Deep dive into entrepreneurial finance

The course is prepared by Dr. Anton Miglo. Anton is one of the leading experts in the world in the areas of crowdfunding, entrepreneurial finance and capital structure management. He has top journal publications in these areas. He also worked as the Head of Department that dealt with financing and securities issues. Learn from Anton about finance of entrepreneurial firms. 8 lessons. About 8 hours total. The course is university-level. Similar courses were taught in leading universities around the world eg. University of Glasgow. Includes excel-based materials. Also includes academic references and other useful links for additional self-study. No preliminary knowledge is required, the course provides introductory lessons to excel.

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What will you learn

In this course we will study the financial management of entrepreneurial firms (small and medium sized) and venture firms. We first consider different sources of financing for entrepreneurial firms including bank loans, government funding, angels, venture capital, peer-to-peer financing, on-line banking and the various types of private equity and what is the process of obtaining access to these sources. We then consider short-term financial planning and cash management that are crucial for early stages of entrepreneurial firm’s development. We then will analyze the financial performance of entrepreneurial firms, financial forecasting and preparation of pro-forma statements. Following that, we will look at the valuation of entrepreneurial and venture firms, the ways to structure agreements and choose the firm’s capital structure to properly align the incentives between the entrepreneur and investors and also analyze the decision-making process of choosing a right mix of financing sources for entrepreneurs. We will also discuss various exit and succession strategies, liquidation events and strategies that enable the entrepreneur to survive during financial distress. Business cases and real world applications are used extensively throughout the course. A significant part of the course will be dedicated to using computational skills in Excel and using these skills in financial management. The course consist of 8 sessions. For each session students will have a video recording available, PPT slides and a set of questions/exercises with solutions.

Course objectives

Upon completion of this course, each student will be able to:

• Understand the difference between different sources of financing available for entrepreneurial firms
• Know the stages of firms financial life cycle
• Understand the concepts of the company’s cost of capital and capital structure
• Evaluate advantages and disadvantages of sources for a firm’s new funding
• Determine the impact of debt/equity choice on the cost of capital and value of the firm
• Make optimal choice of sources of financing for an entrepreneurial firm
• Understand the process of obtaining bank loans, angels, venture capital, peer-to-peer financing, on-line banking and the various types of private equity
• Manage firm’s cash flow
• Make shirt-term financial plans
• Project financial statements including cash flow statement, balance sheet and income statement
• Analyze the financial performance of entrepreneurial firms, financial forecasting and preparation of pro-forma statements
• Discuss and interpret case studies in financing strategies
• Make short-term and long-term financial plans for entrepreneurial firms
• Understand major problems of financial management in entrepreneurial firms
• Understand different exit strategies available for entrepreneurs

Meet Anton Miglo

Anton lives in Toronto and has worked for many world-famous universities. In his free time, he likes to discover new ways of how he can pass on the skills and business and finance views accumulated in his journey.

“Anton’s course really helped me understand how to work with crowdfunding and be closer to my supporters. Amazing course!”

— Brooke Wong, Volunteer