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I'll send emails to everyone today.

–Penelope

Angel, VC, and bank funds are all long-term solutions. Bank lines of credit and loans are probably out of the question for any number of reasons:
1. start-up so no history
2. bad credit or no credit for principals
So, Angel and VC money is a good substitute, but since it is too high a risk for banks to take the deal VCs and Angel investors will ask for more than banks would. They want interest and equity. These both have their place, but there are some times when you don't want to use long-term finance to solve short-term problems.

Factoring is an industry that has been around since the time of Christ. It allows company owners flexibility. For instance, once a customer's client is approved for factoring then our customer can pick and chose which invoice they sell.

Factoring is essentially treating your invoice as just another asset that you can sell. You deliver your widget, and create an invoice. You have to wait 60-90 days for large companies to pay, so during that period it is an asset that hasn't paid yet. You can accellorate your cash flow by selling it at a discount and moving on.

But factoring doesn't create a long-term debt situation. That invoice is sold to the factorer and you don't owe anything more.

Just thought I'd add that to your list of ways to finance a company.

Eric