Other Resources

This section will expand with information that helps you gain a broader perspective - and specific tools to use - in facing the challenges of your own workplace. We will add new resources constantly, so check back here often.

Resources for Entrepreneurs With Start-Up Companies

• SATAI - San Antonio Technology Accelerator Initiative Network
• SBDC - Small Business Development Center at the University of Texas at San Antonio. SBDC Mission: To assist current and potential small business owners to achieve success by providing professional business advice in a consistent, efficient and friendly manner that creates value for the client. Who SBDC Helps: Start-up and existing small businesses in an 11-county service area (in and around San Antonio, Texas). Visit the SBDC website, or call Tom Hansis at (210) 458-2460.
• CDLF - Community Development Loan Fund. CDLF provides funding to small business, non-profits and underserved areas.
• San Antonio Economic Development Department
• First Capital Group (venture capital firm). First Capital Group is a private investment firm, headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, that provides equity capital to companies that fall into three general investment categories: early-stage, expansion-stage, and management buyouts and special situation investments in small and middle-market companies at more mature growth stages. The firm concentrates on companies engaged in a variety of industries throughout Texas and the Southwest. First Capital Group is licensed as a Small Business Investment Company.

Resources for Investors

• Glossary of Investment and Securities Terms on the website of the NASD (National Association of Securities Dealers): http://tinyurl.com/7w5wc.
  

General Information, Articles, White Papers, Websites, and Contacts

• "Contracting and Control in Venture Capital"
  This article discusses control mechanisms and contracts utilized by venture capitalists in structuring investments. The emphasis is on understanding potential conflicts of interest and how the contracts mitigate those conflicts. It helps establish a rudimentary understanding for someone unfamiliar with the direct private equity investment business.
  
  Author(s): Paul A. Gompers; Harvard Business School Publishing;
  Publication Date: Feb 27, 1998; Product Number: 9-298-067.
  You can purchase a reprint of this article at:
  http://tinyurl.com/y7dqar
  
  
• "How Venture Capital Works"
  This article is another good introduction to venture capital and private equity investing for anyone not familiar with the industry.
  Author(s): Bob Zider; Harvard Business School Publishing; Publication Date: Nov 1, 1998; Product Number: 98611. You can purchase a reprint of this article at:
  http://tinyurl.com/yapuzx
  
  
• "Angel Investing: Changing Strategies During Volatile Times (a working paper)"
  Abstract: The authors explore recent statistics assembled near the start of 2003 of angel investor activity during the previous two years of volatile times in the equity capital markets.
  Author(s): Jeffrey E. Sohl and Bruce Sommer; National Association of Seed and Venture Funds; Publication Date: March 1, 2003; Type: working paper; Length: 35 pages (PDF format). You can read this white paper at:
  http://nasvf.org/web/allpress.nsf/pages/6506
  
  
• Wikipedia.org
  Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia. An example of a page in this encyclopedia is titled "Private equity" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_equity) and gives a definition of the term along with related content sections such as "Private equity firms", "History", "See also", "External links", "Industry Organizations & Other Resources", "Articles", and "Videos", all of which were built and edited by users of the site. A related page titled "Venture Capital" is at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venture_capital
  
  
• Action Plan Marketing
  Action Plan Marketing provided the marketing plan model that was the foundation for the creation of this website. The Action Plan Marketing web site is a comprehensive resource on marketing for Independent Professionals. For free marketing resources and valuable marketing tools visit http://www.actionplan.com

Thinking About A Graduate Business School Program?

A July 13, 2005 Wall Street Journal article helps you answer the question "Is What You Give Up to Go Back to School Worth What You'll Gain in the Long Run?"

If you want to earn a Master of Business Administration (MBA), consider the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. The April 01, 2005 issue of U.S. News and World Report ranked The University of Texas at Austin Executive MBA program #12 among all business schools and #5 among public universities that offer executive MBA programs. The Texas Executive MBA program may be an attractive option for you if you don't want to put your career on hold for two years while you are in school. This ranking complements the McCombs School's Executive MBA Program's #8 ranking (among executive MBAs worldwide) in Business Week.

The U.S. News & World Report ranking also surveyed full-time MBA programs. The University of Texas at Austin MBA ranked 18 overall among U.S. schools and has now achieved top twenty status in all three major surveys this year--US News and World Report, The Wall Street Journal (16), and Business Week (19). The McCombs School also received top twenty rankings in all nine of U.S. News' business specialty areas: Accounting (3), Entrepreneurship (9), Finance (18), Information Systems (3), International (15), Management (19), Marketing (9), Productions/Operations (13), and Supply chain/Logistics (19).

The University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business is one of only seven schools that earned top 20 rankings in all of the business specialty areas. The others are Harvard, Indiana, Michigan, Northwestern, Stanford, and Wharton. For more information about the McCombs School of Business, visit http://www.mccombs.utexas.edu/ and for more information about the Texas Executive MBA program at the McCombs School, visit http://www.mccombs.utexas.edu/exmba/.