An Interview With David Monkman, President And CEO, National Business Incubation Association (Part 3)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold

Irina: What else is important for a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem?

David: The corporations are an important ingredient. They reflect potential demand for the products and services produced by these entrepreneurs. So, making sure they understand the participation expectations is important. That’s one thing we need. Another is making sure that the kinds of services that incubators offer are robust and provide a strong foundation for entrepreneurs in becoming a sustainable group for participating in an incubation process. >>>

An Interview With David Monkman, President And CEO, National Business Incubation Association (Part 2)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold

Irina: What is NBIA? Give us a brief overview.

David: NBIA is a trade association that services and works with business incubation programs around the world. We are a 25-year-old organization that has about 2,000 individual members, representing about 1,000 organizations in 65 countries. >>>

An Interview With David Monkman, President And CEO, National Business Incubation Association (Part 1)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold

This is the forty-ninth interview in our series on financing for entrepreneurs. I am talking to David Monkman, president and CEO of the National Business Incubation Association.  Athens, Ohio–based NBIA is a trade association that services business incubation programs around the world. Founded in 1985, this non-profit organization today has about 2,000 individual members, representing about 1,000 organizations in 65 countries worldwide.

Irina: Hi, David. Where are you from?

I was born in Illinois, raised in the States. I lived in Northern California for about seven years. I lived in New York for a couple of years. I lived in London for a year, the Netherlands for a couple of years, South Africa for five years, Pakistan for three, and the rest in the States. >>>

Revenue-Based Financing (RBF) For Entrepreneurs: Andy Sack, Co-Founder, RevenueLoan (Part 4)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold

Irina: Do you have any target returns on investments?

Andy: Yes, we do have targets. We look at it from a portfolio approach, but generally speaking, we tell people that we’re looking for a 20% IRR. >>>

Revenue-Based Financing (RBF) For Entrepreneurs: Andy Sack, Co-Founder, RevenueLoan (Part 1)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold

This is the forty-eighth interview in our series on financing for entrepreneurs. I am talking to Andy Sack, who is a co-founder of RevenueLoan, which gives entrepreneurs unrestricted capital for growth in return for a small percentage of future years’ revenues. In operation since mid-2010, the size of the fund is $6 million. Based in Seattle, RevenueLoan is focused on the Pacific Northwest.

Irina: Hi, Andy. Why don’t you start with your background and how you arrived at this point?

Andy: I’m a graduate of the MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Sloan School [of Management]. Coming out of business school, I’ve been a serial technology entrepreneur since 1994. I’ve started a handful of companies – depending on how you count, four or five, and I had three successful and one unsuccessful exit.

[Andy was co-founder and CEO of Judy’s Book, a local search social network. Prior to founding Judy’s Book in 2004, Andy co-founded three successful Internet technology companies: Kefta, a provider of real-time customer interaction solutions (acquired in 2007 by Axciom); Abuzz, an enterprise knowledge management solution (acquired by New York Times Digital in 1999); and Firefly Network, an Internet company that pioneered internet personalization technologies (acquired by Microsoft). Andy also spent time as an entrepreneur-in-residence for SOFTBANK Venture Capital (now Mobius VC), where he founded and served on the board of three companies: BodyShop Digital, Quova, and Kefta.] >>>

Seed Capital From Angel Investors: Brian Cohen, Vice Chairman, New York Angels (Part 9)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold

Irina: What other opportunities do you offer for university students?

Brian: I wanted to have more collaboration with students, bright students, MBA students – preferably in these cases. So, I created the Future Angels. Now, every meeting, every month, we have the top schools in New York give us their best students, who sit with all the angels in the angel group meetings, listening, participating, and offering their input. It’s really exciting. >>>

Seed Capital From Angel Investors: Brian Cohen, Vice Chairman, New York Angels (Part 8)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold

Irina: What can angel groups do better?

Brian: I think there are a variety of things that angel groups can do better. They could – I would say, most important – make it clear to the entrepreneur what their ability is to actually fund him or her. That’s a very deep point.

I think an angel group should be more upfront with entrepreneurs about what they’re capable of funding and what they’re not. I think it also behooves the entrepreneur to question the angel group on that issue. Have you funded companies in this area? They should ask this question.

I think there’s a certain kind of development relationship early on with an entrepreneur that, for example, in the screening, they should know up front [whether] we’re curious or we’re interested.

There’s a big difference between the two. I think the entrepreneur is the most important person in the room, of course, and that lends itself to even more understanding of the process and what can be achieved out of it. That’s the relationship with the entrepreneur, giving them that transparency of what the real possibilities are to fund them at various levels. >>>

Seed Capital From Angel Investors: Brian Cohen, Vice Chairman, New York Angels (Part 7)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold

Irina: How do you feel about entrepreneurs who drop out of school to build their companies?

Brian: I think, for the most part, entrepreneurs have to be educated. There’s no turning away from the fact that a good education represents curiosity and a desire for personal advancement. There are always exceptions to the rule, but I think you have to stick with the tried and true talent that comes from smart people excelling at various educational institutions.

That doesn’t mean it’s from a name school, by the way. You know, you come from City College of New York because you couldn’t afford to go to an Ivy League school. High ntelligence is something you can find in a variety of colleges. >>>