He even rode 1, 800 miles on his bike from Canada to Mexico to raise the initial start-up funds.

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After the initial start-up costs of a freshman season, most shows don't spend heavily on new sets and locations.

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In investor jargon, it therefore has huge operating leverage: the initial start-up costs for hardware and software were high, but since break-even each new client's revenues have been almost pure profit.

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Moreover, once the start-up burns through that initial grant, there is little outside capital available so it must become profitable, attract an investor from outside the country, or shut down.

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Your initial investment in your company can be the determining factor of whether your start-up takes off or goes bust.

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There are economic reasons why BABs underwriting fees may have started out high and then come down: underwriters took on risk with a new product and had to bear start-up costs and devote resources to educate investors for their initial offerings.

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Then again, Oracle made it clear from the start that it was willing to pay up (increasing the offer just two weeks after the initial bid), unlike Microsoft, which seems intent on not appearing lush.

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