Entrepreneurial Finance and Venture Funding

Catalog description

This course provides a unique exposure to the field of financing start-up companies. The course combines a comprehensive overview of the various ways to finance a company along with an opportunity for students to evaluate start-up companies for investment consideration of up to $100,000 utilizing the Garber Venture Capital Fund. Students learn which sources of funding are most suitable for the stage of the company and its business model based on the interests and capacities of those funding sources. These funding sources include friends and family, crowd funding, government funding, angel investors, venture capital, and debt financing. In addition, students learn key differences in financial terms unique to start-up company investments, develop valuation models, and learn the roles of boards of directors and shareholders. In parallel to the review of course materials, students work in teams to evaluate companies considered for a Garber Fund investment, present investment recommendations to their classmates, and vote to invest in up to three companies.