Blog

In a world where Amazon and other online retailers are encroaching the fashion business industry, I am proud to say that my entrepreneur and fashionista extraordinaire daughter is celebrating her 8th year business anniversary of her fantastic contemporary women’s fashion boutique.  She did it on her own, with a passion, style, insights and stamina that is admirable and exceptional. All the best to my daughter! And to our lady friends, support our local businesses and female entrepreneurs, visit Sanem’s in […]

Great article about the status of good governance with investors and startups. The recent SEC decision to fine Theranos and it’s founders for fraud may or may not wake up the startup ecosystem (both founders and investors) only time will tell. But as the article points out, regardless of the outcome of the next SEC actions (the ICOs are in the cross-hair now) and Billions of dollars in losses, memories of bad intention-ed founders and deceptive pitches and promises will […]

Do you know what is your most valuable Capital? Is it: Education? Family? Money?  Social Class?  Pedigree?  Stature? Legacy?   TIME is our biggest and most important Capital! This is one resource we will never get back! Time is a “capital” that cannot be rewound back and reset. There is no “Ctrl-Alt-Del” for resetting your time. Time is “final”. What is spent is spent and cannot be refunded, or returned! Stop and think about where you are after wasting the […]

YOU CANNOT EMAIL A HANDSHAKE! There is the outside perception and the inside reality when it comes to human beings. And if you do not have the skill sets or the talent to decipher the true inside reality of the person across you, well then you should not be even doing business! Stick with a 9 to 5 job! You may ask; what is this have to do with face to face networking? Actually if has a lot to […]

The Illinois Angel Investment Credit Program Workshop The Illinois Angel Investment Credit Program attracts and encourages investment dollars into early-stage, innovative companies throughout Illinois. Investments provide these companies with much needed access to working capital to further their growth and success in our state. Tax credits are allocated throughout the year and are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. Since 2011, the Illinois Angel Investment Credit Program has provided $26.9 Million in early-stage investments for 31 Illinois life sciences startups […]

  We are always asked about how to find the best startup business ideas. So considering there is so much advise out there let us guide you with our take on this dilemma. If you want to launch a startup, you have to start with an idea. There is no magic crystal ball that are going to guide you to the best startup ideas and warn you about which ones are the worst. There is really no “one” template that […]

While the Fed plays a role in setting the benchmark for short-term interest rates, its policies also determine inflation expectations over the long-term. After keeping rates low to help the economy recover, the Fed are on a plan to slowly (hopefully) start raising rates, and today we are due for a new rate hike for sure. What’s Going On Here? An influential measure of US dollar borrowing costs has spiked sharply in recent weeks, causing concern among some investors – […]

Ranking US metro areas by VC invested and returns By Dana Olsen March 19, 2018, PitchBook The Bay Area has long been known as the Holy Grail for startups and venture capitalists. Over the years, it’s attracted a flood of founders looking for funds and investors searching for big payouts. But while the San Francisco and Silicon Valley strongholds still attract more venture capital than almost any other part of the country, other metro areas are gaining on them […]

Friends, colleagues and fellow investors, I am reaching out to you about Attic Brewing Co., the first craft brewery in historic Germantown, Philadelphia. This micro-brewery start-up is changing the game by focusing on taproom sales, which means maximizing profits and tapping into one of the fastest growing markets for craft beer. I have known the founder Laura since she was a toddler. We lived in the same neighborhood, on the same street. Since the very early days she had a […]

Startups’ undisciplined spending is costly beyond the obvious reasons. When startup founders spend money needlessly, they have to raise more, diluting their equity and sacrificing control and profit regardless of if it the company goes public or not. And this phenomena is not only plaguing Silicon Valley and US startups, but it’s a new global startup problem. I witnessed this personally many times, but the most rampant was last year when I visited several overseas startup ecosystems. I paid a […]