1.venture capital (VC) – венчурный (рисковый) капитал

venture capitalist – венчурный капиталист

2. capital market – рынок капитала

3. bank loan – банковский заем

4. collateral (collat) n – обеспечение

5. initial public offering (IPO) – первоначальное публичное предложение акций

6. entrepreneur-in-residence (EIR) – «домашний» предприниматель

7. due diligence – процесс должной проверки

8. Chief Technology Officer (CTO) – главный технический директор

9. fixed-lifetime fund – фонд с фиксированным сроком действия

10. pioneer n – первопроходец

pioneer v – прокладывать путь, вести

11. ascendance n – власть, доминирующее положение

12. preferred stock – привилегированные акции

13. convertible (convertibles) debt instruments (bonds) – конвертируемые долговые инструменты (облигации)

14.common stock – обыкновенные акции

15. buyout n – выкуп

buy out v – выкупать

16. rule of thumb – эмпирическое правило, практический метод

17. warrant (WT) n – варрант

18. harvest n – урожай, уборка урожая

harvesting n – уборка урожая

harvest v – собирать урожай

19. write off n – списание

write off v – списывать

20. mitigation n – смягчение, уменьшение

mitigate v – смягчать, уменьшать

21. fledgling company – только что созданная компания

22. annualizing n – пересчет в годовое исчисление

annualize v – пересчитывать на годовой основе

annualized a – пересчитанный на годовой основе

23. passage n – зд. прохождение, принятие (закона)

pass v – принимать (закон)

24. Small Business Administration (SBA) – Администрация по делам малого бизнеса (США)

25. Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) – инвестиционная компания для малого бизнеса (США)

26. Federal Reserve Board (FRB) – Совет управляющих ФРС (США)

27. merchant bank – торговый банк (Великобритания, сходен с инвестиционным банком по функциям)

28. boom n – бум, быстрый экономический подъем, период экономического процветания

boom v – быстро расти, процветать (об экономике)

29. strike price – цена исполнения

30. National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ) – Автоматизированные котировки Национальной ассоциации дилеров по ценным бумагам (НАСДАК)

31. slump n – краткосрочное падение экономической активности или цены конкретной ценной бумаги

slump v – снижаться, падать (об экономической активности или цене ценной бумаги)

1. What are the main differences between venture capital and the traditional financing? 2. Who are the partners of venture capitalists? 3. What are the characteristic features of fixed-lifetime funds? 4. What are the usual forms of a VC investment? 5. Is venture capital suitable for many entrepreneurs? 6. What is the usual proportion between successes and failures in the VC industry? 7. How can venture capitalists mitigate the risk of failure? 8. How was the VC industry launched? 9. How did the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 promote the VC industry? 10. Why has venture capitalism developed more actively in the US than elsewhere in the world? 11. What was the contribution of the dotcom boom to the development of the VC industry? 12. What were the effects of NASDAQ crash and technological slump? 13. How is the VC industry developing worldwide?

1. source of funding for the early stages of a startup venture where the product, process, or service is in its conceptual or developmental phase

2. from founding the business to the beginning of operations and the generation of revenue

3. initial growth phase, funded by the initial capitalization. Management and operations are in place, and markets initially identified are being penetrated using available resources

4. the business seeks to expand its product line, expand its facilities, identify and penetrate new markets, and continue the growth phase

5. the business is established in its target markets

6. financing provided, usually by private investors or venture capital firms, prior to a company going public, or initiating its next stage of financing

7. an offering of debt, equity or limited partnership interests to a small number of investors (generally 35 or fewer) on a ‘private’ basis. Exempt from the registration requirements of the securities laws

8. either the percentage reduction of ownership in a company resulting from the sale of additional shares of stock, or the difference between the price paid by investors in either a private-placement or public financing

9. the process of investigation by venture capital firms and other investors of a company, its business, and financial plans, prior to proceeding with an investment

10. a study that evaluates a proposed venture’s potential for success

11. an equity ownership position that is provided to a funding source as compensation, or additional compensation, for providing management consulting, financing or miscellaneous services

12. the value assigned to the entrepreneur’s contribution or investment of time and effort in the venture

Private Placement. Feasibility Study. Seed Capital. Mezzanine Financing.

Sweat Equity. Startup. First Stage. Dilution. Second Stage. Equity Stake.

Third Stage. Due Diligence.

1. A venture capital fund is a pooled investment vehicle that primarily invests the financial capital of third-party investors in enterprises that are too risky for the standard capital markets or bank loans. 2. Venture financing is mainly provided to mature enterprises that have sufficient collateral, good track record, or stable earnings. 3. Venture capitalists typically expect a 5-15% annual return on their investment at the time they are bought out. 4. Investors in venture capital funds are typically large institutions with huge amounts of available capital. 5. Venture capitalists are not very selective in deciding what to invest in; a fund invests in about one in twenty opportunities presented to it. 6. Most venture funding goes into oil and gas sector or service companies. 7. The success rate of investments is high; anywhere from 50% to 70% of the funded enterprises return the invested capital. 8. The first venture-backed startup is generally considered to be Fairchild Semiconductor, funded in 1959 by Venrock Associates. 9. Venture capital is a phenomenon most closely associated with Japan and car making companies. 10. The NASDAQ crash and technology slump that started in March 2000 shook VC funds deeply. 11. The renaissance of an Internet-driven business has helped to revive the VC environment.

