Week 8 Reading Reflection

Week 8 reading reflection already?! Wow, does time fly!

Today's reflection is on Donald Kuratko's Entrepreneurship: Theory, Process, Practice: Chapter 8 (Sources of Capital for Entrepreneurial Ventures).

So, chapter 8 was pretty fascinating to read. I think what was most surprising to me in this chapter was the chart on page 213 describing common debt sources. I did not realize that there are so many places to find money to finance ventures! Of course, most places only lend to established or rising firms or business, but it is still an intriguing chart to examine, especially if someone is making a long-term plan out of their business idea, or seeking to grow their firm.

Definitely a part of the reading that was confusing for me was the whole section on equity financing. This is because there is a lot of discussion on how xyz amount of money was financed by so-and-so and this caused a slump/rise in the market, etc. To a non-economics major, much of this sounds like gibberish! I understand that Kuratko wants to give examples, but I do think that all of the economics lingo and examples of money (e.g. "$21 billion into 2873 deals in 2004") gets in the way of an easier understanding of the concepts he is trying to explain here.

I would ask Kuratko two questions about this chapter.
1) Where can we learn more about being equity or stock shareholders? It be pertinent to give readers with less experience in economics outlets to learn more about these concepts in ways that are easier to understand and maybe even participate in.
2) What is a business "devil"? Kuratko explains what a business angel is, and mentions a business "devil"-- but does not go into detail. I'd like to understand this concept better.

Overall, I think Kuratko did a good job in this chapter. I don't know much about economics past intro to macroeconomics, but I think he is knowledgeable on the topic and was able to give a good overview on sources of capital for entrepreneurs.

That's all, folks! Have a good spring break.