Blog
PCV’s Spring Mixer Recap
Thank you to everyone who joined us for our Spring PCV Mixer at Heath Ceramics in San Francisco’s Mission District. We were joined by some great advisors, companies and PCV partners, and we hope everyone had a great time! An extra big thank you to our hosts, Heath Ceramics, as they so generously provided their […]
Jul 15, 2015 – PCV News •
Oh how you’ve grown! The story of PCV Business Advising
In my last blog post, I told you that Bud and Penelope, PCV’s co-founders, wanted to bring the tools of venture capital to brick and mortar small businesses. These tools included not only the capital that companies needed to reach their next stage of growth, but also support from investors in the form of board […]
Jul 15, 2015 – PCV News • Small Business Advising And Mentoring •
Launching a Framework for Government Action
Today we are thrilled to announce the global launch of Breaking the Binary: Policy Guide to Scaling Social Innovation, a collaborative effort of InSight at Pacific Community Ventures, the Initiative for Responsible Investment at Harvard University, Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship/World Economic Forum, with support from The Rockefeller Foundation. Breaking the Binary is the culmination […]
Jul 15, 2015 – Impact Consulting •
Company Spotlight: Interschola
Interschola creates a secondary market for assets sitting idly in school and public agency warehouses. By helping institutions sell surplus assets, Interschola is creating a network of buyers and sellers to generate cash from these otherwise unused goods and partners with schools to return money to education and public communities. Interschola was number two on […]
Jul 15, 2015 – Small Business Advising And Mentoring • Small Business Clients And Success Stories •
Once Upon a Time in Silicon Valley
As we prepare for our 15 Year Anniversary Celebration, we have continually looked back at our beginnings with a sense of appreciation and pride. In 1998, the world was changing – tech companies were popping up left and right, receiving both financial and intellectual capital from venture capital firms and prospering because of it. Our […]
Jul 15, 2015 – PCV News •
Roundtable Spotlight: Studio Patro
Entrepreneur Christina Weber started Studio Patro in 2009 after a career in art and graphic design. Her work designing catalogs for Williams-Sonoma and with talented stylists and chefs inspired her new endeavor, her linen tea towels and aprons the perfect canvas for new work. Studio Patro’s tea towels are made of the finest medium-weight linen […]
Jul 15, 2015 – Small Business Advising And Mentoring • Small Business Clients And Success Stories •
Contra Costa Economic Development Resources
PCV’s small business loan fund is just one of the ways PCV invests in local economies and we are definitely not alone in this mission. This month, we would like to highlight three organizations in Contra Costa County with innovative approaches to stimulate entrepreneurship, create jobs, and strengthen the community: The Business Development Center in Richmond […]
Jul 15, 2015 – Small Business Loans •
Roundtable Spotlight: SF Hound Lounge
Entrepreneur Ashley Ziegler started SF Hound Lounge in 2002, inspired by her love of dogs and shocked by the lack of clean, safe, and friendly dog day care facilities in the area. After a year of searching, Ashley found a 7,000 square foot space in the Mission District that provides plenty of room for dogs […]
Jul 15, 2015 – Small Business Advising And Mentoring • Small Business Clients And Success Stories •
Join us May 7 at the Bay Area Impact Investing Initiative
The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco will host the Bay Area Impact Investing Conference on Tuesday, May 7 to discuss how and why institutional investment pools can participate in Impact Investing activities in the Bay Area. These sorts of investment strategies are developed to focus on regional investments that first and foremost, meet our […]
Jul 15, 2015 – Impact Investing •
Two things that all entrepreneurs should think about
A recent Forbes article got me thinking about why so many small businesses fail. It’s an unfortunate fact that we all seem to accept, but it really doesn’t make much sense. An employee at a larger business is incentivized by managerial bonuses, while small businesses are run by owners who can achieve entrepreneurial returns – […]
Jul 15, 2015 – Small Business Advising And Mentoring • Small Business Resources •
Big Government. Big Impact. Big Data. Big Lessons.
One of the great, unsung heroes of impact investing is the U.S. Small Business Administration and its Small Business Investment Company program (SBIC). That’s right — a government agency. Since 1958, the SBIC program has been providing publicly-guaranteed leverage to privately-owned and managed investment funds for the purpose of capitalizing small businesses, defined broadly as […]
Jul 15, 2015 – Impact Consulting •
What does construction have to do with small business employment?
I read an interesting blog the other day about the effect that the construction industry has on small businesses. Small businesses created 15,000 new jobs in February 2013, totaling 75,000 new jobs since February of last year. While small business employment is slightly up, the number of jobs gained is still less than its proportionate […]