M10-S2 - Growth Financing in High Tech Environments

Objectives: Introduction to the ways and means of entrepreneurial finance: where corporate finance ends and guerrilla financing begins! Preparation Questions: 1. How would you qualify the fund raising process at LHSP prior to the contemplated Nasdaq Initial Public Offering (IPO)? What are its strengths and weaknesses? 2. What are the main alternatives to fund such an early stage venture? What are their pros and cons? 3. What are the main drivers in deciding an "optimal financing policy" for a firm like Lernout and Haupie? Assignment: Read the M10-S2 - Case - Lernout and Hauspie Speech Products as an interesting description of the fund raising process of a dynamic, high technology Belgian company. Read the assigned document to kick start your thought process on entrepreneurial financing. Readings: M10-S2 - Reading - Resource maps and financing ecotypes: A visual approach to resourcing the entrepreneurial business, Babson Entrepreneurial Review, Spring 1998. M10-S2 - Case - Lernout and Hauspie Speech Products