Final answer:
Significant influence can be demonstrated by the power to affect decisions related to financial and operating policies, which can occur through various interactions between the investor and investee. Companies seeking to raise financial capital might turn to personal savings, credit cards, private investors, venture capital, and as they grow, bondholders and shareholders.
Step-by-step explanation:
Significant influence is the power to participate in the financial and operating policy decisions of the investee but is not control or joint control over those policies. This could be shown by evidence of an ability to affect decisions related to the company's financial and operating policies, such as appointment of the managers, participation in policy-making processes, material transactions between the investor and investee, the interchange of managerial personnel, or provision of essential technical information.
Companies can raise early-stage financial capital in various ways: from their owners' or managers' personal savings, or credit cards, and from private investors like angel investors and venture capital firms. As a firm becomes established, outside investors such as bondholders and shareholders are more willing to invest, particularly as access to information about the company's operations becomes more readily available, lessening the need for a personal connection to the firm's management.