The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) have proposed standards that could alter the judgments of users of financial statements. This study examines how certain regulations including revenue measurement choices made by management combined with risk disclosure as proposed by the PCAOB could interact with the propensity of the user to rely on financial information to affect how a class of private company financial statement users - seed equity investors - value a private company. Through experimental methods manipulating revenue measurement choice and risk disclosure, I find that seed equity investor value judgments of early stage companies are significantly influenced by accounting disclosures. Specifically, accounting disclosures regarding level of risk and revenue measurement that accompany financial models in the valuation process significantly alter a seed equity investor's value judgment of early stage companies. This segment of financial statement users tends to place the majority of their reliance on non-financial, subjective factors as predictors of future success of early stage companies. Further, their judgments are swayed by wholly different financial disclosures than their "Wall Street" investor counterparts in that conservative and low risk information creates large revisions in value judgment. The implication of this study is to suggest that "Main Street" investors consume financial information and their related disclosures differently than "Wall Street" investors - an inference important for standards setters to understand as they craft regulations that govern private companies.

This thesis explores the rapidly growing phenomenon of equity crowdfunding from the perspective of professional investors. The aim was to contribute to the relatively thin aca-demic field of equity crowdfunding, shedding light on why it is yet to be recognized as an important instrument for raising capital and provide suggestions for improvement. The data was collected through semi-structured in-depth interviews with Angel Investors that through their experience could identify benefits and constraints with equity crowd-funding not obvious to the crowd. Benefits of using equity crowdfunding platforms were outweighed by the identified constraints such as corporate governance issues, uncertainties concerning laws and regulations, high risk, and lack of intellectual capital. This eventually led to suggestions for improvements that included channelling the crowd investments through a mutual fund, and allowing the crowd to co-invest with Angel Investors to get around the constraints. Conclusively, the Angel Investors were positive towards the underlying ideology of equity crowdfunding of helping more entrepreneurial ventures reaching their full potential by tapping a previously unutilized source of capital, the crowd. However, there is scepticism to how the phenomenon is currently working in practice.

The hardest time to receive financing for a venture is at its earliest stage. These ventures are among the riskiest investments for an investor, which creates a gap in financing that is often bridged through a source of funding called Angel Financing. Angel investors are one of the best providers of early stage funding. This thesis will explain what angel investing is, how they work, and what angels look for. This information will help entrepreneurs be better equipped to find an angel investor for their venture.

Entrepreneurs perceive and manage risk differently than investors (Palich & Bagby, 1995). As a result, entrepreneurs may underestimate the extent to which their ventures are perceived to be risky by a potential investor. Consequently, the entrepreneur is left with making assumptions that could be detrimental in obtaining the necessary capital to launch and grow the business. The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a common set of perceived critical risk factors among a group of experienced investors that would cause them to reject a deal out of hand. The research methodology chosen for this study was the Delphi Technique, which consisted of three rounds of surveys with a group of 18 experienced Angel Investors and Venture Capitalists. The process identified 82 critical risk factors across 7 categories. Over half of these factors were rated between ‘Important’ and ‘Critically Important’ at a consensus rate of greater then 70%. Each participant reported an average of 11 critical risk factors, yet they rated more than 40 as ‘Important’ or ‘Critically Important’, suggesting there are conscious and subconscious factors involved in the decision process. Subjective factors such as relationship were rated with higher importance than more objective measurable factors such as revenue or market share. Venture Capitalists, as a group, had higher rates of consensus than the Angel Investors and there were distinct differences between each group regarding which factors are most important. The study is significant because it rated subjective based factors along with objective factors showing that investors tend to place more importance on trust and relationship building in the early stages of the investment process. The study also provided a framework for understanding the complexity of investment decision-making for the benefit of investors, entrepreneurs, and those who educate and mentor entrepreneurs. Finally, the study is significant for helping entrepreneurs understand the differences in perspective between Angel Investors and Venture Capitalists.

