If your potential investors can't sell their stock, they won't invest. You have better odds of beating Bank at Monte Carlo than finding serious money for a private company. In Monte Carlo, your odds of winning at Roulette are 1-in-36. In Vegas, they are 1-in-37.

Your odds of finding a Venture Capitalist are 1-in-2,500. Your odds of finding a Vulture Capitalist are about 1-in-100. My best guess is that your odds of finding an Angel are about 1-in-300. It will cost $30,000 to $100,000 to prepare a business plan and present it to these groups. Is it worth risk?

According to Money (1/1/98), your odds of raising $200,000 for a SCOR company are about 1-in-4. The costs of raising this money will be between $15,000 and $100,000. If potential costs are over $50,000, it's a losing bet. You are making same statistical mistake that a poker player makes drawing to an inside straight.

With liquidity, your odds improve. It may cost $1.25 million to do an IPO (Initial Public Offer). However, it's an even money bet that underwriter will do IPO. If your IPO financing exceeds $2.5 million, you've made a statistically sound bet.

Your odds of succeeding with a Spinoff/Offshore Private Placement exceed 9-to-1. This means odds are over 90% in your favor. The reason that spinoff works is 1934 U. S. Securities Act is clear that any company with 500 American resident shareholders must be a reporting (public) company. While U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) can delay review process, they can't stop a public company from paying a stock dividend to their shareholders. The reason European Fund Managers risk money on spinoffs is that they are buying stock at a substantial discount to trading price. They can't lose because they are assured liquidity.

It's your money. You can risk it on an IPO. You can risk it on a spinoff. You can waste it trying to find an Angel or VC. If you want to risk it on a spinoff, contact me.

To contact author: Visit Beowulf Investments website: [http://home.earthlink.net/~beowulfinvestments/] Or, visit Global Village Investment Club Website: [http://home.earthlink.net/~beowulfinvestments/globalvillageinvestmentclubwelcome/]

Be careful with people who move often. Swindlers have to move every two or three years because of complaints to local Better Business Bureau and County District Attorney's Consumer Affairs Office. Call both of these agencies. Query complains department. This should be your policy for anywhere person may have lived for past ten years.

If your company is a startup, be wary of anyone willing to help you raise risk capital from investors. A useful test is to have a business associate contact professional you are considering using. Have your friend seek professional's help for an unsound project. If professional is willing to work with your business associate's unsound project, be careful. In equity finance industry, anyone who will do any deal at all, regardless of its quality is either stupid or a crook.

There are private investigators that specialize in researching business services and individuals. If you have any reason to question qualifications, ethics, or experience of anyone you may consider relying upon, use one of these business investigative firms.

To contact author: Visit Beowulf Investments website: [http://home.earthlink.net/~beowulfinvestments/] Or, visit Global Village Investment Club Website: [http://home.earthlink.net/~beowulfinvestments/globalvillageinvestmentclubwelcome/]