Silicon Valley is an area of Northern California between the cities of San Francisco and San Jose. Until the middle of the 20th century, this….. region was better known for its apricots and walnuts than for its….. A combination of regional…… and historical accidents conspired to produce one of the greatest……. in the world.

Many people have……. the success of the Valley primarily to the influence of nearby………, particularly Stanford University. In the 1920’s, administrators at Stanford sought to improve the prestige of their institution by….. highly respected…… members from East Coast universities. One important…… was Fred Terman, an electrical engineer from MIT. Like many of his colleagues, he performed……. research in electronics. Unlike many others, though, he encouraged his students to sell….. of these new technologies in the…….. By providing……. and……, Terman enabled two of his first recruits, David Hewlett and William Packard, to…… the audio-oscillator in the late 1930s.

In 1954, Stanford University offered to….. part of Stanford Research Park to……. companies. This began the…….. of industries in Palo Alto. Stanford Research Park, through the……. of a few influential professors and university administrators, became the……. of the budding Silicon Valley. By the 1980s, the entire park had been rented out to…… firms.

The 1950s also witnessed the birth of the…….. industry. Dr. William Shockley, a Cal Tech trained engineer……. electronics by developing the transistor to magnify electronic images and replace vacuum tubes. He and some talented young……. from the East Coast……. Shockley Industries in Palo Alto. Unfortunately, his stubbornness and lack of tact soon alienated many of his colleagues and caused them to…… from his firm and form their own company, Fairchild Semiconductor. It became the first firm to……. exclusively in silicon and rapidly…….. into one of the leaders in the California electronics industry.

Over the next few years this……. would repeat itself several times, as engineers lost control of the companies they started to……. management, and then left to form new companies. AMD, Signetics, National Semiconductor and Intel all started as…… from Fairchild.

The role of……. in the development of Silicon Valley can not be……. The……. of a major military……… Lockheed, to California in 1956 brought federal……. dollars to the area. Semiconductors…….. by the defense agencies amounted to approximately two-fifths of total production. The presence of major research universities and the concentration of……. workers was also an important consideration.

This rapid……. of technology reflects itself in the organization of Silicon Valley as the new technological…….. The people who……. or were employed in these new firms considered themselves as technological…….. and the formal and informal…… that they developed are in some ways akin to the pioneers who settled the West in the 19th century. As modern-day pioneers, they were especially responsive to risky……. that had the potential for great…….

Along with sharing the same type of risks, the…….. also shared a camaraderie unsurpassed almost anywhere else in American industry. Even engineers and scientists who work at……… firms during the workday remained close friends off the job. The manager of one semiconductor firm would not hesitate to call a……. for assistance on technical matters.

The lack of rigid…….. extended to the firms themselves. Beginning with Hewlett and Packard, many of the Silicon Valley companies sought a much more interactive environment between employers and employees…….. of powers followed: major divisions of firms were given a large amount of……..

By the early 1970s there were many….. companies in the area. The growth was fueled by the emergence of the……. industry, beginning with Kleiner Perkins in 1972; the industry exploded after the successful $1.3 billion….. of Apple Computer in December 1980.

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В России венчурный капитал пока только зарождается, однако потенциально является одним из основных источников финансирования для коммерциализации научно-технических разработок. Финансовый кризис 1998 г., с одной стороны, существенно ослабил финансовую систему России, но, с другой стороны, создал предпосылки для переориентации финансовых ресурсов на реальный сектор экономики. По мнению участников инновационного бизнеса, уже есть сигналы того, что российский торговый, банковский, страховой капитал, капитал пенсионных фондов будет становиться серьезным источником инвестиций в инновационные проекты малых фирм. Разумеется, для успешного развития венчурного капитала в России требуется комплекс мер государственной политики. В настоящее время уже воплощается в жизнь ряд проектов, направленных на развитие венчурного финансирования. Следует отметить, во-первых, работу государственного Фонда содействия развитию малых форм предприятий в научно-технической сфере, возглавляемого И.М. Бортником. Этот фонд предоставляет финансовую поддержку малым инновационным фирмам на возвратной основе.

Во-вторых, с сентября 1997 г. реализуется пилотная программа Европейской ассоциации венчурного капитала по поддержке развития венчурного капитала в странах бывшего СССР (NIS Venture Capital Support Program). Данный проект финансируется Программой ТАСИС Европейского союза. Программа сфокусирована на РФ, Украине и Казахстане и реализует следующие цели:

– провести тренинговые курсы по венчурному финансированию;

– составить и опубликовать справочник по частным компаниям, специализирующимся на инвестициях в акционерный капитал в странах СНГ;

– обеспечить поддержку и возможности для взаимодействия ассоциациям венчурного капитала.

Проект также направлен на рост осведомленности о значимости венчурного капитала как средства финансирования малых и средних предприятий, что должно быть достигнуто благодаря проведению национальных и региональных встреч и семинаров.

В-третьих, на территории России действуют региональные фонды венчурного капитала (РФВК) Европейского банка реконструкции и развития (ЕБРР). Каждый РФВК располагает капиталом в размере $ 30 млн для инвестирования в качестве нового акционерного капитала в средние приватизированные и другие частные предприятия на цели финансирования проектов, которые, как предполагается, должны принести коммерческий доход. Инвестируя средства в акционерный капитал, РФВК подходят к инвестиционным перспективам со среднесрочных позиций. Минимальный размер инвестиции составляет $ 300 тыс., а максимальный – $ 3 млн.