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Speaking in front of
people
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Get your
story straight before you try connecting with investors. Here
are a couple of groups that allow entrepreneurs present to a
live audience, field questions, and endure cutting criticism.
Can you handle it, or will you go crying to mommy? Life is
tough. Raising money is tougher.
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Midwest Entrepreneurs' Forum - Jerry Mitchell's group
does a great job of allowing early stage entrepreneurs to
present to an panel of experts, in addition to a large
audience.
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Arch Development Partners - Tom Churchwell, a legend in
his own mind (his words!) runs these period meetings, often
in conjunction with ITEC and the Illinois Coalition. If
you're not ready to present, start attending these meetings
to see how it works. In addition to Chicago and Evanston,
Tom runs meetings in Peoria and Kalamazoo.
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Peoria Next - OK, another resource that's not quite in
Chicago, but Peoria is only a 2 1/2 hour drive away, and
this group allows entrepreneurs to present their plans to a
live audience. Contact
Rebecca Bollin if you're interested in presenting.
Venture Capital
News
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Eprairie - Chicago technology scene news + I'm a
columnist here
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I-Street - More news about Chicago technology scene
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IPO.com
- this site tracks IPOs, venture capital investments and
much more. Wonderful resource for research and info.
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NVCA - The National Venture Capital Association is a
great resource
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VC Experts
- provides a wealth of information about venture capital
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VentureBlog - An interesting look at venture capital
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VentureOne
- venture capital research firm
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Venture Economics
- provides global private equity information - more great
resources about the venture capital industry
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VentureReporter.net
Angel Capital News
Merger and
Acquisition News
Business News
News Sources -
National or International focus
US Newspapers
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Specific Cities
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Wealth of
entrepreneurial information and wisdom
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Dreamscape Global - OK, this is not a Chicago resource,
but Sheridan Tatsuno does a fantastic job providing a lot of
valuable (and free) resources for entrepreneurs.
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BarryMoltz.com - you should listen to what Barry says,
lot's of great advice and info
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Cayenne Consulting - Akira Hirai's site is chock
full-o-info, check out his
valuation calculator
Things that affect your Operating cash flow
Things that affect your financing cash flow
Networking
Gossip
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The May Report - gossip, rumors, innuendo, half truths.
The first stop of every disgruntled former
employee..."anonymous," of course. Check with Ron to see if
you're being smeared
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Raging Bull
- bulletin board for publicly listed companies. Get caught
up with what the gossip mongers (a.k.a. the shorts) have to
say.
Research
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Ask Research
- free research into publicly traded companies
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CIA Factbook - all kinds of great research info
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FreeEdgar
- one of my favorites, access to the filings of publicly
traded companies
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How Stuff Works
- when your knowledge base has huge gaping holes, avoid the
embarrassment of asking your smart ass colleagues to explain
things to you.
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Investopedia
- a "how stuff work" site for financial and accounting terms
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TannedFeet
- a great page for entrepreneurial resources.
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Webopedia - a "how stuff work" site for computer and
Internet technology
Public
Market Exchanges
Governmental
Regulation and SROs
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NASD - national association of securities dealers. This
organization oversees those fun securities exams.
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NASD Regulation -
regulates the securities industry and virtually all U.S.
stockbrokers and brokerage firms.
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SEC - government agency that regulates the securities
business
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SIPC - Securities
Investor Protection Corporation
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