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Community Financing Breathes Life into a New U.S. Manufacturing Firm

Harvard Business Review

But it is realistic to envision the growth of high-value-add, high-skill, high-wage manufacturing industries like the microprocessor and computer-networking businesses that Intel and Cisco launched in the 1980s. Trouble is, two recessions in 10 years have cut the capital fuel supply to the tech-company-creation engine.

Finance 10
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Entrepreneurs Take On Manufacturing

Harvard Business Review

But in my research, and in conversations with hardware entrepreneurs throughout the country, I have noticed several developments that have put manufacturing start-up activity on a faster, more commercial track. First, Kickstarter and other crowd-funding sources have opened up new options for initial finance.

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It’s Time for Companies to Be Strategic About Energy

Harvard Business Review

Last year, networking giant Cisco Systems worked with one of its contract manufacturers in Malaysia to deploy 1,500 energy and temperature sensors on its manufacturing equipment. Use advanced financing mechanisms to expand energy project options.

Energy 8
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The Internet of Things Will Change Your Company, Not Just Your Products

Harvard Business Review

Finance teams, which are not known for their flexibility to begin with, often have trouble changing their traditional planning, budgeting, and forecasting processes to accommodate radically new IoT business models. By pushing a button on the device, an individual can easily order a refill from his or her pharmacy. Operations.