...Walnut Venture Associates: Case Questions (HAND-IN) (1)Angel investors are affluent individuals who provide capital(money) for a business start-up. Angel investors usually receive convertible debt or ownership equity in return for their investment. Angel investors are different from venture capitalists since angels typically invest their own funds meanwhile venture capitalists manage pooled money of others in a professionally-managed fund. There are 2 forces exacerbating the trend towards the prominence of angel investing which include the fact that a generation of entreprenuers had “cashed out” and were looking to utilize their wealth and expertise by investing in start-ups, and that venture capitalists usually deployed capital in larger amounts that $1 million or below. An entrepreneur would seek financing from an Angel because Angels not only have the money to help finance the company, but they also have knowledge and experience that is very helpful to start-ups. The experience and track record of Angels (who usually have started their own company, served as a CEO, etc) is an asset that can’t be matched by a venture capitalist. Part of the reason of this again is because the Angel investor is investing his or her own money, something that will truly incentivize the Angel do to everything in his or her power to make the company succeed. 1) What is your first impression about the RBS opportunity based on the business plan? My first impression about the RBS opportunity...
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...Walnut Venture Associates are a group of angel investors. In 1997 the club had around a dozen individual investors, forming an “angel group”. Their primary targets are investments ranging from $250,000 to $1,000,000. This is due to the gap of capital funds initiated by the VC’s from not considering investments bellow $1 million. Also, angel investors can acquire significant equity at low cost, and help the growth of the company with their knowledge and expertise. By selecting only the most exceptional people and ideas, investments in startups can lead to massive returns on relatively small investments. As unexperienced entrepreneurs, they are a key resource to have in order to achieve quick growth, and secure the company’s early stages. RBS began product development in 1992, and first launched to the software industry in 1994. By the end of 1997, their annual revenue rate was close to $5 million. RBS now seeks a 2 million dollar investment, to be used for sales expansion, global marketing, and product development. So why would Walnut even consider investing if the company is past startup status? Since their primal motive is to maximize earnings, they may allow going over their common investment range if the opportunity seems truly worth it. RBS does seem to have the essentials to a great company with a strong management team, a proven product, and a solid execution of their plans. The market they are in, the software industry, is growing at 5 times the rate of the rest of...
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...Angel investors are wealthy individuals who usually have an entrepreneurial background of their own. These individuals look for an outlet to share, recycle and increase their wealth and expertise by investing in start-ups. The reasons why they invest in start-ups vary. One of these is to put their wealth and experience to use, the other is to fill the void created by VC’s in the investment space of $1million or less. For entrepreneurs Angel investment is an attractive way to raise equity capital. Angels will provide capital up to a couple of million dollars making it an attractive option for a second round financing run where friends and family would probably fall short and the company is not yet attractive for VC’s. For a Walnut investor there are a several issues that raise questions that must be answered. Some of these questions are about RBS’s market penetration and growth projections. Why will the customer choose to switch to RBS, and how easy is it? The answer to this question would reveal the markets resistance to RBS’s penetration. Is RBS adding real value to the customers that switch? Based on the answers to these questions is the 100% annual sales growth realistic? Is opening local field offices really a good strategy? Can new field offices duplicate the success of the California office which had access to a huge software company market? We can also question assumptions about the competition. What is the barrier of entry for the competition? Does...
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...Harvard Business School 9-899-062 Rev. December 7, 1998 Walnut Venture Associates (A): RBS Group Investment Memorandum Ralph Wagner pulled his file on the RBS Group, a young company that developed and sold accounting software specifically targeted to software companies. Wagner was a private investor—an “angel”—and a member of an informal group of other investors known as Walnut Venture Associates. (See Exhibit 1 for background information on Walnut) RBS was seeking to raise $2 million in equity capital to fund its growth. Wagner had agreed to take the lead role in evaluating RBS as an investment opportunity for Walnut. While Wagner would spearhead the process, each individual would make his own decision about whether to invest in the company. It was December 26, 1997 and Bob O’Connor, RBS’s founder and CEO, had presented to the Walnut group one week ago. The group had been impressed with O’Connor, with RBS’s business focus, and with the fact that the company had a product, sales and even earnings. Based on this positive first impression, the group had decided to take the next step and begin a more in-depth investigation of the company and its prospects. Half a dozen or so “Walnuters” had indicated an interest in possibly investing, and it was up to Wagner to come up with a due diligence agenda for these individuals. He pulled out RBS’s plan (See Exhibit 2) and began to sort through the issues the group should investigate during this phase, as well as an...
