Carolyn Jack
Editor and CEO, Geniocity.comA project of The Genius Group LLC
Creative Nerve
If we change venture capital, can we create a better economy?
I’ve been saying for a year or more now that venture capitalists and other funders of start-up companies have developed such extreme tunnel vision about what kinds of enterprises are good to invest in that, these days, they’re looking at the future through a pinhole.
In my post of June 16, I focused on the me-too narrow-mindedness of Ohio and particularly Northeast Ohio, where government money, venture capital and incubator services are available only to entrepreneurs who want to develop and manufacture biomedical and computer technologies – and mostly in large amounts that funders hope will beget enormous returns in very short order.
So I was pretty elated to read yesterday’s New York Times story about venture-capital investments being way too big and too often going to the same kinds of companies. Maybe if the money-people start realizing that many worthwhile start-ups of all kinds can be successfully and profitably nurtured with smaller investments and longer, more organic development processes, they’ll get more creative and we’ll start seeing communities gain the business diversification and full use of human capital that are the keys to sustainable economies of all sizes.
After all, farmers know it’s vital to diversify their crops. Why don’t venture capitalists get it?
Creative Nerve: What It’s Really Like to Start a Business
Money = hope. Most of us would like to say that the most beautiful thing we ever heard someone tell us was “I love you,” or “You have a healthy baby” or “It’s not your transmission.”
But let’s be honest, entrepreneurs: Wouldn’t the most gorgeous declaration to fall on your ears right now be “I want to invest in your company” ? Followed by, “Here’s the check” ?
Some of you with emerging tech-based businesses in the Great Lakes region may get to hear those syllables of joy: A new Cleveland-area venture-capital group called Flashline Partners LP is setting up a fund for IT start-ups in Ohio and nearby states. A story and podcast in this week’s Crain’s Cleveland Business explains that the partnership is looking for young enterprises qualifying for investment on one of three levels: idea stage (up to $50,000); proof-of-concept stage ($250,000-$750,000); and go-to-market stage ($750,000-&1.5 million).
For comprehensive information on both the start-up funding and Flashline Partners itself, go to www.flashlinepartners.com. Good luck. And if the best should happen, don’t forget to take some cellphone video – you’ll want to remember that moment for the rest of your life.