For the majority of startups and small businesses there comes a time when they start planning for the future and that often includes seeking out funding. Whether you’re in the market for an additional financial boost through crowdsourcing or planning to reach out to investors, there is plenty of preparation that goes into financial growth.
The New Zealand Venture Investment Fund says angel networks and funds invested a record $69m into young New Zealand companies in 2016, a 13 percent increase on the previous record set in 2015.
With less than a month to go for the close of the initial offer of public shares, Punakaiki Fund founders are counting on a last minute increase in applications to reach the target amount of $20 million.
As venture-capital firms focus more on customer-facing technologies, CIOs are placing bets on emerging enterprise IT players.
Cloud computing seems like a safe bet. I mean, any startup or existing company that does cloud computing and needs capital must provide a great returns for investors, right? Maybe not.
A wise venture capitalist once told me that those in the venture capital community move like flocks of birds. When they see the others moving in a certain direction, they all seem to follow. Cloud computing is another instance of that behavior. And if VCs and investors are naïve about cloud computing, IT will face business pressures to use cloud computing based on that naïveté, creating serious issues down the line.
The trouble is that cloud computing is both ill-defined and broadly defined. There is a lot of confusion about what's real cloud computing and what is not. I have to admit that I spend a good deal of my day trying to figure that out as well.
What are the top three mistakes that VCs and other investors will make as they move into the cloud computing space?
Cloud computing investor mistake No. 1: Assume a sustainable business model