Submitted by Ronaldo Alves de Amorim (ronaldoalvesamorim@gmail.com) on 2017-01-05T17:01:48Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Gestão de Pessoas e Processos Gerenciais_Amorim.pdf: 2119198 bytes, checksum: 5f58b0a367a264c031b04f7c3832bae2 (MD5) / Rejected by Fabiana da Silva Segura (fabiana.segura@fgv.br), reason: Prezado Ronaldo Por favor fazer as correções Tirar o acento de Getulio Nome, e título nas páginas deve ser em letra maiúscula No final da página deixar somente São Paulo e ano ...excluir - SP Corrigir o campo de conhecimento: Gestão de Pessoas e Práticas Gerenciais Após as correções submeter novamente o trabalho on 2017-01-05T17:27:38Z (GMT) / Submitted by Ronaldo Alves de Amorim (ronaldoalvesamorim@gmail.com) on 2017-01-06T12:46:39Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Gestão de Pessoas e Práticas Gerenciais_Amorim.pdf: 2120040 bytes, checksum: b655d91dced8eb54b534f744575f26ba (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Fabiana da Silva Segura (fabiana.segura@fgv.br) on 2017-01-06T14:25:11Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Gestão de Pessoas e Práticas Gerenciais_Amorim.pdf: 2120040 bytes, checksum: b655d91dced8eb54b534f744575f26ba (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-01-09T12:29:14Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Gestão de Pessoas e Práticas Gerenciais_Amorim.pdf: 2120040 bytes, checksum: b655d91dced8eb54b534f744575f26ba (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-12-15 / Startups, young firms generally developing an innovative proposal and under extreme uncertainty conditions, generally need external funds to grow and these new enterprises frequently turn to angel investors as an option of venture capital. It happens because startups are young companies with no financial record and most of the times without real asset to be given as collateral, therefore, with not enough credentials to apply for a conventional bank financing. Angel investors are wealthy individuals who invest not just own money, but also their expertise and knowledge in startups, also known as ventures. The objective of this research is to better comprehend the angel investment decision making process, identifying and analyzing the most important criteria that Brazilian angel investors use to decide on funding new ventures. The main research environment is Gávea Angels, the first angel association in Brazil, and on a secondary basis, investors from this researcher and his professor networking. This research is quantitative and based on a questionnaire with attributes previously defined in research performed in the USA with answers varying from 1 (not important) up to 5 (very important). The result of criteria prioritization was based on simple average followed by their standard deviation. It also compared and analyzed empirical results of this research with the findings of another relevant search conducted in the USA by Sudek (2006). Answers were based in past experiences lived by each investor and results were analyzed not just in an aggregate way but also segregated by investors seniority (given by number of investments done). This research also analyzed the most important behavioral criteria of management team. Confirming findings of other international studies, the results of this research showed that irrespective of the market, product or financial criteria, the criterion prioritized were those regarding entrepreneur and his/her management team, as it follows: (1) trustworthiness/honesty of the entrepreneur; (2) enthusiasm/commitment of the entrepreneur; (3) management team; (4) domain expertise of the entrepreneur. The criterion ‘how persistence they will be without giving up’ and ‘passion of the team’ were the most important attributes on the particular analysis of ‘management team’. The contribution of this work is to stimulate more studies of a very incipient issue in the world and mainly in Brazil, and also increase the understanding about investing in startups, bringing more insights to entrepreneurs of what matters most to investors when searching for venture capital, and also shedding light to the positive impact of this market on Brazilian economy development. / As startups, empresas nascentes geralmente atuando em uma proposta inovadora e em condições de grande incerteza, geralmente precisam de financiamento para crescer e estes novos empreendimentos frequentemente se voltam a investidores anjos como opção de capital. Isso ocorre porque as startups são jovens empresas sem maturidade de caixa e muitas vezes sem ativos reais para serem dados em garantia, logo, sem credenciais necessárias para levantar financiamentos bancários convencionais. Investidores anjo são indivíduos com grande disponibilidade de recursos financeiros que decidem investir nestes negócios de risco trazendo frequentemente não somente capital, mas também conhecimento e experiência. O objetivo deste estudo é compreender melhor o processo decisório de investimento anjo em startups, identificando e analisando quais são os critérios de investimento priorizados pelos investidores anjo brasileiros em seus investimentos em startups. O ambiente principal de pesquisa deste trabalho foi a Gávea Angels, a mais antiga associação de anjos do Brasil, e de forma secundária, os investidores da rede de contatos do pesquisador e seu orientador. Esta pesquisa foi quantitativa e baseada em resposta de questionário (survey) com o universo de atributos já levantados em pesquisa de mesmo gênero feita nos EUA com respostas variando de 1 (sem importância) até 5 (mais importante). O resultado da priorização dos critérios ocorreu mediante média simples das respostas com inclusão do seu desvio padrão. Também se comparou e analisou os dados empíricos desta pesquisa com outra de grande relevância feita nos EUA por Sudek (2006). As respostas se basearam em experiências de investimentos vividas por cada investidor anjo e os resultados foram analisados não somente de forma consolidada, mas também de forma segregada pela senioridade dos investidores (dado pelo número de investimentos feitos). Também se analisou os critérios comportamentais mais importantes do time de gestão. Em linha com grande parte dos estudos internacionais sobre o assunto, os resultados demonstraram que a despeito da importância dos critérios ligados ao mercado, produto e dados financeiro, os critérios priorizados foram aqueles ligados ao empreendedor e seu time de gestão, conforme segue: (1) confiabilidade/honestidade do empreendedor; (2) entusiasmo/comprometimento do empreendedor; (3) time de gestão; (4) expertise de domínio do empreendedor. Os critérios ‘resiliência’ e ‘paixão do time’ foram os atributos mais importantes na análise particular do ‘time de gestão’. A contribuição deste estudo está em fomentar mais pesquisas de um assunto bastante incipiente no mundo e principalmente no Brasil, e também aumentar o entendimento sobre os investimentos em startups, dando mais clareza ao empreendedor do que o investidor busca em cada venture, e também dar mais luz à importância da ‘cultura’ do investimento anjo para o financiamento de inovações que impactem positivamente o desenvolvimento do Brasil.

