A recent issue of the major business newspaper published in Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Business Journal, featured a front page article on venture capital in the Greater Philadelphia area. The first resource on venture capital mentioned in the article was William Harrington, founder of Vista Ventures LLC. Mr. Harrington was quoted extensively in the article and his picture was prominently displayed on the front page.

Mr. Harrington's comments focused on the perception of the availability of capital for early stage ventures in the area. Entrepreneurs, he noted, always feel that there is not enough capital available and that what there is is too difficult to obtain. Investors, on the other hand, feel that there is plenty of money available for quality deals with a sound management team. The article went on to sample the opinion of a number of other individuals familiar with the entrepreneurial and venture capital community in and around Philadelphia. The article is the fifth in a series on entrepreneurship in the Philadelphia area that has been published by the Philadelphia Business Journal. It was published on May 28, 1999.

Reprints of the article are available by sending an email to Ideas@VistaVentures.net or you can view the text of the article by clicking here.

William Harrington, the founder and principal of Vista Ventures, has been selected by the Wharton School as one of the judges of its Business Plan Competition for each of the last two years. The event seeks to identify the best business concepts from 128 plans recently submitted by students at the Wharton School, one of the world's most recognized names in business education.

Mr. Harrington's selection recognizes his many years in evaluating business plans and providing advice to early stage entrepreneurs. In his prior capacity Mr. Harrington served as executive vice president of the Ben Franklin Technology Center which is often considered the leading example of effective public/private partnerships in economic development in the US. Mr. Harrington operated the nation's largest seed capital investment program with a portfolio of over 200 companies. Investments ranged from $25,000 to $300,000 through five different investment funds, including one fund devoted to microenterprises.

The Business Plan Competition is one of a number of activities and resources that are designed to increase Wharton's leadership in entrepreneurial education. It is sponsored by the newly established Goergen Entrepreneurial Management Program which is closely affiliated with the Sol C. Snider Entrepreneurial Research Center and the Wharton Small Business Development Center. All of these activities are programs of the University of Pennsylvania.

Many forecasts have predicted the rapid growth of the e-learning marketing place in the coming years.  A number of young companies have emerged to aggressively seek markets including corporate training, educational software, remedial education and even public and secondary education.  

A major new entrant in e-learning is The Learning Greenhouse.  The firm has recently licensed a proven learning management system and will customize and brand its ASP to meet the needs and desires of its customers.  Its market focus is on mid-sized and emerging information technology companies.  These companies are often characterized by their rapid growth, complex and rapidly changing product lines, growing work force, and need to train and retain their employees.  The market size is estimated to be well in excess of $350 million per year and growing in excess of 20% annually.  

Vista Ventures has helped The Learning Greenhouse with the intial business concept, determination of the appropriate market, preparation of realistic financial projections, and development of its marketing plan.  With the completion of its business plan, The Learning Greenhouse is in first stages of its efforts to raise a total of $1.8 million.   

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