Although the national media has given increased attention to the venture capital process, misconceptions continue to proliferate. One often hears about the incredible capital gains of IPO share prices. This paper refutes the myth that investors demand very high rates of return to compensate for...

Although the national media has given increased attention to the venture capital process, misconceptions continue to proliferate. One often hears about the incredible capital gains of IPO share prices. This paper refutes the myth that investors demand very high rates of return to compensate for...

In an emerging field of scholarship such as Small Business Finance, there is often a chicken-and-egg problem at the outset. Prospective researchers are generally discouraged by an initial lack of infrastructure such as relevant bibliographic facilities, journals, conferences and data sources. In...

We empirically examine a sample of over 350 entrepreneurial firms that successfully receive an SBA guaranteed loan. The first portion of the paper contains descriptive statistics that lend anecdotal evidence concerning the organization type of borrowers, the incidence of collateral, the reasons...

We examine the relationship between the small business loan guarantee and the agency problem of small firms. We then recommend financial instruments or financial contracts that can minimize of eliminate the moral hazard problem.

The nature and role of early stage equity financing in the development of emerging entrepreneurial ventures in the software industry is examined. To provide an understanding of the relationship between the suppliers of capital and the ventures they bankroll, issues concerning equity positions...

The close link between the personal financial affairs of a small business owner and his or her firm has been noted in prior research. This article compares attitudes toward risk on the part of small business owners (SBOs) and non-small business owners (NSBOs). In addition, it compares the...

This paper contains a review of issues pertaining to the valuation of privately held businesses, noting significant inconsistencies in the rationale and approaches taken in the valuation process. In addition to suggesting that appraisers stay with the "tried and true" rather than testing the...

This paper attempts to extend the Certification Paradigm--mainly used in the literature as an explanation for IPO underpricings--to provide guidelines to entrepreneurs in their efforts to secure funding for new ventures. After extending the model to cases of pre-venture-capital start-up firms,...

Prior studies have shown that newly public firms exhibit a high degree of uncertainty and asymmetric information, with few reliable sources of information. These findings suggest that investors could benefit if some independent party is able to assess the quality of a newly public firm. Since...