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Little is known about how VC contracts evolve over time and across funding rounds. New research using a novel dataset of U.S. early-stage ventures allows for examining the main financial terms and control rights offered to investors at each (equity) funding round. Results suggest a ‘default contract’ with a distinct combination of rights that the majority of companies gravitate to which, when revised, usually favors investors and not entrepreneurs.
Forward Cities helps communities grow more healthy and sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystems by putting equity first. To achieve its mission, they equip community leaders, catalyze narrative change, and measure progress over time – leveraging first-hand ecosystem building experiences across the nation. In this session, President & CEO, Fay Horwitt, will share Forward Cities foundational “E3 Community” framework – which includes actionable insights for ecosystem development, best practices, and financial sustainability.
How can it be that of the nearly $70 trillion in global assets under four major asset classes, less than 1.3 percent is invested in firms owned by women, Black Americans, and other people of color? Philip Gaskin, vice president of Entrepreneurship for the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, will share the secrets to unlocking this asset class that are hiding in plain sight – and why we ignore it at our own peril.
Society faces a series of major problems, such as climate change, which require transformative technological change as part of the solution. This session will explore the potential and limits of entrepreneurship in solving these problems. Are private sector funding and entrepreneurial incentives enough? How much of a role should governments and non-profits play to foster and support innovation? What and when are the optimal interventions? Do bigger problems require larger shares of support?
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Established in 1985 by Frank Hawkins Kenan, the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise is a nonpartisan business policy think tank affiliated with the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School. The nonprofit institute and its affiliated centers convene leaders from business, academia and government to better understand how the private sector can work for the public good. The institute leverages best-in-class research to develop market-based solutions to today’s most complex economic challenges. In doing so, the institute aims to support businesses and policies that better the lives of people in North Carolina, across the country and around the world.
Inspiring, motivating, and developing entrepreneurial leaders who will create a positive impact in the world, locally and globally.
A Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise Event