Author Archive

Making the Business Case

Thinking about starting a business? Why? Can you explain what the business opportunity is and how you will make money? I hear hundreds of pitches every year from budding entrepreneurs. Their main challenge is making the business case.

Capital Prohibitions and Crowdfunding

Securities regulations severely limit access to capital for start-up ventures. The average citizen is precluded from investing because of these regulations. The government’s goal of protecting investors is achieved by preventing them from investing! What can be done to give companies better access to capital and better protect investors?

The Importance of a Shareholders Agreement

Shareholder Agreements are important because they define how a company will be governed. They are especially important when one shareholder or a group of shareholders controls the company by having more than 50% of the votes. A shareholders agreement gives minority shareholders certain rights.

Business Basics – Negotiating a Term Sheet

A “Term Sheet” is a document that summarizes the terms of an investment. It’s usually proposed by the investor(s) and spells out what they want in order to proceed with an investment. I’m not sure why it’s not called a “Terms Sheet” since there are many terms in it. Perhaps that came about because the […]

Shares vs Stock Options

This article discusses the tax issues around issuing shares vs granting options to employees of both public and private Canadian companies. There are major tax implications that are unknown to most people – including the politicians who are trying to encourage entrepreneurship.

The Valuation Question

What’s my baby worth? Figuring that out is the biggest challenge entrepreneurs face when attracting investors. Many negotiations break down over this issue. The good news is that there are contractual mechanisms that can be used to resolve any disparities.

Making Canada Innovative

Innovation is a popular subject these days. It was raised by Obama in his State of the Union address as a major challenge for Americans. Here, in Canada, many think tanks, committees, interest groups, etc are rallying to the call for more Innovation.

Business Basics – Introduction

Over the years, I’ve written a number of articles to assist entrepreneurs, especially tech entrepreneurs, with an understanding of business matters. On the Simon Fraser University Website, much of this can be found at www.sfu.ca/~mvolker/biz.  These articles are in the process of being updated, with new ones added, and will gradually start showing up on […]

Investing in Greentech Start-ups

At the October 28, 2010 Vancouver Greentech Exchange, Mike talked about investment options for investors, challenges for entrepreneurs, incentives and impediments to innovation and finally explained a new investment vehicle – GreenAngel Energy Corp – could benefit both investors and entrepreneurs. Here is a summary of Mike’s talk:

An Innovative Strategy

The Globe and Mail reported today (Oct 13, 2010) that a blue-chip panel of experts (including me, so maybe it’s not entirely blue-chip) has come up with recommendations to turn Canada into a “nation of innovators”. (see story). The complete report is available on this website by clicking here.