We talked to executives from four companies that have lined up outside financing.

Company: Phoenix Wireless
Product/Service: manufacturer of wireless loop products, cellular and mobile telephone systems
CEO: Richard Licursi; CFO: John Hall
Location: Maitland
Venture Funding: $19 million since June 1994, with investments from Battery Ventures, BancBoston Capital, BancBoston Ventures
Comments: "I want those VC guys to get rich. We make jokes about them sometimes, but actually, it's a pleasure doing business with them. They may be doing it out of greed, but I admire people who will put their capital at risk. They're creating value, as opposed to those who invest in T-bills. If you look at a company like AT&T, the only way they're going to get their share value up is by getting rid of 50,000 people. The only way we're going to make our investors money is if we hire a bunch of people and grow this company and sell more product and create more opportunities for everyone."

Company: AirNet
Product/Service: wireless infrastructure products, analog and digital cellular, personal communications services, broadband transceivers
CEO: Bernard Smedley; CFO: John Schaller
Location: Melbourne
Venture Funding: Venture First Associates (joint venture backed by Harris Corp. to spin off technology start-ups), Patricof & Associates, Adams Capital Corp., Linc Capital Partners
Web Site: www.aircom.com
Comments: "Because the technology grew out of Harris and the joint venture, it was easy to get seed money to get things going. VCs are always pushing to get things done sooner. You have to tell them, if you want a three minute egg, you need to cook it for three minutes."

Company: Sentinent Networks
Product/Service: Communications gear, including frame relay, ATM and Internet network equipment
CEO: Nimish Shah
Location: Sarasota
Venture Funding: $10 million ($6 million first half of 1996) from Sevin Rosen funds, Sequoia Capital, Odyssey Capital and others
Comments: "Raising capital for communications and Internet services has become easier than ever because of the over-hyped market. While investors might be willing and eager to put money into the project, the decision to proceed should be based on whether you really believe you can make the business a tremendous success. Just before you get the revenues, you do all the work you have to do even when you have the revenues, but you don't have all the financial resources to do all the work, so that puts quite a bit of stretch on the team."

Company: InterZine Productions
Product/Service: On-line content for America Online; sports orientation, on-line sites include iGolf, iSki and Snowboarding Online; other products: golf directories, Sports Business Daily
CEO: Brian Henley, 32
Location: Boca Raton
Venture Funding: $200,000 in seed money from AOL; successive investments of $1.5 million in June, 1995, $7.6 million in 1996 from Southern Venture Fund, AOL, TCI Lightspan Holdings, others
Web Site: www.interzine.com
Comments: "We kissed a lot of frogs. The business was so new and different that a lot of people were very interested, but they couldn't really get their arms around what this business was all about and what kind of investment it really was. The business has lots of media components, but media companies don't often get true venture capital."