The Capital Café: Embracing Alternative Forms and Sources of Capital

There is a growing trend amongst entrepreneurs that they will not start a business unless they first raise cash from a banker, an angel investor or a venture capitalist. The ability to raise capital has become a litmus test as to the viability of a business opportunity. However, the vast majority of business opportunities will not meet the lending or investment criteria of these capital sources. Even if the criteria can be met, the costs of obtaining capital from these sources may be too high. This paper sets forth an alternative approach that may generate multiple sources of capital at lower costs of capital. The approach obtains capital in the form of assets from strategic partners or stakeholders who will benefit from the success of the new business. To successfully implement this approach, a founder of a new business must understand which capital assets are critical to a successful business launch and must understand the motivation of investor candidates to make those assets available to the new business.