Startup Financing: From Bootstrapping to Venture Capital

Harvard FAS

Entrepreneurial businesses, particularly those involving advanced scientific and engineering elements, face daunting challenges while raising money. First, the financing structures used are frequently complex, with terminology that obscures rather than clarifies their basic features. Second, many founders do not understand the strategic tradeoffs associated with funding businesses through bootstrapping, customer financing, angels, and/or venture capital. Finally, financing markets change…