Venture Capital on Shine

Seeking happiness in tough times? Help someone: 5 questions for Jacqueline Novogratz

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I’m in the middle of reading The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World, a memoir by Jacqueline Novogratz. The book traces her journey from her time as a young banker in Africa to her current role as the founder of the Acumen Fund, a new kind of venture fund that invests in market-oriented approaches to solving problems like access to health, water, housing and energy, around the world.

As I thought about her life, I started wondering what is it that makes people like Novogratz able to do what the rest of us merely wish we had the ability to do -- make real contact with people in need and actually do something to move them out of poverty. I was especially curious about what Novogratz would say to people living in the developed world who are so worried about their own diminished financial well-being that they find it hard to imagine how they could meaningfully affect the lives of less fortunate people in Africa or Pakistan.

So I had a meeting and a series of email conversations with her to get some answers, and some inspiration. After the jump is a condensed version of our discussion.

Ringing the NASDAQ closing bell: A small business success

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<img alt="" src="http://cs.sbtv.com/blogs/2121/nasdaqkayandgail.jpg" align="left" width="200" height="257">I never thought I'd be there, but sure enough – there I was on the stage at the <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.nasdaq.com/">NASDAQ</a> -- part of a group invited to ring the closing bell. What a thrill! We were there because we'd been selected to participate in a venture capital forum for women-led media companies called ALL THINGS MEDIA. The program sponsors were <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.springboardenterprises.org/">Springboard Enterprises</a> and <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.paleycenter.org/">The Paley Center for Media.</a>

Funding your business idea

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If the answer to the question "How do I fund my business idea?" were simple, we'd all have businesses. There is no easy answer and almost no single correct answer. But here are the most common options you have - and maybe a few not so common ones.

1. YOP - Your Own Pockets. If you don't have any money in the bank, you may want to think twice about starting a business until you have a little savings tucked away. That said, lots of people took the business plunge without a safety net. Not the most advisable approach, but if you've got a solid plan and unrelenting stick-to-it-edness, you just might make it to the next step.