A recent Business Week magazine article described an approach to business lending that is gaining in popularity. The article discusses the case of Michael Amstein, a Denver ambulance company executive who decided to quit his corporate job to open a Nestle Toll House Cafe in a local mall. Amstein's loan requests were rejected by local banks because he didn't have sufficient collateral, but he was able to pull $100,000 out of his 401k without the standard 10 percent tax penalty. As with anything, there are risks to using your retirement funds to start up a business. But if your funding sources are limited, such an approach might mean the difference between forever dreaming about your new business and really making it happen. Check out the article here for more details.