Venturing Out

Ashok Subramanian has no qualms about asking strangers for money. In the past five years, he has been pretty successful at it, too. The 36-year-old entrepreneur has secured $35 million for Liazon, his Waltham, Mass., company, from several venture capitalists.

They forked over the funds after grilling Subramanian, picking apart Liazon’s finances and quizzing its customers.

“It’s a combination of really cool and really scary,” Subramanian, the company’s CEO and co-founder, says of his inquisitions by venture capitalists. “The scary part is they’re very, very smart and they ask really, really tough questions. The really cool part is being able to tell a story to other folks who have a track record of helping small companies become big companies.”

Entrepreneurs aren’t the only ones risking it all on cutting-edge ideas. Venture capitalists reach deep into their pockets to grease the wheels of innovation

BY JUNE D. BELL ILLUSTRATIONS BY GINA TRIPLETT AND MATT CURTIUS

If it weren’t for venture capital investment, Liazon, which is an online shopping mall for employee benefits, would be struggling to grow. It never would have been able to expand from 20 employees to 80 or run three offices serving 2,000 customers in 23 states. “VCs have really been pivotal to us getting to where we are,” Subramanian says.

Getting Started

Behind every startup that’s shooting for the stars is an innovative idea, a team of visionary leaders with noses to the grindstone—and some serious money. Venture capitalists, often dubbed VCs, provide that capital, along with guidance, connections and advice. In exchange for their investment, they take