Raise Capital on Your Own Terms: How to Fund Your Business without Selling Your Soul

Summary

New businesses need money, but entrepreneurs are sometimes anxious about raising capital from traditional sources like venture capitalists, fearing there'll be strings attached. Jenny Kassan's book explains how to raise "grassroots" capital from supporters and allies who believe in mission as much as in returns. Too many entrepreneurs, particularly mission-driven ones, try to avoid raising capital, assuming that they can't offer the kind of returns they think investors demand. Or they're worried that investors will end up taking control of the business. But an underfinanced business is a nightmare for the entrepreneur and a major reason new businesses fail. Jenny Kassan shows how anyone can build capital without relying on traditional methods. Based on over ten years working with small businesses, Kassan says the landscape of investment capital is far larger and more diverse than many would have you believe. Venture capitalists looking for a tenfold return on their investment are a tiny minority, and many investors are just as mission-driven as entrepreneurs. Kassan takes readers through a six-step process to create a customized capital-raising plan, one that inspires them, excites them, and is in complete agreement with their business, their values, and their lives. This book will help as many people as possible turn their big, bold, world-changing visions into reality.