Friday, December 31, 2010
How could you get capital from an angel or VC? What would you say to these investors to attract them to your..? | Venture Capital
Ed Atun says:
1. Possible but unusual. Banks have preferred to loan on “bricks and mortar” companies. You would pay 7% interest if you could get the loan. Payments of $6,500 a month. Every business owner in the world is sure that his “expanded business will be able to make enuf to cover this new loan”…. because businessmen are optimists but also because they wanted the loan for a reason in the first place.
2. Venture Capitalists can be found in the Wall Street Journal ( i dont’ work for them and they are free at the library). The problem is that they want 51% ownership of the company. And they want the right to fire you even tho you used to own and run the company by yourself.
Angel investors are looking for good causes. Probably not your online business unless you could prove that you would be hiring hundreds of local people.
cOOL !!
Governments embrace angel funding
If there is any doubt about the rise of the angel community in Canada consider this: the funding of these celestial investors has gone mainstream.
Not only has the Business Development Bank of Canada decided to take some of its cues from angel investors, announcing it would fund alongside them, but both the Emerging Technology Fund of Ontario and the new Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario initiative are embracing them, too.
The Ontario Capital Growth Corp., or OCG, which manages the emerging fund, has made two investments alongside angels: the first in TeloIP, a Toronto-based technology firm that creates network convergence solutions.
And this past week, it announced a second investment alongside an angel syndicate -- this time Woodland Biofuels, a Mississauga, Ont.-based company that develops sustainable, renewable, clean fuel.
When the Ontario government first established the $250-million fund in the fall of 2008, "it didn't know where the capital [to co-invest in] would be coming from," says John Marshall, president and chief executive of OCG. It was careful to keep the fund open to all sources -whether it be foreign capital, corporations or venture capital.
At first, angels were worried about the whole disclosure side, Mr. Marshall says.
But the government has assured them they don't care about their boats or cottages, only that they could continue to co-invest along with the government.
With two projects under his belt, Mr. Marshall predicts the angel groups will bring more deal flow, and has plans to do more outreach in January and February.
The goal: to reassure angel groups this project is designed for angel investment.
Ditto for the federal government. Its new business innovation fund, which alone is worth $210-million, will be making investments soon, according to angel investors who have already started filling out their application forms.
The initial goal of Fed Dev was to create immediate jobs but, as things improve, the focus has been on "better quality, longer-lasting jobs with significant input in the local economy," says Minister of State for Science and Technology Gary Goodyear.
There are seven envelopes under the Fed Dev umbrella, several of them focusing on youth education and graduates.
The reason: the government felt there were not enough young people entering science and technology programs, and even those who graduated were not staying in their areas of expertise. Not because businesses didn't need them but because they couldn't afford them, Mr. Goodyear says.
So why are so many of the funds funnelling through institutions? This is the same theme I've raised when looking at some of the Ontario initiatives.
Mr. Goodyear argues that institutions provide another level of accountability and do due diligence, and this allows the government to move faster.
He also says, "I do want our universities and our colleges to participate more in the economic strength of the nation and the partnerships we've created do both."
via vancouversun.com
cOOL !!
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
formspring.me
How to close deal(s) with Angel Investors the fastest way ?? http://formspring.me/jg2009
Best Practices for Angel Investors and Entrepreneurs by Basil Peters
Newest Post: The Exit Coach
Today, many businesses are being successfully sold just two or threes years from startup.
This has created a need for a new type of professional engagement to assist young companies with the early stages of the exit process.
This new type of professional is often called an Exit Coach.
Recent Popular Posts
From the Angel Capital Association National Summit In Silicon Valley.
The Early Exits workshop was sponsored by the Angel Capital Education Foundation.
The full half day workshop is recorded on high definition video. It should also play on your iPhone or iPad. It's also all available on Youtube.
Business Valuation – What Will Your Company Sell For?
Timing Your Exit - Don't Ride It Over the Top
Selling a Business Guide Videos
This video series on Selling a Business is a practical guide on selling a business, the exit process, the exit team and how to sell for 50% more.
Angel Term Sheet Evolution Video
- Introducing the Rosen Light Preferred Angel Term Sheet
- This video is from a Bellingham Angel Group Education Breakfast
- The full high definition video of this education event is online here.
Best Practices for Angel Investors and Entrepreneurs
This site is devoted to the development of best practices for angel investors and entrepreneurs. Its goal is to facilitate profitable, fair and enjoyable interactions between angels and entrepreneurs.
