Startups May Face a Capital Gap

The probability of a venture capital firm investing in a start-up business now is far less than it would have been in 1999, reports "INC." Magazine. Ironically, this is partly due to the glut of capital available that venture capital funds are trying to invest, which is pushing them to do bigger deals, sums of $10 million and up that the typical start-up cannot absorb. Jeffrey Sohl of the
Center for Venture Research at the University of New Hampshire calls this "the capital gap."

General Mills Upgrades its Financial Training

A special Human Capital edition of "CFO" magazine describes how General Mills has upgraded its training for financial professionals since the acquisition of Pillsbury in 2001, and with the full support of CFO James Lawrence, who was hired in 1998. The company's finance leaders identified the four most important focus areas: new-hire training and orientation, midcareer training, strategic thinking and training on financial reporting regulatory changes. General Mills uses a mix of eLearning and classroom-based training. The curriculum is highly relevant to the work of General Mills attendees, and the teachers - in-house subject matter experts - are given special training themselves, so they are prepared to engage, and not simply lecture the students.

How to Raise Your Firm's Financial IQ

In this excerpt from the new book "Financial Intelligence," the authors tell HBS Working Knowledge that "it is not enough to give a one-time training couse or hand out an instruction book and expect everyone to be enlightened." Repetition and engagement are both critical if financial literacy is going to become part of a company's culture.

Dashboard Software More Affordable for Small Business Owners

The 2/13/06 issue of "BusinessWeek" describes how NetSuite and other products that run $1,000 to $2,000 per user have made dashboards more affordable than in the past for small business owners. Those thinking about implementing a dashboard for their business for the first time should: 1) start slowly, 2) pick the right information, 3) have your business people drive the project, 4) avoid data overkill, 5) keep a personal touch - remember to still walk around and talk to your workers even after the Dashboard is up an running!