Source: Darian Ibrahim, Debt as Venture Capital, 2010 (University of Illinois Law Review, Vol. 2010)
The Context.
In further contemplating the question of how one might leverage (forthcoming pun intended) a risk-aware investing skill stack in service of challenging increasingly stale investment models, it's worth exploring two words that don't tend to go together in early-stage entrepreneurial contexts: venture debt.
Venture debt (as I am treating it) is a form of entrepreneurial finance that seeks to provide creative debt-based financing solutions to (a) early-stage, (b) high-growth, and (c) venture-backed businesses with potential implications for enabling more entrepreneurial attempts.
One may critique venture debt as a space that champions entrepreneurship but implicitly maintains (and relies on) a gated equity venture ecosystem.
Regardless, the following claim is worth understanding before arriving at any conclusions:
"Venture debt is a fascinating industry, one of extreme practical importance for our national innovation policy." (Ibrahim, p. 1210)
The Details.
