We Are All Looking for Access to Capital.

As you can tell by the crazy stories and wild tangents in class this week,  I love finance.  This week's class was all about how firms get access to capital.  I think what I like most about finance is that, at its heart, it is about telling a story-- the story about how you and your firm add value to the market.  How do you provide the most service?  Yes, service.

The heart of the matter is that commerce is about service.  This is true whether you make burritos, autos or provide professional service.  If the market needs it or wants it, there is value.  Capitalization merely provides the mechanism to facilitate the exchange of goods and services.  The question of whether the markets can always sustain a livable and fair wage is somewhat of a different matter, however. Capitalism is great, but not perfect.

In class we discussed bootstrapping, seed money, venture capital, public and private equity offerings, private equity, and debt financing.  As you know, these are all strategies used in developed economies.  But what about the facilitation of commerce in the rest of the world?

In class we discussed Kiva (http://www.kiva.org ).  The lead video on this posting reviews the concepts that we discussed.  However, I urge you to think a little deeper.  Watch this video, and tell me what you think:

It is About Relationships.

Here we are approaching the end of our time together this semester, and I am starting to get a little sentimental.  My thoughts turn to all of you and the exciting journey upon which you are about to embark.  You are about to be newly-minted business professionals, and my prayer is that we, the faculty, have prepared you well.

This semester we have looked at the world of finance from two sides:  the technical and the spiritual.  We learned to use sound tools and good judgment, and we have talked a lot about relationships.  We learned about the relationships among variables and also among persons-- both corporate persons and man, himself.

The video for this post discusses working capital.  We spent a great deal of time with week working on these fundamentals.  What does this dialog try to tell us about the relationship that we have with our clients, and how is that relationship impacted based upon our working capital decisions?

I am interested in your thoughts.