Venture Leasing: Startup Financing On the Rise

Written by George A. Parker


Continued from page 1

After determining thatrepparttar caliber ofrepparttar 112068 management team and venture capitalists is high, a venture lessor looks atrepparttar 112069 startup’s business model and market potential. It is unrealistic to expect expert evaluation ofrepparttar 112070 technology, market, business model and competitive climate by equipment leasing firms. Many leasing firms rely on experienced and reputable venture capitalists who have evaluated these factors during their ‘due diligence’ process. However,repparttar 112071 lessor must still undertake significant independent evaluation. During this evaluation he considers questions such as: Doesrepparttar 112072 business plan make sense? Isrepparttar 112073 product/ service necessary, who isrepparttar 112074 targeted customer and how large isrepparttar 112075 potential market? How are products and services priced and what arerepparttar 112076 projected revenues? What arerepparttar 112077 production costs and what arerepparttar 112078 other projected expenses? Do these projections seem reasonable? How much cash is on hand and how long will it lastrepparttar 112079 startup according torepparttar 112080 projections? When willrepparttar 112081 startup needrepparttar 112082 next equity round? These, and questions like these, helprepparttar 112083 lessor determine whetherrepparttar 112084 business plan and model are reasonable.

The most basic credit question facingrepparttar 112085 leasing company considering leasing equipment to a startup is whether there is sufficient cash on hand to supportrepparttar 112086 startup through a significant part ofrepparttar 112087 lease term. If no more venture capital is raised andrepparttar 112088 venture runs out of cash,repparttar 112089 lessor is not likely to collect lease payments. To mitigate this risk, most experienced venture lessors require thatrepparttar 112090 startup have at least nine months or more of cash on hand before proceeding. Usually, startups approved by venture lessors have raised $ 5 million or more in venture capital and have not yet exhausted a healthy portion of this amount.

Where do startups turn to get their leases funded? Part ofrepparttar 112091 infrastructure supporting venture startups is a handful of national leasing companies that specialize in venture lease transactions. These firms have experience in structuring, pricing and documenting transactions, performing due diligence, and working with startup companies through their ups and downs. The better venture lessors respond quickly to lease proposal requests, expediterepparttar 112092 credit review process, and work closely with startups to get documents executed andrepparttar 112093 equipment ordered. Most venture lessors provide leases to startups under lines of credit so thatrepparttar 112094 lessee can schedule multiple takedowns duringrepparttar 112095 year. These lease lines typically range from as little as $200,000 to over $ 5,000,000, depending onrepparttar 112096 start-up’s need, projected growth andrepparttar 112097 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 helprepparttar 112098 startup 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 servicesrepparttar 112099 best venture lessors bring torepparttar 112100 table.

What isrepparttar 112101 outlook for venture leasing? Venture leasing has really come into its own sincerepparttar 112102 early 1990s. With venture investors pouring tens of billion of dollars into startups annually, this market segment has evolved into an attractive one forrepparttar 112103 equipment leasing industry. The most attractive industries for venture leasing include life sciences, software, telecommunications, information services, medical services and devices, andrepparttar 112104 Internet. As long asrepparttar 112105 factors supportingrepparttar 112106 formation of startups remain favorable,repparttar 112107 outlook for venture leasing continues to look promising.

George Parker is a Director and Executive Vice President of Leasing Technologies International, Inc. (“LTI”). Headquartered in Wilton, CT, LTI is a leasing firm specializing nationally in equipment financing programs for emerging growth and later-stage, venture capital backed companies. More information about LTI is available at: www.ltileasing.com.


Getting The Most Bang For Your Buck Out Of Your Banking Services

Written by Teresa Kaufman


Continued from page 1

According to a recent report by Keynote Systems,repparttar leading provider of online customer experience research services,repparttar 112067 three banks that offerrepparttar 112068 best customer experience for online banking services are National City, Washington Mutual and Bank of America. So if you have decided to give online banking a try you might want to check out one of these banks first.

They were chosen out of a group of ten banks which included: The Bank of America, Bank One, Chase, Citibank, National City, Sun Trust, U.S. Bank, Wachovia, Washington Mutual and Wells Fargo.

Now that you have checked out banks to save money on your checking account, do yourself a favor and check out a savings account. If you don’t open one up, you will always be able to give yourself a reason not to save.

I happen to use ING Direct. Their savings account has a 2.35% APY a year. It isrepparttar 112069 highest one that I have been able to find. Although it is an online bank, it is attached to my checking account so that I can transfer money to it when I need to.

The thing I like most about ING Direct isrepparttar 112070 low minimums. If you are like me and need to start small, there are no minimum deposits to worry about. You can open your savings account for $25.00 or less.

Make it a point to save all of your change in a jar all month long and deposit it into your account once a month. It really does work. We paid for both of our children’s birthday parties this year just by depositing our spare change intorepparttar 112071 bank that way every month.

Also if you are leery ofrepparttar 112072 stock like I am (we lost some money inrepparttar 112073 market a couple of years ago), than you can open up CDs. If you ladderrepparttar 112074 CDs (open a 1 year, 2 year, 3 year, 4 year and 5 year atrepparttar 112075 same time). It is almostrepparttar 112076 same as dollar cost averaging withrepparttar 112077 stock market if you keep adding to them over time and then keep rolling them over. There are also no minimums on CDs with ING Direct.

Many other banks have minimums of $500.00 $1,000.00 and more to open CDs. Their rates are a little better but if cannot meetrepparttar 112078 minimums at this time, this isrepparttar 112079 way to go. It will help you to make a start.

You can always transfer them to a bank with better CD rates once you have accumulated enough money to meet their minimums. As they mature each year you can transfer them one at a time to a bank with a higher rate.

If opening a savings account is not an option you want to explore right now, see if your employer has an employee stock option plan or a 401k you can take advantage of.

You can haverepparttar 112080 money taken out of your check, usually before taxes, and many employers will match what you put in up to a certain amount. That’s a 50% return on your investment. You won’t come close to that inrepparttar 112081 stock market.

If you have been telling yourself that you have time, eventually you will start saving, stop kidding yourself. We all know that tomorrow never comes, life happens, things come up if we keep allowing them to.

I used to tell myselfrepparttar 112082 same thing and something would always come up. It is not going to change until you decide to pay yourself first and make it a priority.

Pretend you are paying a bill that has to be paid then put that amount into your savings account. Save your raise when you receive it. Forget that you got it and put that amount toward your 401k if you have one or put that amount in your savings account every pay period. As you pay off your debts, put part ofrepparttar 112083 money you used to use for your debts in your savings.

There many ways to save. Cutting expenses, clipping coupons eat one less lunch or dinner out a week, cut out one cup of coffee out a day and more. Make it a habit to look for ways to save just like you make it a habit to save. The two habits go hand in hand.

None of us know if Social Security will still be there when we need it. If you don’t make saving some money every month a priority and a habit now, you might just find yourself with only your savings or lack there of andrepparttar 112084 goodwill of relatives to depend on when you retire.

Don’t wait for that. Check your budget now and see where you can squeeze a few extra dollars from. This is one habit you will eventually be grateful you picked up.

Teresa Kaufman © 2004-2005. All rights reserved < a href="http://www.yourdollarsandsense-budgets.com" rel="nofollow" target="resource window"> Personal Budgets to Fit Your Lifestyle, Needs and Wants

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