Financing Emerging Businesses *

A healthy small business sector seems to go hand and hand with economic prosperity. Throughout the nation and the world, many public policymakers work to create an environment that is friendly to the birth, survival and growth of small and medium-sized enterprises. Some small businesses start small and plan to remain small; others dream of explosive growth. Yet one of the most pressing concerns for entrepreneurs everywhere is finding money to finance their aspirations. This course focuses on legal issues relating to private investment and finance. It surveys how the law facilitates and regulates a broad range of investments, and may cover investments by the entrepreneurs themselves, friends and family, credit card issuers, banks and other financial institutions, individual (“angel”) investors, venture capitalists and corporate partners. The course may also touch upon the public capital markets, and in particular how their presence shapes private investment. The course begins with a discussion of fundamental principles of accounting and corporate finance, with a particular focus on how these principles play out in the context of small and emerging businesses. An examination of cases, contracts, and other materials relating to the various financing transactions discussed above follows.

Prerequisite or Co-requisite: Business Associations I

* Typically offered every other year