Sleuthing On Your Competitors – Small Business Finance Underground

Skye Leist
July 02, 2011

For those companies in an esoteric niche, finding small business financing, whether from angels or venture capital, is a real hassle. In 25 words or less you need to educate your reader on just what your company is all about. (Ok, a bit more than 25 words. But not a lot.)

How much would it help if you could discover who funded your competitors? or other small companies in the same general niche you are in? Sounds like you would be halfway there.

Well, there is this great tool call a Form D. This is the document that startup firms file when they are raising money and are a type of firm that is exempt from registering with the SEC. These forms are available in two places:

(1) the SEC EDGAR website

(2) FormsDS , a website created by an angel investor

Door #2, the FormsDS website, has several advanced and filtering functions that make it worth looking at, such as sorthing by “newest”. It is not completely comprehensive for all small business finance projects, but a whole range of startups are included, such as high tech, social media, biotech, hedge funds, and those that are in “stealth” mode.

It is axiomatic that we tend to stick with what we know. When an angel group already knows your niche, odds are much more strongly in your favor for a kindly reception. So add this website to your toolbox for small business finance.

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