Ready to lend a hand

If you are reading this, you probably have an LLC for your small business already, or money talk gets you going. If it is the former, let me say CONGRATULATIONS, and insist you pat yourself on the back in honor of your small business’s progression. Your arrival at a point where expansion is necessary is no small feat given half of small businesses fail in the first year. So, kudos to you.

Now, back to the money talk…

For LLC businesses looking to expand, please don’t fret about all of the information you’ve seen on the web. Yes, securing a small business loan of any kind is tedious and depends on varying lending organizations and business needs, but there is a list of general requirements small businesses should be aware of before getting knee-deep in conflicting information.

The magic three

After some extensive research posing as the owner of imaginary businesses and annoying every loan officer who’d take my call, I’ve found three general lending requirements. I also provide a collection of the tangible information banks will likely review to meet those requirements. Take a gander:

Assets
Small businesses must have necessary assets: steady cash flow, financial reserves, personal collateral to support a variety of business fluctuations (i.e. unexpected employee loss), and a realistic pay off plan. These assets and financial safety nets are necessary for any lending organization to be confident in your business’s ability to support employee expansion in lieu of current expenses.

Proof of past
Just as you will come to expect from your soon to be employees, lenders want proof of the past and how you’ve managed past loans to align with your business goals. Historical evidence will further determine if your expansion is feasible, but also if it is worthy for the company to accept the lending risk.

Specific plans
Finally, be prepared to provide your small business’s explicit expansion plan, including how you arrived at your suggested loan amount and how you intend to divvy out the funds. It is important that you are as specific as possible in your projected numbers, seeing as one employee could make a $60,000 difference, and largely affect your expansion plan and financial need.

Before you go…

Now that you’re equipped with the magic three, you’re probably feeling empowered to walk into your nearest bank and demand your small business loan. Let’s first be sure you have all of the necessary information on-hand and ready to produce.

Lending companies that look for the magic three before investing arrive at their conclusion after collecting data from the following pertinent information:

– Proof of collateral
– Business plan and expansion plan
– Financial details
– Current and past loan info
– Debts incurred
– Bank statements
– Tax ID
– Contact info
– Accounts receivable information
– Aging
– Sales and payment history
– Accounts payable information
– Credit references
– Financial statements
– Balance sheet
– Profit and loss history
– Copies of past tax returns
– Social Security Numbers
– Assets and liabilities details

Now, my friend, do I release you as proud as a parent unto your nearest bank to secure your small business loan and begin growing your staff the way you’ve dreamed. I’m confident you will find the aforementioned information helpful in said quest, and would like to wish one last time (because it’s impossible to over-congratulate) a sincere CONGRATULATIONS on your businesses growth.

#LLCLending

Yes, cryptocurrency price can be manipulated, thanks for asking. A new research paper in the Journal of Monetary Economics dove into how bad actors may be controlling the Bitcoin (BTC) ecosystem, and found that one person may have pushed Bitcoin from $150 to $1000 in 2013. One. One person.

Researchers Neil Gandal, JT Hamrick, Tyler Moore, and Tali Oberman published “Price Manipulation in the Bitcoin Ecosystem,” a paper describing how fraudulent activity likely influenced trading activity leading to increased BTC-USD exchange rates in 2013.

Their paper specifically analyzed suspicious activity on the (since shut down) Mt. Gox Bitcoin currency exchange. Mt. Gox used to be the hotshot for crypto exchange, with over seventy percent of worldwide bitcoin transactions taking place on its platform.

Late in 2013, the USD-BTC exchange rate spiked from around $150 to over $1000 in two months. There was also a period where over 600,000 Bitcoins valued at $188 million were acquired fraudulently.

Former CEO Mark Karpelès worked super hard to cover up the fraudulent activity, but Mt. Gox eventually met its Mount Doom and shut down in 2014.

According to the research, on days where suspicious activity took place, the exchange rate rose an average of four percent a day. Analysis shows that the exchange rate declined on days without suspicious trading activity.

Price manipulation was due in part to how thin the crypto market was in 2013. At the time, only around 80 cryptocurrencies were around compared to over 843 today. This made the market more susceptible to price manipulation.

