Funding and Building your Business

Here’s an unsettling fact for anyone thinking of ever buying shares in a newly public company: Even if its executives know their internal accounting systems are a wreck, they aren’t required to disclose this until after the company goes public.

Did you ever wonder why some entrepreneurs always seem to have all the luck and success, while others never seem to catch a break?

If you’re starting a business on a shoestring budget, you might be tempted to build a social-media presence for it right off the bat.

"Election-year politics have blinded Congress and the White House to the unintended consequences of their actions, which, however well-intentioned, could open the floodgates to investment fraud," according to Jack E. Herstein, a Nebraska securities regulator and president of the North American Securities Administrators Association.

Look behind the headlines, and you’ll find a cadre of experienced, older entrepreneurs who find ways to balance the hectic pace of startup life with other priorities such as friends, family and, well, a life.

What is a Convertible Note?

Almost more important than the mere expansion of the size limits, however, are the refreshingly practical "regulatory on-ramp" provisions.

Nicholas Tommarello notes that it will be another nine months before crowd-fundraising site such as his, Cambridge’s Wefunder, would be able to go live under the new law.

If you want to be an entrepreneur and start a new business, you must be willing and able to break through your terror barrier.

Here are three ways to ensure that managing your early investors doesn’t turn into an administrative nightmare.