After being an active angel investor for about fifteen years, I realized that many of the discussions I was involved in were virtually identical to ones I'd had many times before. A good example was during the negotiation of a term sheet. These usually involve a handful of angel investors, and a few entrepreneurs, who all want to build the very best term sheet for their exciting nascent enterprise.
Unfortunately, the previous experiences, and depth of knowledge, of the individuals are almost always very different. To finalize a term sheet, everyone involved must to come to an agreement on some fundamental principles which will have a profound effect on the future of the company. Just a few of these terms include vesting, corporate structure, governance principles, financing strategy, valuation and exit strategy.
Each one of these terms includes aspects of fairness, ethics, law, business, entrepreneurship, psychology and investing. Very often, the initial opinions of the people around the table are radically different. In most cases, these are well-meaning, intelligent people who all sincerely want to find the best solution.
These negotiations are so difficult because best practices for angel investing and entrepreneurship are still being developed. When I first started angel investing, this surprised to me. I spent hours on Google expecting to find whole websites and blogs devoted to best practices for angel investing and entrepreneurship. An almost total lack of success led me to discussions with dozens of veteran angels. After a while, I realized that it's simply because this entire field is still so new that consensus on best practices have yet to emerge.
Angel investing today is similar to where venture capital investing was in the mid 1980s. Back then, there was no consensus on best practices in that industry either. As an example, twenty five years ago, most VCs used common share deal structures. It was not until the later 1980s that the preferred share structure became popular. During those times, VCs had lots of conferences where thought leaders gathered to discuss term sheets, deal structures and fund strategies. As a result, there is tight agreement today on the form of VC term sheets and definitive agreements. Angel investing will get to the same state of development even faster because we can now exchange and develop ideas on the internet.
The founding principles embedded in AngelBlog are based on a passion for entrepreneurship and a belief that alignment, governance and fairness are critically important ingredients for angel investor and entrepreneurial success.
I hope this site will accelerate the development of best practices that will help everyone from young entrepreneurs to experienced angel investors do business together more successfully and with more fun.
A good example of where I hope we get to is the ‘One Page Term Sheet.' This is not a theory, it's actually being used today by angels and angel funds to invest in west coast companies. This precedent was developed by many angels and entrepreneurs through dozens of companies and hundreds of transactions.
Other areas where this site tries to capture, and refine, best practices include: corporate structures, investment mechanics, boards, director compensation, shareholder communications, CEO Updates, share registers and share and option vesting.
In earlier times, some of the information on this site might have been considered proprietary. Many times I have seen professionals charge very high fees for this type of knowledge. I believe that in our 21st century, internet driven world, most information wants to be free.
I hope you will contribute your opinions and questions on these best practices, sample documents and guidelines. Please join me in further developing the ideas and methods to facilitate the creation and growth of many more outstanding young companies.
Comments on AngelBlog:
From Jared Still
Very helpful stuff, especially the one-page term sheet. It pays to keep it simple, up-front.
Thanks!From The Startup Guy
Basil Peters has a great single-page term sheet
If you’re an angel negotiating with a company OR a company heading towards an angel-based round, you should have a quick peek at Basil Peters’ one page term sheet. It’s chock full of good ideas about how to come to an agreement without huge legal bills.
The site is worthwhile for other reasons, too. It has a lot of well-thought-out content that will be very helpful to both investors and startups.
From Ask the VC by Brad Feld
More Thoughts on Structuring an Angel Investment
I'm not a fan of convertible notes as the form of an angel investment. When I'm making an angel investment, I much prefer to price the round and do a "light Series A" (simple terms, but still a preferred instrument.) Basil Peters has a series of posts up on Angel blog that talks about the problems of Convertible Notes for Angel Investing, suggests Exchangeable Shares for Angel Investors, and even provides a One Page Term Sheet for Angel Investors.
Posted in: Angel Investing
From Sophisticated Finance by Robert Hacker
Early Stage Financing Site
Through a post by Brad Feld I came across a very informative site on early stage investment, angel financing and venture capital. The site is Angel Blog and is written by Basil Peters. Mr. Peters is a former tech CEO who achieved sufficient success to become an angel investor and then started managing technology oriented hedge funds. He writes very coherently about seed financing in all of its variations. His current posts are on friends and family financing.
Before you bombard him with requests to finance your startup, please note that he is located in Vancouver and not likely to finance a startup very far from there.
From fundfindr by Doug Schlenker
Fantastic!
Basil, by the way I ended up reading the majority of your blog this evening. Some absolutely fantastic articles of information on your site. I'll be recommending your site to others when they ask about great resources.
