How do venture leasing firms evaluate transactions? Venture lessors look closely at several factors. Two of main ingredients of a successful new venture are caliber of its management team and of its venture capital sponsors. In many cases two groups seem to find one another. A good management team has usually demonstrated prior successes in field in which new venture is active. The better venture capitalists have successful track records and direct experience with types of companies they financed. The best VCs have industry specialization and many employ individuals with direct operating experience within industries they finance.

After determining that caliber of management team and venture capitalists is high, a venture lessor looks at startup’s business model and market potential. During this evaluation lessor considers questions such as: Does business model make sense? Is product/service necessary? Who is targeted customer and how large is potential market? How are products and services priced? What are projected revenues? What are production costs and what are other projected expenses? Do these projections seem reasonable? How much cash is on hand and how long will it last startup according to projections? When will startup need next equity round? These, and questions like these, help lessor determine whether business plan and model are reasonable

The most important question facing a leasing company financing startups is whether there is sufficient cash on hand to support startup through a significant part of lease term. If venture is unable to raise additional capital and runs out of cash, lessor stands to lose money on transaction. To mitigate this risk, most experienced venture lessors require that startup have at least nine months of cash on hand before proceeding. Usually, startups approved by venture lessors have raised at least $ 5 million in venture capital and have not yet exhausted a healthy portion of this amount.

Where do startups turn to get venture leasing? Part of infrastructure supporting startups is a handful of national leasing companies that specialize in venture leasing. Like Connecticut-based lessor introduced to Waitley, these firms have experience and expertise in structuring, pricing and documenting transactions, performing due diligence, and working with startup companies through their ups and downs.

Most venture lessors provide leases to startups under lines of credit so that customers can schedule multiple takedowns during year. These lease lines typically range from as little as $200,000 to over $ 5,000,000, depending on start-up’s need, projected growth and level of venture capital support. The better venture lease providers also assist customers, directly or indirectly, in identifying other resources to support their growth. They help customers acquire equipment at better prices, arrange takeouts of existing equipment, find additional working capital funding, locate temporary CFO’s, and provide introductions to potential strategic partners--- these are all value-added services best venture lessors bring to table.

While Craig Berman’s story is only an illustration based on an actual financing, many venture capital-backed startups are discovering that venture leasing can leverage venture capital to boost shareholder value. These startups are then able to use their venture capital for growth activities that build enterprise value, like product development, bringing in management talent and expanding their marketing efforts. Since venture leasing is more cost effective than venture capital, requires no board representation or loss of management control, and usually results in little or no equity dilution, this rapidly growing financing for start-ups is reaching radar screens of many savvy entrepreneurs.

Move your due date. Are your credit card bills due at a time of month when you're running low on cash? Many people have trouble saving money, so when it comes time to paying their credit card bills, they don’t have any cash to do so. One particular solution is to move your due date. Many credit card issuers will allow you to set your own due date to meet your specific needs. If you have trouble saving money, move your due date to a time when you do have money, like as soon as you get your paycheck. If you time your credit card bill to come same day you get paid, you will always have cash to pay bill.

Pay by phone. If you are one of those people that wait to last minute to do everything or if you just forgot to send in your credit card payment early enough, you could always pay by phone. This guarantees that your payment will be on time. Just supply representative on other line with your checking account number and your bank routing number, which is printed at bottom of each check. Usually routing number is first and account number is second. A lot of issuers allow you to pay by phone and some will charge you a pretty penny for doing so. Fee’s can range from $5 to $20.

Use other express methods. If your bank does not offer a “pay by phone” service and you need to get your payment to your credit card issuer as soon as possible, I recommend either sending your payment in by express mail or by Western Union. Either one of these services can get your payment to your credit card issuer immediately. These express methods are costly, but it will always most likely be cheaper than any fees associated with being late. Make sure you send your express payment to proper address. Many issuers have separate payment addresses for express payments. The last thing you want to do is slow processing of an express payment by sending it to wrong address.