Venture Capital Blog

Raise Funding Without a Personal Guarantee; Dilution; or Loss of Control   During ‘dead week’ in December, I had breakfast with Eliot Ward (Twitter: @eliotlyle) with Rock & Hammer Ventures (rockandhammer.biz) located in Utah. They represent a new hybrid form of funding for Utah-based companies called Revenue Based Finan...

Quentin Morgan appointed to Chief Technology Officer position Laramie, Wyoming and Brisbane, Australia (20 December 2011) - WellDog announced today that Quentin Morgan has been appointed Chief Technology Officer of the company. Morgan was previously Subsurface Engineering Director for Weatherford. "Quentin has inti...

Tests on Far East Energy wells quickly identify new areas of high natural gas content. Laramie, Wyoming and Brisbane, Australia (9 December 2011) - WellDog announced today that it has completed its first coalbed methane gas tests in China. The tests, conducted in Far East Energy's Shouyang field in the Shanxi Provin...

The Investment Strategy Group of Contango Capital Advisors provides regular updates on economic and financial conditions. In this commentary, we examine the likelihood – and the impact – of a wholesale writedown of mortgages. The drumbeat for a wholesale write-down of mortgage principal is getting louder. Somewhere...

WellDog and tQ Automation sign MOU to bring coalbed methane technical services to Indonesia Alliance is directed at providing best-in-class technical services to emerging Indonesian CBM market Laramie, Wyoming and Houston, Texas (27 October 2011) - WellDog and tQ Automation announced that they have signed a Memorandu...

The National Association of Realtors is just out with its third-quarter median prices by metro area, and the news is not good. Nationwide, the median price for an existing home is down 4.7 percent from a year ago and nearly 14 percent since 2008. But in many markets, the decline is far worse. Realtors said prices fell in 11...

Two year contract includes supply and installation of hundreds of pressure measurement systems Brisbane, Australia (3 November 2011) - WellDog announced today that it has won a competitive tender to provide hundreds of downhole pressure gauge systems to Arrow Energy Pty Ltd over the next two years, with work commenc...

In this week’s economic/market commentary, Contango Capital Advisors’ Investment Strategy Group examines why emerging market economies continue to grow faster than developed economies while, over the same period, their stock markets have been languishing. The most widely used emerging market stock index is the MSCI...

The life blood of an Angel Group is deal flow, and not any deal flow, but venture quality deal flow. Finding and building quality deals drive returns, and thereby builds Group cohesiveness, credibility and success. As with any business, you need to market your product and service, just having money is not enough. You need a v...

In this week’s economic/market commentary, Contango Capital Advisors’ Investment Strategy Group examines why emerging market economies continue to grow faster than developed economies, while, over the same period, their stock markets have been languishing. The most widely used emerging market stock index is the MSCI EM...

Anyone notice the shift of Angel Investors starting to look and act like Venture Capitalists? There was a time when Angels would invest between $50k to $250k in startups that were pre-revenue; pre-product; and at the concept stage. The risks were sizable because everything was betting on the come. However, those days are go...

I've worked as a mentor for VentureCapital.org for more than twenty-three years now.  It has become something of a passion for me because I get to have a window to the companies of the future.  And, I get to assist them in getting ready to raise Venture Capital so they can become a company of the future.  It's really a good...

My plan and investor pitch is two generations old will you please forward it to your Angels, venture capitalists and other investors? The answer is a resounding NO!. Why? Many entrepreneurs fail to update their business plan or power point deck. The rational is that they are too busy running the business, and besides “What...

Are we really trying to create jobs in America? Do entrepeneurs and innovation have a chance? That's a question I keep asking myself. Recently, the Kauffman Foundation published a study on small business lending, the results are disturbing. (The numbers may not be exact, I'm going from memory, but they are indicative.) Six...

Years ago when I first started my sales career, I noticed that most people avoided prospecting and had a tendency to “wing it” even when they did have an appointment. I quickly determined that my success was directly related to two things: Where I spent my time and the quality of what I said and did in key selling situations...