Door to Venture Capital Cracks Open to Small Investors

Getting in on the ground floor is nice, but what if you could get in before that?

More and more, individual investors are clamoring to invest in companies earlier in their life cycles -- that is, before they go public. But the door to venture capital has basically been shut to non-millionaires. Recently, it opened a crack -- and if demand is any indication, the opportunities could soon proliferate.

"A fund that gives my clients access to venture capital could spread risk further and add to returns -- and that's the Holy Grail," says Frank Armstrong, a financial planner with Managed Account Services in Miami. ...