I'll likely go back and reread a number of your articles again, your friends and family section was fantastic.
From Kevin
I have been subscribing to your AngelBlog for a month or so, and reading past articles and presentations you have given.
I just want to thank you for sharing your insight, and the legible, plain-language manner in which it is done. The general advice available on your sites is great. This is hard to express, but your material has helped me a lot in developing a general 'philosophy' for how to start, run, and sell this company.
Keep it up!
From Iana Dogel, PhD, Alberta Ingenuity
Recently I came across your angel investment blog and got really excited about the information you provided. As a matter of fact I spent every free minute reading your website.
Cole Pluzak, EET
My name is Cole Pluzak, and I am a young entrepreneur from Toronto. I just wanted to say thanks for all your work compiling all this data together. All of your articles are well written, easy to read and erudite enough to pack the maximum data in. I learned a ton reading through this site, and even the things that do not apply to my personal situation were incredibly informative. Once again, thanks. And if you see my name in the news, know that you helped.
Raymond Luk - Managing Director - Flow Ventures
I consider AngelBlog the best one-stop source of seed funding expertise anywhere, bar none. I regularly direct entrepreneurs (and funders) there and we are using the 1-page term sheet example (with a few modifications of course) for a few of our upcoming deals.
via angelblog.net
Great !!
Download Free Zamora Personality Test Software for Windows
Links for this post: Download the Zamora Personality Test Windows Software by clicking here. (Note click on the link and save the zip file or open it. You need some to have some kind of file compression software such as WinZip to unzip the file. Install the program and follow instructions.)
To take an online version of the Zamora Personality Test, visit "Personality Test" on The Scientific Psychic
To find out more about the theory behind "Zamora Personality Test" visit "Personality Compatibility Analysis" on The Scientific Psychic
In a nutshell, the Zamora Personality Test has two parts. The first part is a Test for Individual Attributes. This is a personality test something like the Myers-Briggs which identifies your personality traits. The second part of the test is a Test for Social Attributes and tests how you get along with other people.
In order to determine your compatibility with a significant other, you both take the test and then run through the Personality Compatibility Analysis section of the website. You can either use the software to do these analysis or the online version via the links at the top of this post.
cOOL !!
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Austin entrepreneur offers neighborly advice online - ABJ Entrepreneur
Thursday, December 23, 2010, 11:00pm CST | Modified: December 23, 2010, 11:00 PM
Austin entrepreneur offers neighborly advice online
by Christopher Calnan
cOOL !
Friday, December 24, 2010
New breed of angels
There is a divide among the divine angels. Traditional early-stage investors -- other wise known as angels -- are usually passive: Their activity measured solely by the speed with which they sign a cheque. But the vacuum in the venture-capital space has resulted in a new breed of "active" angels -- the kind that roll up their sleeves and jump into the operational fray.
David Ceolin, former founder of Digital Cement, is the poster boy for this new breed of start-up seraph. Mr. Ceolin, who leveraged a book on entrepreneurship into a lucrative consulting firm that was sold to Pitney Bowes Inc. in 2007, is enjoying his new role as mentor to companies.
In 2009, he started to look for investment opportunities, believing that "this country needs experienced operators to get involved in the next generation of companies."
Even more than capital, Mr. Ceolin contends startups need connectivity: "We need angels that are going to actively connect entrepreneurs to opportunities."
Mr. Ceolin goes so far as to say "angels can do more with less than traditional venture capitalists." Although Canada is in the early days of formalizing an angel eco-system, momentum is building as the angels become more methodological in their approach. As a result, he says, "VCs have been rendered redundant in the early-seed stage."
Certainly, entrepreneurs such as Ali Asaria, founder of the online health and beauty retailer Well.ca,says angels are a better fit with the start-up culture.
Mr. Ceolin, who invested in two rounds of financing for Well.cathis year, has not only helped the company recruit talent for senior positions, but has also given training sessions to employees to teach them retention marketing. With 45 staff and having raised $3.4-million this year, the company is now making enough profit to sustain itself -- due in part to the support of a network of 18 angels.
"It's been terrific working with David; he brings a ton of value, time and experience," says Mr. Asaria, adding he had heard of angels in Silicon Valley who worked as connectors and accelerators for the companies in which they have invested.
Now he is experiencing it himself with Mr. Ceolin. Sometimes it's hard to understand what's in it for them ... but the amount of time they put into your company, you feel honoured," he adds.
