR (prison industries) which undercut entrepreneur's efforts. Borrow a little money from the Feds in-exchange for legal rights to your innovation and they award Govt contracts to UNICOR as a cost cutting measure.

How many small US firms were bankrupted after UNICOR under bid them on Govt contracts for commonly used items such as brooms, brushes, glasses, etc?

And how many brilliant innovations by US entrepreneurs have been pirated by US and Chinese industrialists before the innovator could find financing - due to the USPTO publicly disclosing the patent application BEFORE actually granting the patent?

US entrepreneurs should seek advise and funding through partnerships with EU innovators and SME firms through the Cordis.europa.eu website. The EC has set-aside millions to foster innovation amongst SMEs (Small Manufacturing Enterprises) and many of these SMEs actively seek out new innovations to turn into new/improved product lines - both to maintain/increase viable employment in their own EU states as well as to create wealth.

LtP of NY 11:40PM October 19, 2012

If all of the resources like this seek out the very best opportunities to invest in; there will be competition for these top individuals but it will be simply spending feel good money, not really making a difference. The only way to make a difference is to find some way to enable those individuals who would not have become entreupreneurs otherwise to do so.

Michael of UT 4:18PM December 14, 2011

I am a licensed broker from state of California, observing that lots of business needs financing. Business owners want to sell, and the entrepreneurs want to buy, but there is no available financing. Even to get finance from SBA is tough. I think if want to boost marker we need to use these new funds also it is a good idea to use the government resource. Recently Northern California Minority Business Development Agency published an article on the “Business plan”, in a popular American business website named http://www.bizworldusa.com Which tells the necessity of business plan to get the financing. I think if we add all these together we can boost our business community.

KRISHNA GAJJALA of CA 5:45PM November 13, 2011

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