FUNDS
If money is burning a hole in your pocket and the heat is making you feel like an adventure capitalist, here's an opportunity that might ignite your portfolio: Technology Funding, a Silicon Valley VC firm, is selling shares over the Internet in VC-6, a technology venture capital fund.
Everyone knows that investing's primary rule is to buy low and sell high. But there's also a harder-to-implement corollary: Get in early. Venture capital is typically infused into companies well before they go public. So if VC-6's managers discover the next broadcast.com, you might be riding a financial rocket when the venture goes public.
Technology Funding is the first venture firm with SEC authorization to accept credit card payments for shares sold exclusively over the Internet. Since all fund business is conducted online, VC-6's managers hope to reinvest the millions typically spent on printing hard copies and snail mailings. However, financial hurdles still exist for investors: Prospects must have a net worth of US$45,000 and an annual gross income of $45,000, or a net worth of $150,000.
Even if you clear the net-worth hurdle, remember that not all budding companies will generate a profit. Although comparable Technology Funding VC funds have given returns between 9.3 percent and 34 percent, the VC-6 prospectus states that "venture capital investments involve a high degree of business and financial risk." It's wise to stick to your long-term strategy unless you have some money to burn.
Technology Funding: www.techfunding.com/.
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