LiveTalk: Raising Capital with Octavio Visiedo: Raising Capital, A basic road map to success with a step-by-step case study

11 AM Friday 29 March 2024

Ratcliffe Art+ Design Incubator
FIU Biscayne Bay Campus – Academic II Suite 150
3000 NE 151st St, Miami, FL 33181

FREE ADMISSION

 

RA+DI Research Associate Octavio J. Visiedo discusses raising capital including:

  • Marketing your credentials to appropriate audiences ( potential clients, financial institutions ).
  • Provide a rationale that demonstrates why the project merits an investment and is timely given market conditions.
  • Develop a team of “founders” that can contribute different skills to the effort. This can be achieved by providing an opportunity for equity in the venture instead of paying for professional services.
  • Some of the target areas for other equity partners can include, business and finance professionals, marketing resources, and product-specific specialists ( in my case it was education ).
  • Develop a solid and effective business plan.
  • Identify potential entities that could invest in the effort.
  • Schedule a “road show” to visit targeted entities that can fund or connect the start-up with financing sources.
  • Once funding is secured contract with a legal team to represent the founders during discussions with investors.
  • Establish clear and achievable objectives while drafting the performance contract that stipulates when and how the funding is released.

Other related topics will be discussed that will help students gain a better understanding of the capital raising process.

About Octavio J. Visiedo

Mr. Visiedo began his employment with MDCPS as a 19-year-old bus aide at Ada Merritt Junior High School. Mr. Visiedo ascended through the ranks and served as an Assistant Principal, Principal, Director, Executive Director, Assistant Superintendent, and Deputy Superintendent which uniquely prepared him to lead MDCPS through historically challenging times. Mr. Visiedo was appointed to the position of Superintendent of Schools at the age of 39, making him at the time the youngest urban school Superintendent in the nation.
 
Under Mr. Visiedo’s leadership the $1.5 billion capital construction program that languished for several years was placed on track, Pre-kindergarten programs expanded dramatically, raised over $3.5 million of private funding for scholarships, dramatically improved the academic performance of MDCPS students at all grade levels and most significantly, led the recovery for MDCPS after Hurricane Andrew, at the time, the single largest national disaster in the history of the United States. As a result, Mr. Visiedo was honored by the South Florida community for being one of the Heroes of Hurricane Andrew.
 
In search of different challenges, he moved to the private sector. He proceeded to raise over $55 million in Wall Street to establish Chancellor Academies and a variety of other educational-related enterprises throughout the United States and in Puerto Rico.
 
Currently, Mr. Visiedo serves as a Faculty/Research Associate with Ratcliffe Art + Design Incubator at Florida International University. This initiative aims to promote and foster social entrepreneurship and innovation among upcoming FIU artists and designers.