PURPOSE:

The old model of the Venture Capital business where partners were essentially the agent for the founders they represented has changed.  Larger funds have given way to less risk.  Some of the brightest ideas and most promising businesses do not have access to the network of relationships, knowledge, and capital that the top tier VCs can provide if you are in a Tier 1 market or location. 

EMG—The Entrepreneurs Agent™ was created to enable emerging growth companies, along with their founders and leaders to achieve their potential and their dreams.

We’ve democratized investment banking, venture capital, and other critical growth resources for companies under that all-important “century mark”—$100 million in annual revenues.

A New Approach Needed...
& the Dawn of a New Era

Entrepreneurism has been the growth engine for the U.S. economy for decades.  In 2009, more than 600,000 new companies were started.  And in the quarter century between 1980 and 2005, the 30 million small businesses in America created over 25 million new jobs (while the Fortune 500 cut five million jobs).  Small businesses produce 13 to 14 times more patents per employee than large patenting firms.  They employ 41% of all high tech workers.

Sadly, though, the system which long supported these entrepreneurial activities is broken.  The IPO market, historically the life-blood for Silicon Valley and similar boom-towns around the world, has virtually shut down over the past 10 years.  Despite nearly 40,000 companies being funded by venture capitalists from 2000 to 2010, less than one percent of these VC-backed companies (333 total) have gone public.

In 2009, there were just eight VC-backed IPOs, and a mere six the year before.  Emerging growth-focused investment banks that raised capital and supported entrepreneurial growth companies have essentially disappeared.  After a decade of negative returns, institutional growth investors are either out of business or have shifted their investment strategy.

The Valley has not yet found an answer to this plight.  We believe that EMG can be part of the answer as part of the new entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Beyond Super Angels

The support structure necessary to develop entrepreneurial growth companies and to monetize their success is dysfunctional.  The dot-com bubble burst in 2000 has left investors, investment banks, exchanges, and support services searching for a new model—nearly 10 years after the implosion.  Billions (perhaps trillions) of potential investment dollars are waiting on the sidelines for the next important development to occur in the investment world.

We formed EMG to be the key catalyst for such investment, creating a new entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Bridging a critical gap for growth-oriented companies under $100 million