New VC Resource

I have written a series of resource articles for a unique venture capital site called FindVenture.com.

The site "connects investors with individuals and organizations based on a sophisticated matching algorithm" and provides detailed profiles of both funds and prospective investment companies, in addition to a platform and subscription model similar to Monster.com. Like employers there, investors at FindVenture have access to view prospective investment opportunities before deciding whether or not to fund them.

Here's what managing partner David Bayer has to say about the new model:

“Entrepreneurs and CFOs are turning to the web to find investment and lending resources. What they are finding is that most investors are still operating offline and seeking deal flow by utilizing traditional methods. FindVenture.com brings both the investor, or fund, and the business owner or entrepreneur into a more efficient marketplace exchange.”

It's a cool idea whose time has obviously arrived. I'm happy I was able to provide some background articles on VC and how it gets done from the entrepreneur's perspective. Check it out: It's worth a look-see whether you are looking for outside funding now, or may do so sometime in the future.

My Hero

I'm not ashamed to say it out loud: I adore Warren Buffett.

The world's third-richest man, known as the "Oracle of Omaha," is wicked smart. Of course, that goes without saying.

But he is also - along with Bill Gates - the biggest philanthropist in the United States, having pledged the lion's share of his $47 billion fortune to charitable foundations. He told his kids that they'd all be millionaires and they should be happy with that. Then he gave 85% of his money away, most to the Gates Foundation, because they do great work and he didn't need the big ego boost (or bureaucracy) of his own charitable foundation.

Buffett is an agnostic who forcefully puts the lie to the moldy old card about how you "can't be good without god," giving godless heathens a "yes you can!" role model alongside Gates.

And he lives frugally:

... in the same 6,000-square-foot, five-bedroom, gray stucco house he bought in Omaha, Neb.'s Happy Hollow suburb in 1958 for $31,500. The home has everything the 79-year-old needs, including his very own handball court that he uses to keep fit.

Okay, so he has a $4 million beach home in Laguna. I love Laguna Beach, and would live there in a shack if I could swing it, so I can hardly fault him. And besides, that's still less than one hundredth of a percent of his estimated net worth.

Probably the best piece of advice I've gotten in 15 years of writing about money is this: Live just a little bit below your means. Don't live like a rat or save like a miser, but don't spend to the outer limits of your income either. Buffett embodies that philosophy and has been able to use his fortune to make the world a better place. I can't think of a more fitting legacy.