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...Harvard Business School 9-899-062 Rev. December 7, 1998 Walnut Venture Associates (A): RBS Group Investment Memorandum Ralph Wagner pulled his file on the RBS Group, a young company that developed and sold accounting software specifically targeted to software companies. Wagner was a private investor—an “angel”—and a member of an informal group of other investors known as Walnut Venture Associates. (See Exhibit 1 for background information on Walnut) RBS was seeking to raise $2 million in equity capital to fund its growth. Wagner had agreed to take the lead role in evaluating RBS as an investment opportunity for Walnut. While Wagner would spearhead the process, each individual would make his own decision about whether to invest in the company. It was December 26, 1997 and Bob O’Connor, RBS’s founder and CEO, had presented to the Walnut group one week ago. The group had been impressed with O’Connor, with RBS’s business focus, and with the fact that the company had a product, sales and even earnings. Based on this positive first impression, the group had decided to take the next step and begin a more in-depth investigation of the company and its prospects. Half a dozen or so “Walnuters” had indicated an interest in possibly investing, and it was up to Wagner to come up with a due diligence agenda for these individuals. He pulled out RBS’s plan (See Exhibit 2) and began to sort through the issues the group should investigate during this phase, as well as an agenda for the meeting...
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...Harvard Business School 9-899-097 Rev. November 19, 1998 Walnut Venture Associates (D): RBS Deal Terms It was Friday, June 5, 1998, and Bob O’Connor was headed home for the weekend. He knew it would be a busy one, for he had many decisions to make. He had been trying to raise capital for his Company – the RBS Group, a software firm – for almost a year. He felt like he was finally nearing the end of this process, but now more issues had arisen. First, his prospective investors wanted to increase the amount of their investment. While he would be happy to have the extra money, he felt that the valuation on RBS was already lower than he had hoped, and he was reluctant to take more money at this price. Second, he had received a draft term sheet the day before. He’d only had a few minutes to scan it, but it seemed a long way from the simple deal they’d discussed weeks before. O’Connor knew he would be spending a lot of time with this document over the coming weekend. Background Wagner and other “angels” from the Walnut group had successfully gotten over several of the issues that had arisen during their due diligence process. (See Walnut Ventures Associates (A), (B) and (C) Nos.899-062, 063 and 064) Wagner described those issues and the due diligence process: The customer feedback was all quite good. O’Connor was a great salesman. The issue was: Is he a one man band? And we decided – yes, he was a one man band, but more by necessity than by choice. After watching him in...
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...Walnut Venture Associates RBS Group is a complete accounting application solution provider targeting its products to software companies. Their product, SOFTRAX, provides software companies with a full-package of solutions spanning in financials, sales & marketing, customer support and software operations. Robert O’Connor, RBS’s founder and CEO was seeking a $2 million second round venture capital financing to support their regional sales offices growth and recruit personnel in sales, implementation & customer support. Though RBS is still a young company, it indicates to position itself in a unique niche market within a solid market. They have seasoned management team and have allied with several key clients and partnerships. What’s more important, RBS had positive earnings since starting the business. Walnut Venture Associates, a group of Angel investors seeking early-stage type investment opportunities in the New England market, is among parties interested in providing capital to RBS. It is definitely a right decision for them to make investment in such promising company. However, this angel group has an investment policy capping the investment commitment ranging for $250 thousand to $1 million in a single round of financing. In addition, taken into consideration of RBS’ aggressive expansion risk, it is viable for Walnut to persuade management team in RBS Group to reduce financing amount to $1 million. Before investment, Ralph B. Wagner, the leader of this investment...
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...round venture capital financing to support their regional sales offices growth and recruit personnel in sales, implementation & customer support. Though RBS is still a young company, it indicates to position itself in a unique niche market within a solid market. They have seasoned management team and have allied with several key clients and partnerships. What’s more important, RBS had positive earnings since starting the business. Walnut Venture Associates, a group of Angel investors seeking early-stage type investment opportunities in the New England market, is among parties interested in providing capital to RBS. It is definitely a right decision for them to make investment in such promising company. However, this angel group has an investment policy capping the investment commitment ranging for $250 thousand to $1 million in a single round of financing. In addition, taken into consideration of RBS’ aggressive expansion risk, it is viable for Walnut to persuade management team in RBS Group to reduce financing amount to $1 million. Before investment, Ralph B. Wagner, the leader of this investment, requires to analyze the financial and conduct due diligence on RBS to weigh the viability and proceed the investment. Although RBS Group has solid revenue and great profit margin in the middle market with ample opportunities and avoids direct competition from giants including SAP, Oracle, etc., there are still plenty of risk considerations before Walnut Venture Associates can proceed...
