Unit 13 Preview and Introduction

Introduction

Entrepreneurs need startup or seed money to get started. In this Unit we will discuss raising capital together with entrepreneurs’ needs. As attorneys, we are here to advise, assist, and support entrepreneurs. As you do the reading, put yourself in the shoes of an entrepreneurship supporter and 💡think about the considerations outlined in the 📖 “May 2020 Report: Challenges along the Entrepreneurial Journey: Considerations for Entrepreneurship Supporters” (reproduced hereinbelow):

• How will you assess and prioritize the needs of the people and businesses that you support – and where will you focus your efforts to meet these various needs? How does your program take into account where individuals are on their entrepreneurial journey? What types of connections and support do individuals need, and what are the best ways to provide these?
• How can you contribute to a more inclusive pathway for those beginning their entrepreneurial journey?
• When asking entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs about their needs, how can you dig deeper into how these might also include other, sometimes indirect, needs? What are the connections among the barriers individuals are facing? How might solutions be crafted to address multiple interlocking challenges?
• What is the relationship between capital and other challenges, such as finding customers and skilled employees? Are there ways to alleviate some of the costs facing individual businesses with systems-level programs that support access to these types of resources?

Offering Materials (Venture Capital Financing) was written by Gad Weiss, who is currently in the JSD program at Columbia Law School and studies startups and venture capital financing.