Everybody now recognises that technology stocks were hopelessly overvalued at the beginning of the new millennium - the clever trick was to recognise that sometime towards the end of 1999....

Equally, it's now widely recognised that technology stocks are currently  undervalued and that the next move is up. Not at the breakneck speed or to the astronomical heights that we saw in late-1999 and early-2000, but definitely up. Our expectation is that the market will at last have turned properly in 2004 but that capital-overhang in the industry will keep growth at modest rates through 2005. Double-digit growth isn't expected to be seen again until 2006.

Back in 1999, venture capital was available for almost anything that beeped. In a quiet moment the venture capitalists will admit that only one in seven of their projects succeed - four out of seven will crash-and-burn almost immediately, two will struggle on breaking even for a period, and one will be an absolute star generating enough income to pay for the six failures, the shareholders profit, and the venture capitalists executive lifestyle.

Today things are different. You need what you always needed before unreality struck in 1999 - a corporate vision, a viable strategy, a properly put-together business plan and an exit strategy.

Hollycroft Associates has seen the best and the worst of the business funding process. We understand what it takes to capture the venture capitalists attention, to bring them on board, and to take them through first round funding. And that, of course, is just the start of the process. Today few start-ups can avoid second round finance which brings new shareholders with new and probably different objectives onto the Board. After that hopefully we move towards an IPO, with all the corporate dressing, the "what if?" scenarios and the roadshow training for the senior executives that it entails.

If you think we might be able to help you then take a look at the remaining pages of this site, or simply click the "Contact us" link.