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...2531 ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND NEW VENTURES January 2015 PROFESSOR: G. Richard Patton 328 Mervis Hall grpatton@katz.pitt.edu Phone: 648-1568 SECRETARY: Pat Koroly 341 Mervis Hall 412-648-2250 Required Case and Reading Packet link: https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/access/32240148 BSEO 2531 is to be a different experience for our MBA students. Most of your previous student experience has been focused on models and techniques that are typically applied in large organizations. BSEO 2531 will focus on a different aspect of the business environment--entrepreneurship. Consequently, this course will be structured differently than most other courses. Part of the course will involve the use of conventional case analysis, discussions and lectures. In addition, there will be guest speakers, time permitting. There are multiple objectives for the Entrepreneurship elective, including: 1. Understanding the process of New Venture Formulation 2. Studying the characteristics of successful entrepreneurs 3. Process and structure of business plan development 4. Understanding sources and methods of financing new business ventures 5. Opportunities to apply functional skill (marketing, finance, accounting, etc.) 6. Networking in the Pittsburgh entrepreneurial community The focus of the class will be the development of a business plan for a new venture; the final plan should be suitable...
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...Walnut Venture Associates (A): Memorándum de Inversión del Grupo RBS Ralph Wagner sacó su expediente del Grupo RBS, una joven compañía que desarrollaba y vendía software de contabilidad especialmente orientados a las compañías de software. Wagner era un inversionista privado –“un ángel”– y miembro de un grupo informal de inversionistas conocido como Walnut Venture Associates (ver anexo 1 para mayor información de Walnut). RBS estaba buscando obtener US$ 2 millones en capital para financiar su crecimiento. Wagner había acordado tomar el liderazgo en la evaluación de RBS como una oportunidad de inversión para Walnut. Mientras iniciaba el proceso, cada individuo tomaría su propia decisión sobre invertir o no en la compañía. Era el 26 de diciembre de 1997, y había pasado una semana desde que Bob O’Connor, fundador y presidente de RBS, se había presentado al grupo Walnut. El grupo estaba impresionado con O’Connor, con su enfoque en los negocios de RBS, y en el hecho que la compañía tenía un producto, vendía e incluso tenía ganancias. Basado en una positiva primera impresión, el grupo había decidido dar el siguiente paso y comenzar una investigación más profunda sobre la compañía y sus prospectos. Media docena de inversionistas del grupo Walnut ya habían mostrado su interés en una posible inversión, y le fue encargado a Wagner desarrollar un due diligence de la compañía para estos individuos. Desmenuzó el plan negocios de RBS (ver anexo 2) y comenzó a ordenar los aspectos que el...
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...of its US$258 billion sales in the U.S. from grocery business. It also owns and operates the Sam's Club retail warehouses in North America. Wal-Mart has 8,500 stores in 15 countries, under 55 different names. The company operates under its own name in the United States, including the 50 states. It also operates under its own name in Puerto Rico. It operates in Mexico as Walmex, in the United Kingdom as Asda, in Japan as Seiyu, and in India as Best Price. It has wholly owned operations in Argentina, Brazil, and Canada. Wal-Mart's investments outside North America have had mixed results: its operations in the United Kingdom, South America and China are highly successful, while it was forced to pull out of Germany and South Korea when ventures there were unsuccessful. Sam Walton Samuel Moore "Sam" Walton (March 29, 1918 – April 5, 1992) was a businessman and entrepreneur born in Kingfisher, Oklahoma, founder of Wal-Mart and Sam's Club. Growing up during the Great Depression, Walton had numerous chores to help make financial ends meet for his family. He milked the family cow, bottled the surplus, and drove it to customers. Afterwards, he would deliver newspapers on a paper route. In addition, he also sold magazine subscriptions. After high school,...