Fraudulent activity was primarily attributed to Markus and Willy, two bots that appeared to be performing valid trades. However, the bots didn’t own the bitcoin they were using, so all the trades were fake.

When Mt. Gox was hacked and millions of dollars of Bitcoin were stolen, it was due to bots creating fake trades and artificially increasing BTC pricing.

The high volume of trades signaled heavy trading activity, driving up the exchange rate on Mt. Gox. The platform profited greatly from transaction fees from legitimate, non-bot trades. But even without fraudulent activity, exchanges were higher on days these bots were active.

Although it’s alarming that bots potentially jacked up prices, better security systems are set in place for crypto exchange now.

Blockchain keeps users responsible by keeping a record of anyone who changes or updates any element of a crypto transaction.

So while theoretically crypto pricing can still be manipulated, it’s a bit more difficult with the checks blockchain puts in place to identify all users and activity. It’s still worth staying vigilant though, because even with blockchain in place, cryptocurrency markets are not regulated.

This story originally ran on January 22, 2018.

Going in for your first pitch meeting with investors can be nerve wracking—especially if you haven’t yet met these investors in person. Fortunately, if you land a solid first impression, you can set the right tone for the meeting, and make the rest of the presentation a little easier on yourself.

But why are first impressions so important, and how can you ensure you make one?

Let’s start with a recap of the benefits of a strong first impression:

• A reputation framework. Our brains are wired to make quick judgments about our surroundings. Accordingly, we tend to judge people based on our first interactions with them, with little opportunity to change those initial judgments later on. If you strike investors as a smart, likeable, and capable person early on, they’ll see your pitch deck in a whole new light.
• Memorability. First impressions stick with people. If yours stands out from the other entrepreneurs pitching these investors, they’ll be more likely to remember you, specifically, and therefore may be more likely to eventually fund your project.
• Personal confidence. If you know you’ve nailed the first impression, you’ll feel more confident, and as you already likely know, confidence makes you a better public speaker. You’ll speak more deliberately, more passionately, and with fewer mistakes.

So how can you make sure you land this impression?

• Arrive in a nice vehicle. Show up in a luxury vehicle, or at least one that’s been recently detailed, sends a message that you’re already successful. This isn’t a strict necessity, but it can speak volumes about what you’ve already achieved, and how you might look when you drive to meet your future clients.
• Dress for the occasion. Along similar lines, you’ll want to dress nicely. You don’t need to have ridiculously expensive clothes, but you should wear standard business attire that fits you properly and has no signs of wear. It’s also a good idea to get a haircut, shave, wear tasteful makeup, and make other small touches that improve your overall appearance.
• Smile. Smiling is contagious, and it instantly makes you more likable. Don’t force a grin (or else you’ll look like a robot), but do flash a genuine smile as often as appropriate during the first few minutes you meet your prospective investors.
• Use your investors’ names. When you speak to your investors, try to address them by name as often as possible. People love to hear the sound of their own names, so it might help you win their favor. As an added bonus, it will help you reinforce your association with their name and face, so you eliminate your risk of calling someone by the wrong name later on.
• Warm up with something personal. It’s tempting to get down to business right away, especially because your investors’ time is limited, but in most cases, it’s better to warm up with something personal—even if it’s only a few lines of a conversation. Tell a funny joke you heard earlier in the day, or share an anecdote about how your morning has been going. It makes you seem more personable and charismatic.
• Find a common link. If you can, try to find something in common with each of your prospective investors. You might comment that you got your tie at the same place they did, or that you use the same type of pen. Look for subtle clues about their personalities, lifestyles, and hobbies, and forge a connection through those channels. People disproportionately like other people like them, so the more commonalities you can find with your prospective investors, the better.
• Watch your posture. Your posture says more about you than you might think. Keep your back straight with your shoulders back, and walk confidently with your hands out of your pockets. This is crucial for projecting confidence (and feeling it internally as well).

If you can land a great first impression, you’ll set the stage for a killer presentation—but don’t think you’re out of the woods yet. You still need to make sure you have a fantastic pitch deck in place, and enough knowledge on your startup idea to handle the toughest investor questions. If this is your first pitch, don’t worry – it does get easier – but the fundamentals are always going to be important.