Appealing to both mainstream and evolutionary economists, this book, written by an author with an excellent track record, is acrossover treatment of quantitative and qualitative risk analysis within the setting of new high technology ventures.

Venture capitalists are specialized intermediaries that channel capital to firms and professional services to companies that might otherwise be excluded from the corporate debt market and other sources of private finance. Venture capital financing is used to invest mainly in small and medium size firms with good growth and exit potential. Typically, venture capital firms concentrate in industries with a great deal of uncertainty, where the information gaps among entrepreneurs and venturecapitalist are commonplace. Venture capital firms are active in sectors with a high informational opacity and agency costs. These ventures are identified as financially constrained. Start-up firms rely on venture capital as one of their main sources of funding. Recent empirical research has found that the effect of venture capital on the success of these ventures is considerable. The value of venture capital investment is borne out by the figures which show that venture capital backed-firms grow on average twice as fast as those not backed by venture capital firms. The debate on the development of an efficient venture capital market has forced us to consider which financial instruments, legal rules, labour laws, contracts, and other institutional structures are necessary to create a venture capital market. The contributions to this book have offered insights on the structure of venture capital fund financial contracts, the screening, monitoring and staging of potential investments, the importance of partnership and other legal business forms for investors and start-up firms, the funding of innovation, the valuation of investments, and the exit routes for venture capitalists. The essays in this volume, which draw upon international evidence and ideas from financial economics and law, contribute to further research on the relationship between venture capitalists and entrepreneurs. This collection analyses the main legal and contracting structures in the venture capital cycle. Exploring the differences between the US and European venture capital markets, it focuses on diverse organizational and contractual techniques, such as staged finance, convertible securities, board functions and other forms of control, and the role of exit. Theoretical chapters examine the valuation of entrepreneurial firms and the liquidiation preference in convertible securities. Finally, the book assesses the importance of the IPO market for entrepreneurs, investors and venture capitalists alike.

Explanations to the inner workings of one of the least understood, but arguably most important, areas of business finance is offered to readers in this engaging volume: venture capital. Venture capitalists provide necessary investment to seed (or startup) companies, but the startup is only the beginning, there is much more to be explored. These savvy investors help guide young entrepreneurs, who likely have little experience, to turn their businesses into the Googles, Facebooks, and Groupons of the world. This book explains the often-complex methods venture capitalists use to value companies and to get the most return on their investments, or ROI. This book is a must-have for any reader interested in the business world.

Today's knowledge economy is driven in large part by the nation's capacity to innovate. One of the defining features of the U.S. economy is a high level of entrepreneurial activity. Entrepreneurs in the United States see opportunities and are willing and able to assume risk to bring new welfare-enhancing, wealth-generating technologies to the market. Yet, although discoveries in areas such as genomics, bioinformatics, and nanotechnology present new opportunities, converting these discoveries into innovations for the market involves substantial challenges. The American capacity for innovation can be strengthened by addressing the challenges faced by entrepreneurs. Public-private partnerships are one means to help entrepreneurs bring new ideas to market. The Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) and the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program form one of the largest examples of U.S. public-private partnerships. In the SBIR Reauthorization Act of 2000, Congress tasked the National Research Council with undertaking a comprehensive study of how the SBIR program has stimulated technological innovation and used small businesses to meet federal research and development needs and with recommending further improvements to the program. When reauthorizing the SBIR and STTR programs in 2011, Congress expanded the study mandate to include a review of the STTR program. This report builds on the methodology and outcomes from the previous review of SBIR and assesses the STTR program.

Why can't we solve our problems anymore? Why do threats such as the Gulf oil spill, worldwide recession, terrorism, and global warming suddenly seem unstoppable? Are there limits to the kinds of problems humans can solve? Rebecca Costa confronts- and offers a solution to-these questions in her highly anticipated and game-changing book, The Watchman's Rattle. Costa pulls headline for today's news to demonstrate how accelerating complexity quickly outpaces that rate at which the human brain can develop new capabilities. With compelling evidenced based on research in the rise and fall of Mayan, Khmer, and Roman empires, Costa shows how t ht tendency to find a quick solutions- leads to frightening long term consequence: Society's ability to solve its most challenging, intractable problems becomes gridlocked, progress slows, and collapse ensues. A provocative new voice in the tradition of thought leaders Thomas Friedman, Jared Diamond and Malcolm Gladwell, Costa reveals how we can reverse the downward spiral. Part history, part social science, part biology, The Watchman's Rattle is sure to provoke, engage and incite change.

Knowledge intensive entrepreneurship lies at the core of the structural shift necessary for the growth and development of a knowledge based economy, yet research reveals that the EU has fewer young leading innovators, and Europe’s new firms do not adequately contribute to industrial growth. This is especially true in the high R&D intensive, high-tech sectors. This structural malaise, undermining Europe’s growth potential, is well diagnosed, but poorly understood. This volume fills this important gap by exploring new firms that have significant knowledge intensity in their activity and develop and exploit innovative opportunities in diverse sectors. Through an evolutionary and systemic approach to entrepreneurship, focusing on knowledge intensive entrepreneurship as both a micro and a macro phenomena and analyzing firms in the context of various socio-economic models, the authors explore firms creation and origins around the world, their organization, strategies and business models as well as the role of innovation systems and institutions in their formation and growth. This comprehensive research text is vital reading for academics, researchers and students of high-tech and knowledge intensive entrepreneurship as well as those with an interest in industrial dynamics, innovation management and public policy.