Venture Capitalism and the Modern Drum Corps

[HollywoodNeoCon]

I apologize in advance if this is a topic that has already been discussed, but has anyone ever approached a venture capitalist about underwriting the organization of a new World Class corps? I know that most, if not all, venture capitalists invest in not-for-profits in order to take advantage of the substantial tax deduction, and given the phenomenal evolution of the activity and it's apolitical nature, I'd be very interested in approaching a few with an eye toward resurrecting the Royal-Airs.

I had thought a few years ago about approaching the Los Angeles Archdiocese about sponsoring or even undertaking reforming Blessed Sacrament on the west coast, and given my question, I think that may be a realistic backup plan.

I'd be grateful for your thoughts.

Edited April 2, 2013 by HollywoodNeoCon

[Michael Boo]

I apologize in advance if this is a topic that has already been discussed, but has anyone ever approached a venture capitalist about underwriting the organization of a new World Class corps? I know that most, if not all, venture capitalists invest in not-for-profits in order to take advantage of the substantial tax deduction, and given the phenomenal evolution of the activity and its apolitical nature, I'd be very interested in approaching a few with an eye toward resurrecting the Royal-Airs.

I had thought a few years ago about approaching the Los Angeles Archdiocese about sponsoring or even undertaking reforming Blessed Sacrament on the west coast, and given my question, I think that may be a realistic backup plan.

I'd be grateful for your thoughts.

Even with tax deductions, I suspect most venture capitalists are in the business to make money...and that's not going to happen with an activity that by its very nature is constructed to be a monetary sieve.

I don't know why anyone would try to resurrect a corps that has been long gone when one could start up a new corps and let it become its own identity, rather than confuse the issue with identities that, however beloved, can't properly be duplicated.

As far as drum corps having an "apolitical nature," um...yeah...have you been reading some of the other threads about the most pressing issues of the day for many corps fans? I don't think "apolitical nature" comes to mind when they think about some of these issues.

[whitedawn]

Even with tax deductions, I suspect most venture capitalists are in the business to make money...and that's not going to happen with an activity that by its very nature is constructed to be a monetary sieve.

Right, a venture capitalist or angel would not dump money into a non-profit. They'd rather take money that they made in the last year and dump it into a for-profit in order to avoid certain income taxes. That said, there's certainly no rule that a corps has to be a non-profit.

Didn't Bill Cook more or less just seed Star from his pocket?

[Michael Boo]

Right, a venture capitalist or angel would not dump money into a non-profit. They'd rather take money that they made in the last year and dump it into a for-profit in order to avoid certain income taxes. That said, there's certainly no rule that a corps has to be a non-profit.

Didn't Bill Cook more or less just seed Star from his pocket?

More or less...but he also set it up to produce revenue through a travel company (still running) and a bus company (which became huge and was sold and is still operating).