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...Dkfjakdfjafjdkfjakdfddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddjdkf * 1 History * 1.1 Early years (1945–1969) * 1.2 Incorporation and growth (1969–2005) * 1.3 Initiatives (2005–present) * 2 Operating divisions * 2.1 Walmart Stores U.S. * 2.1.1 Walmart Discount Stores * 2.1.2 Walmart Supercenter * 2.1.3 Walmart Market * 2.1.4 Supermercado de Walmart * 2.1.5 Walmart Express * 2.2 Sam's Club * 2.3 Walmart International * 2.4 Vudu * 2.5 Private label brands * 2.6 Entertainment * 3 Corporate affairs * 3.1 Finance and governance * 3.2 Competition * 3.3 Customer base * 3.4 Economic impact * 3.5 Employee and labor relations * 3.6 Gender and sexual orientation * 3.7 Logos * 4 See also * 4.1 Television and film * 4.2 Other * 5 References * 6 Further reading * 7 External links | History Main article: History of Walmart Early years (1945–1969) Sam Walton's original Walton's Five and Dime store in Bentonville, Arkansas now serving as the Walmart Visitor Center In 1945 a businessman and former J. C. Penney employee, Sam Walton, purchased a branch of the Ben Franklin Stores from the Butler Brothers.[12] Sam's focus was on selling products at...
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...AMERICAN PAULOWNIA ASSOCIATION VOL. 15 NO. 2 SEPTEMBER 2006 PAULOWNIA IS NATIVE TO NORTH AMERICA "A Record of Paulownia in the Tertiary of North America" American Journal of Botany 48(2); 175-179 Illus. 1961 Charles J. Smiley Macalester College; St. Paul, Minnesota Reviewed by Ralph Donaldson First, the writer is incompetent as a reviewer of a juried paper on paleobotany in a scientific journal. He is neither paleontologist nor botanist. He is a farmer. The language of the paper being reviewed is alien to him. This attempt is to extract some bits of information that may be of use to growers, promoters, and protectors of Paulownia. First, some definitions. Pre-history has been divided into periods for convenience of study. Often the divisions used correspond to geologic changes-changes being a relative term since many of the "changes" occurred over many millions of years. There have been several such schemes of dividing up the past. As a matter of fact, the Tertiary Period referred to in this 1961 article is part of an obsolete scheme. The Tertiary Period in this article went from about 66 million years ago to about 26 million years ago. Fossils attributed to this time are found in rock strata that are associated with geologic events that can be tied to this period of pre-history. Fossils themselves are rocks; rocks whose formation was influenced by the remains of living matter that was present during their formation. Animal bones buried under sediment eventually-over...
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...Business Plans Handbook Business Plans A COMPILATION OF BUSINESS PLANS DEVELOPED BY INDIVIDUALS NORTH THROUGHOUT AMERICA Handbook VOLUME 16 Lynn M. Pearce, Project Editor Business Plans Handbook, Volume 16 Project Editor: Lynn M. Pearce Product Manager: Jenai Drouillard Product Design: Jennifer Wahi Composition and Electronic Prepress: Evi Seoud Manufacturing: Rita Wimberley Editorial: Erin Braun ª 2010 Gale, Cengage Learning ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this work covered by the copyright herein may be reproduced, transmitted, stored, or used in any form or by any means graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including but not limited to photocopying, recording, scanning, digitizing, taping, Web distribution, information networks, or information storage and retrieval systems, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the publisher. This publication is a creative work fully protected by all applicable copyright laws, as well as by misappropriation, trade secret, unfair competition, and other applicable laws. The authors and editors of this work have added value to the underlying factual material herein through one or more of the following: unique and original selection, coordination, expression, arrangement, and classification of the information. For product information and technology assistance, contact us at Gale Customer Support, 1-800-877-4253. For permission to use material...
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...AVB 10-K 12/31/2013 Section 1: 10-K (10-K) Use these links to rapidly review the document TABLE OF CONTENTS PART III UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 FORM 10-K ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2013 Commission file number 1-12672 AVALONBAY COMMUNITIES, INC. (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter) Maryland (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) 77-0404318 (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) Ballston Tower 671 N. Glebe Rd, Suite 800 Arlington, Virginia 22203 (Address of principal executive office) (703) 329-6300 (Registrant's telephone number, including area code) Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: (Title of each class) (Name of each exchange on which registered) Common Stock, par value $.01 per share New York Stock Exchange Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ý No o Yes o No ý Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding twelve (12) months (or for such...
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