The Columbia Venture Community looks poised to be the group that finally brings entrepreneurship to the forefront of the Columbia community (and if not, it at least looks like it could save a senior or two from unwittingly going into banking or consulting).

I’ve written about the Columbia entrepreneur community, or lack thereof, before. In fact, it was my first post. Over the past several months, however, I’ve noticed a marked change in the buzz over Columbia’s commitment to entrepreneurship. It’s come from several places. The focus group I mentioned in my first post was organized by the Columbia Center for Career Education. In April, I attended a Business School-run event, the Columbia Entrepreneur Organization’s Pitchfest. In May, I attended my first Columbia Venture Community event run by Mark Peter Davis, a Business School alumn.

It was at the CVC event that it really felt like things were starting to come together. It was the first time I had really seen a group for all of Columbia — alumni, engineers, business, law, etc. It was the first time I saw an event and a group that looked like they had staying power. Not since CORE somehow got Mark Cuban to speak on campus have I felt that. (I’m not sure if CORE still operates since they’re still sporting the several years old Cuban photo so maybe this is a bad comparison?)

On Tuesday of this week, I attended my third Columbia Venture Community event (one of them slipped through my blogging fingers). On a lazy August day at 6pm on the upper west side, I was shocked to find 50+ people in the basement of Lerner Hall. School’s not even in session!

There were 50+ real, living and breathing people with some affiliation to Columbia who weren’t off ’summering’ elsewhere for August (which probably means there weren’t too many VCs in the crowd), and who couldn’t think of anything they’d rather be doing than talking about startups. Brilliant!

I spent the networking portion of the night speaking with a variety of interesting people that helped reaffirm my gut feeling about CVC. GoodGame TV developer, Oliver, and I talked about getting started in PHP. GoodGame TV features an entertaining series of videos covering everything gaming related. Great content, not so great UI. (Oliver, expect an email from me. I think a few simple changes would take care of some of the UI issues). I also chatted a bit with Vikram Venkatraman and Sol Kahn, both classmates, colleagues, and friends from our mutual obessions with entrepreneurship.

Tejpaul Bhatia, founder of MediaMerx, promised a Guide to Raising Venture Capital post for Enter Venture in the future — and yes, I will hold you to that Tej. “Everything you’ve ever heard about raising money on blogs is wrong” Tej told a few us. We look forward to hearing what’s right, Tej. I also enjoyed conversations with Frances Ning and Jonathan Wegner. Jonathan’s business card he gave me at my first CVC event still ranks as one of the best I’ve ever picked up (Update 9/21/08: They’re called Moo Cards, and I just ordered a few for Enter Venture). Frances was notable as one of the few women at the event and aspired to to build feeder organizations that would bring Chinese nurses to America.

Everywhere I stepped I was tripping over interesting people, and again, remember, this is August.

Unfortunately, I was not able to stay for most of the presentations, but I was able to see Bartek Ringwelski and Sasha Davidov present InterviewPoint. InterviewPoint is a database of real interview questions from real interviews as recorded by real students. Users can share questions and strategies, as well as benchmark their resumes against other students in similar interviews. I haven’t been in the banking / consulting interview mindset for awhile now, but something tells me that a Vault guide + InterviewPoint combo would be the perfect recipe for your banking or consulting interview.

Of course, this is the Columbia Venture Community. After realizing you could start your own InterviewPoint, there’s no reason for you to go on that consulting or banking interview after all. With all of this excitement around the Columbia entrepreneurial community, there’s no better time to shun the all too familiar Columbia paths. Come out, meet other entrepreneurs, and see what else is out there beyond the banking / consulting world. Bring friends. Join a startup. Start a startup.

It figures that this group has only now come along just as I’m about to move to San Francisco. Two years since I’ve graduated from engineering school, it’s great to finally see entrepreneurship gaining some traction at Columbia.

Farewell CVC and good luck. I expect a Zuckerberg or two by the time I get back to NYC.

In this post, I will try to cover some of the more straightforward options.

1. Self-funding: If you are employed, or have any sort of income, some of that can be used to fund your idea. Depending on your circumstance, this may mean dialing back some elements of the “lifestyle” or re-examining your income and expenses to see what you can really afford.

Pros: Ease
Cons: Often inadequate

2. Bootstrapping: This works best for short term, high pressure, low risk usage of funding. While risk in a young venture can be difficult to grasp, suffice it to say that massing credit card debt or high interest small business loans (angel funding) should be held until they are truly needed.

Pros: Quick, relative ease
Cons: High interest debt

3. Big Bank Small Business Loan: This could also be the use of home equity or similar low interest collateralized loan. Typically taken from a bank or large money lender at published rates. In my experience this is very difficult to get without at least one success story under your belt. Defaulting can cost you your house.

Pros: Large sums, Low interest
Cons: Collateralized debt, track record needed

4. Venture Capital: So many success stories involve venture funding that it is easy to think this is the only way business ideas get funded. This is a great option if you idea is in some facet revolutionary, or mildly innovative in a field of interest to the VC firm. VC firms typically take a controlling interest in the company in exchange for their capital, which can be frustrating for the passionate entrepreneur. However, VCs can often provide the monumental sums that cannot be raised any other way. Typically, you need to have a compelling and differentiating business plan, and the patience to be rejected over and over again.

Pros: Enormous sums, no repayment
Cons: Very difficult, and not suited to all plans. Loss of control, track record a plus.

5. The Rich Uncle: While not always an option, friends and family are more likely to trust and understand the passionate entrepreneur and will frequently provide better payment terms and interest than lending institutions. However, defaulting will make you feel guilty, and may make family life uncomfortable. That said, many successful businesses have gotten their start this way.

Pros: Ease, terms
Cons: Risking family money can be worse than risking your own.

6. Grants: A new option to me, and one I am still considering. There are many institutions, the US government included, that gives away money to people who are doing things of interest to them in some facet. If your idea is, or can be adapted to fit that definition, you may be eligible for grant funding. Several colleagues of mine have raised thousands of dollars this way.

Pros: No repayment
Cons: Difficult to research, difficult to win

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Given the options facing a starving entrepreneur, what is the optimal path to funding?

The path I am going to explore follows:

Start with my own income capital, and build success on a small scale before approaching grant organizations for funding. Show them favorable track record on a small scale, and a detailed plan on how their funding will be used. This is an option for me as I frequently build charitable contribution into my plans.

Using grant funding to drive growth and payroll expansion, I will scout for a low interest small business loan, and more rounds of grant funding. The loan capital will be used as much as possible on appreciating or stable assets or property that can be used to collateralize it. After staying in the black for several months or a year, I will begin approaching VCs with the aim of structuring a deal that will pay off the loans and limit the level of control they seek. Ideal would be to gain funding from two firms so that their interests can be faced against each other when applicable.

Thoughts welcome.

-Vik