There's a Reading Reflection Week 8

I was really surprised by the number of banks that operate out of the US. The book says that there were 7,000 banks in 2008 and that there will only be 4,000 by the end of the decade. This is mainly due to the economic downturn, but these still really surprised me.
I was only surprised that the author said that it is a necessity for all new ventures to be debt financed. I really disagree and I am very against debt, especially when it can be avoided. I understand that most new ventures need it, but I would like to have my family as investors so that I would be able to avoid the type of debt.
The concept of "factoring" confused me. I didn't fully understand this concept and I would like to ask the author more about it. I would also like to ask him how this process originated, especially since it only applies to certain industries.