The “Trust to Invest in Early Stage Businesses” is a government project based in a public bank of Paraguay. This “Trust” aims to become the first and the best landmark of “Angel Investor” to foster entrepreneurial culture and help in the development of the stock market and the economy of the country. There is no similar fund in the market, therefore there is no regulation about this type of investment; as a consequence, the “Trust” will start to work with the institutions in charge to establish the basis for this new industry. The special purpose of the “Trust” is to target the most vulnerable of the businesses, the seed and the start-up stages. Those segments are not covered by the banks or any other financial institution. This project is an opportunity for the government to foster the “Inclusive Economic Growth” that is one of the pillars of the “National Development Plan 2014-2030” because start-ups maybe are small companies but they can play a significant role in the economic growth. I believe that the “Trust” will receive back his investment with profit, so, there will be more money to invest in early stage businesses and the cycle will continue.

This Ph.D. thesis examines characteristics of Business Angel investors in the Czech Republic and their attitudes to evaluation of investment projects. The research is based on primary data obtained by interviewing active Business Angel investors operating in the Czech Republic. The characteristics of Business Angel investors and their attitudes in investment decision making and subsequent monitoring of investments are analysed. Business Angel investors were also asked how they perceive external environment. The topics and questions listed in the interviews result from a systematic literature review. Based on the results of the interviews, an elimination model was developed to capture the preferences of individual Business Angel investors. The model represents a tool supporting entrepreneurs while determining the probability that their project will not be rejected without a deeper examination. Therefore, the model supports entrepreneurs to set the parameters of their projects to increase the likelihood that a Business Angel investor will undergo a detailed due diligence process.