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Written Interviews ENT 640

Interview with Brad Feld of Foundry Group

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Brad Feld is a top venture capitalist.  He founded Intensity Ventures, and co-founded Mobius Venture Capital, TechStars, and Foundry Group.  Companies he has invested in include: Harmonix, Zynga, CrowdTap, Cheezburger, CloudAbility, and awe.sm.  A more detailed portfolio and biography can be found at foundrygroup.com.

Mr. Feld is also an entrepreneur, author, and marathon runner.  He is a nationally recognized speaker, chair of the National Center for Women & Information Technology, co-chair of Startup Colorado, and he is on the board of UP Global.  The VC also authors several popular blogs: Feld Thoughts, Startup Revolution, and Ask the VC.  His most recent publication is Startup Life: Surviving and Thriving in a Relationship with an Entrepreneur, which came out earlier this year.  Mr. Feld is known for speaking his mind, and being very generous in answering all of his emails.  The following is my interview with Mr. Feld.

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ENT 640

Small Business and Entrepreneurial Funding with Paul Solitario

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Great, you just had your AHA moment, probably in the shower. You yell Eureka. You just figured out the best new business idea you would like to pursue. Awesome. Now what? One important question is how will you fund this venture? The answer, of course, depends on the idea. Will a credit card suffice? Do you need help from friends and family? Or, perhaps an Angel Investor to help realize your dream.

J. Paul Solitario – Managing Partner at Cerium Capital LLC is someone that has lots of experience in Small Business and Entrepreneurial Funding and fortunately for us we had the opportunity to pinch a few minutes of his time to discuss this topic.

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Written Interviews ENT 640

Interview With Patrick Jones by Hillary Watkins

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I have had the privilege of working with Patrick Jones in my previous job, and when the opportunity arose to interview someone in the financial field my thoughts immediately turned to him. Pat, as I like to call him, is the branch manager of North State Acceptance, a finance company that focuses on consumer loans in the Eastern part of North Carolina.  His friendly demeanor and ever smiling face are attributes that I’m sure have benefitedNorth State Acceptance him greatly in his career, however he is an individual who genuinely cares about people and businesses and has always strived to do the right thing in an industry whose reputation has been marred by those who have not had the same strong character.

When I asked about his past experience with the finance industry he told me that he had previously worked for Wachovia Bank for 23 years managing both consumer and commercial lending.  He worked with automobile, RV, and yacht loans with the largest credit underwritten at $3.5M.  He later managed a portfolio of automobile dealers by lending them credit and managing wholesale lines of credit.  In his career with North State Acceptance, Pat states that currently the biggest challenge is irrational competition.  “Many new lenders are entering the market and have forgotten the sins of the past.  There is very little discipline that I compete with daily.”

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Video Interviews ENT 640

sage advice for seeking funding

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In March of 2012, I had the privilege of attending a free community panel on “Funding Your Small Business,” jointly hosted by the Asheville Minority Business Program and Mountain Bizworks. It was at this informative gathering that I met Jane Hatley, WNC Regional Director for Self-Help Credit Union. She brought a wealth of valuable information, perfectly balanced between enthusiastic support for and the stark reality of starting a small business.

Though some of us may be aspiring to build global empires, many of us have set our sights on small businesses couched cosily within the context of our local communities. With this local focus in mind, I took the opportunity to explore small business funding in a bit more depth with Jane. Below is a short video of Jane in her own words followed by a summary of our entire interview.

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