BDCs

A Business Development Company (BDC) is a publicly traded private equity investment firm. Usually you need boatloads of money or connections to get into a private equity investment.

Private equity firms create funds and usually invest in early-stage start-up companies. They can be anything from a biotech company with a new technology for treating cancer to a chain of coffee houses. Some private equity companies specialize in certain sectors, such as biotech, technology, or retail; others are generalists, entertaining opportunities wherever they lie.

Why would someone invest in a private equity fund? We all know how wealthy you could have become if you had invested in Microsoft and Apple when the companies had their initial public offerings (IPOs). Imagine how rich you would have been if you had invested even before they went public.

When early-stage companies are private and raising money, they can still sell shares, just not to the public in the markets. They sell them in privately arranged transactions. These transactions may be facilitated by pretty much anyone—an investment bank, a board member, or the CEO’s mom.

These kinds of deals are usually done by knowing the right people. When looking for funding for Marc Lichtenfeld’s Authentic Italian Trattoria, I may have reached out to some well-heeled investors whom I know have funds dedicated to this type of speculation, or my mom may have mentioned it to her mahjong group and one of her friends decided to invest $100,000 ...

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