This dynamic struck me several times in my early business career (and perhaps even more recently than I'd like to admit). It was a curse for progress.

After working hard to make a few big sales - I'd have adequate cash flow - and the sense of urgency would go away. I would then relegate to a more casual pace of work. And then the money would dry up. And the cycle would begin all over again.

You might assume that pitching to a VC is the only way to raise a huge amount of fast action capital for your innovative new startup. Yet there is an alternative strategy. And it involves pitching to foreigners.

A new company based in Alabama caught my attention yesterday as I read about their efforts to raise $1 billion of startup capital. It wasn't this lofty target that caught my attention, but rather, it was their strategy to make it happen.

The strategy involves taking advantage of the EB-5 Visa immigration program.

Gold is a solid investment. Literally. And privately owned gold is perhaps the most significant investment you can make - because it truly is the only real measure of monetary value. Fiat currencies come and go (as we are witnessing with the US dollar) yet gold bullion coins & bars have been accepted as a store of value for thousands of years.

Today, demand for gold bullion is unprecedented. The economic crisis stemming from the US has provoked a huge demand as investors rush to attain the most fundamentally sound investment known to man - gold - as a hedge against inflation and economic uncertainty.

In the circus show of modern day mainstream media you can watch countless hours of boring, repetitive economic analysis. In the midst of all this fluff & hyperbole, only a handful of experts stand out from the crowd.

These experts are unbiased. They represent principal and value. They speak with integrity... they are the most honest economists of our time.

#3 Jim Rogers

A Wall Street legend, Jim Rogers has a unique perspective on the economy that is generally in contrast to the mainstream reports.