the natural by-product of a successful start-up is growth. But growth is costly
and often puts an enormous strain on the already sparse resources of the young
venture. Typically, to meet significant demand, the new company will need additional capital beyond any internal cash flows'. Growth capital, or second-round financing, consists of those funds needed to take the venture out of the start-up phase and move it toward securing a market presence. To the extent that the entre¬preneur has met the* sales and earnings targets estimated in the start-up business plan, available financing choices increase substantially when growth financing, or second-round financing, is sought. The fact that more choices are available is impor taiit because, normally, the amount of money needed to grow a business is signifi¬cantly greater than that required to start a business. One exception is high-tech companies that incur considerable research and development costs prior to start-up. This type of company may spend millions of dollars and accrue several years of losses before its first sale. It may also go through several rounds of financing and grants before it has something to sell to customers.
Most venture funding today is still going to biotechnology, software, and other high technology ventures, but in general, the best companies in any industry have the easiest time finding capital from any source. Being one of the "best" companies requires having an excellent track record (however short), a sound management team, a potential for high growth, and a plan for investor exit with an excellent rate of return on the money invested. Investors in growth companies typically will not go into a situation where their new money is paying off old debt or where cash flow is poor. They want to know that the infrastructure is in place, sales arc increasing, and the growing venture needs capital only to take it to the next stage. This chapter looks at some of the sources of growth capital available to entrepreneurs and how to value a business to prepare for funding.