So, you want to start your own company. Ever since you were a little kid, you have wanted to bring your great ideas into the vast U.S. consumer market.
I don't know about you, but while all the other little boys and girls were dreaming of being professional baseball players, ballerinas, race car drivers, and firefighters, I always wanted to be the guy ringing the bell on Wall Street the day my beautiful idea went public.
OK … that's a joke. Seriously, I had way too many Hot Wheels cars to play with to even consider leading a company to Wall Street. But you get my point.
Anyways, you have your great idea. Maybe you are Al Gore and you invented the Internet. Or maybe you are Peter Pan, and you invented Peanut Butter. Whatever it is, you are pretty sure that your idea can make you some serious cash money. But how are you, a college student, going to make this idea a reality? There's so much money and planning involved! On top of that, your friends think your idea sucks, and your dad told you that he's not spending a fortune to send you to Boston College so you can think up goofy ideas in your room.
But you are still convinced. Your idea is the greatest thing since bottled water. On a side note, whoever came up with the idea to put some water in a plastic container and sell it on a mass scale for $1.50 to billions of consumers worldwide - genius.
Back to your idea, though. Your first major concern is getting the money you need to run your business.
First, you have to hit up mom, dad, and Uncle Greg in Minnesota for some cash. If they think your idea is worth something, they might throw you some loose change. Most of the time, this isn't going to be enough to sustain your business, so you need to look somewhere else. You decide to pitch your ideas to some business angels. Business angels are mythical beings that float down from the heavens and sprinkle $100 bills on your eyelids as you sleep at night. Sorry, bad joke. A business angel is a high net-worth individual that invests in high-risk start-ups. Basically, these are people with more money than they know what to do with who try to hit the lottery by investing in start-ups. They never know when they might get in on the next Google.
2008 Woodie Awards
