Venture Finance - Reality vs. Rumor with Dick BrownLast Fall, I got a phone call just before dinner from a guy named Adam Kovitz. He said he was the founder of a company called TNNWC. He talked softly and quickly and I didn’t catch all of the intro … just “network”, not one of my technical specialties. It had been a good day so I didn’t call upon my New England brusqueness and tell him I’d never heard of either him or his company. Soon I was glad I didn’t.
He said he was leading TNNWC away from its focus on high-tech to pursue a much higher purpose and fill a huge hole he saw in a world market. He continued that, lead by the US, the world had largely forgotten the brilliant entrepreneurs that had created the vibrant societies they’d once had and were sliding, if not plunging headlong, toward unsustainable debt and mediocrity. He also fervently believed in himself, a “Power of One”, and was planning to embrace the abandoned entrepreneurs and provide them with services and support to re-emerge as the sparkplugs to power away from political darkness and the financial doldrums.
He’d somehow heard that I was an expert in financing entrepreneurial ventures and had written books on the subject. He also said he was looking for columnists that would contribute monthly to his existing, and rapidly expanding audience of young, energetic entrepreneurs. As we talked, I was struck by his zeal and his egoless quest for leaders that had real experience and were secure enough to tell their next generations the absolute truth, minus the BS that is usually shoveled down to those less experienced.
I had not been on a quest for a long time and it sounded like an admirable crusade. So, I became one of Adam’s columnist/contributors. With each article, I tried very hard to explain how the financial world really works and dismissed the myth that VC’s solely rule the world - this to a younger generation weaned on the belief that Jobs and Woz had sprung instantly and immaculately from Steve’s dad’s garage as the slobbering VC’s continue spreading hundred dollar bills in their path like roses before Cleopatra. It was fun.
Now, Adam is ready to take the next step and wants me (and his other acolytes) to replace talk with action. He and his able CEO, Douglas Castle, are to replace written columns with action. This will turn TNNWC into real support teams that provide our next entrepreneurs with the tools they need to grow and grab their countries and societies away from the autocrats peddling so furiously downhill.
I have spent several months with TNNWC trying to teach that there are hundreds of ways to finance ventures without the participation of VC’s. Now, I’ll manage an organization chartered to take real companies and find them real debt financing. This is quite an exciting experience especially in an economy where the average reader of USA Today believes that all bankers who will loan money to young entrepreneurs have disappeared with the dodo bird.
Watch here to see what happens.
TNNWC
Financing, Credit and Risk Management
For more informational, please visit Dick's TNNWC Bio.
Capital, Traffic Building, International Customers and unique SERVICES.
The National Networker Publications™ produced by TNNWC Group, LLC
“Empowering Emerging Enterprises”
The National Networker Publications™ produced by TNNWC Group, LLC
“Empowering Emerging Enterprises”
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