Of course, when it comes to the angel community, one size does not fit all.
"Working with angels is about working with individual personalities. You interview them; they interview you."
And sometimes relationships blossom beyond the boardroom.
"He's my mentor, broker, chairman, my friend," says Jeff Anders, chief executive and co-founder of The Mark, an online blog that features commentary by experts and academics.
Mr. Anders says he briefly considered turning to venture capitalists, but The Mark wasn't a business entity where one produces a number of widgets or a service or has billable hours -- all concepts that help an investor determine valuation.
What Mr. Ceolin brought to the table was his understanding of "the whole ecosystem around an idea," says Mr. Anders. "He's always thinking about scalability and sustainability," he adds.
cOOL !!
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Growthink Reveals "Formula" for Angel Investor Funding
Growthink announced it has released a new funding course called "Angel Investor Funding Formula" to successfully attract angel investment, based on Growthink's track record of helping more than 2,000 clients raise $1 billion since 1999.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE / PRURGENT
Growthink announced it has released a new funding course called "Angel Investor Funding Formula" located at: http://www.investorfundingformula.com.
Dave Lavinsky, Growthink's President, created the online training program to teach entrepreneurs how to successfully attract angel investment, based on Growthink's track record of helping more than 2,000 clients raise $1 billion since 1999.
According to Lavinsky, "angel" investment is one of the best funding sources for early stage businesses. The typical "angel" investor is a successful business person who invests in a young company in exchange for a percentage of ownership (or equity) in the business. In addition to financial investment, angel investors often provide valuable business advice and connections, which help facilitate a company's initial growth.
Unfortunately, according to Lavinsky, most entrepreneurs struggle to attract funding from angel investors for a few simple reasons:
1. Not knowing how to find and contact angel investors
2. Failing to make a compelling angel investor presentation (or "pitch")
3. Not negotiate effectively with angel investors"Angel Investor Funding Formula" provides audio and video modules to show entrepreneurs exactly how to find, contact, pitch, and negotiate with angel investors. In addition, the course also includes a sample angel investor presentation that Growthink clients have used to successfully raise capital.
To watch a FREE presentation that reveals a proven 6-step methodology for raising angel investment, visit: http://www.investorfundingformula.com
via prurgent.com
Great !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nine signs that you're ready for entrepreneurship | Starterkit | Entrepreneur.com.ph
Check out this website I found at entrepreneur.com.ph
Great !
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Venture Capital for Startups & High Growth Technology Companies | SBA.gov
About Venture Capital | Understanding Venture Capital | Angel Investors | Understanding Equity Capital | The Venture Capital Process
About Venture Capital
Venture capital is a type of equity financing that addresses the funding needs of entrepreneurial companies that for reasons of size, assets, and stage of development cannot seek capital from more traditional sources, such as public markets and banks. Venture capital investments are generally made as cash in exchange for shares and an active role in the invested company.
Venture capital differs from traditional financing sources in that venture capital typically:
Focuses on young, high-growth companies;
Invests equity capital, rather than debt;
Takes higher risks in exchange for potential higher returns;
Has a longer investment horizon than traditional financing;
Actively monitors portfolio companies via board participation, strategic marketing, governance, and capital structure.
Successful long-term growth for most businesses is dependent upon the availability of equity capital. Lenders generally require some equity cushion or security (collateral) before they will lend to a small business. A lack of equity limits the debt financing available to businesses. Additionally, debt financing requires the ability to service the debt through current interest payments. These funds are then not available to grow the business.
Venture capital provides businesses a financial cushion. However, equity providers have the last call against the company’s assets. In view of this lower priority and the usual lack of a current pay requirement, equity providers require a higher rate of return/return on investment (ROI) than lenders receive.
Understanding Venture Capital
Venture capital for new and emerging businesses typically comes from high net worth individuals (“angel investors”) and venture capital firms. These investors usually provide capital unsecured by assets to young, private companies with the potential for rapid growth. This type of investing inherently carries a high degree of risk. But venture capital is long-term or “patient capital” that allows companies the time to mature into profitable organizations.
Venture capital is also an active rather than passive form of financing. These investors seek to add value, in addition to capital, to the companies in which they invest in an effort to help them grow and achieve a greater return on the investment. This requires active involvement; almost all venture capitalists will, at a minimum, want a seat on the board of directors.
Although investors are committed to a company for the long haul, that does not mean indefinitely. The primary objective of equity investors is to achieve a superior rate of return through the eventual and timely disposal of investments. A good investor will be considering potential exit strategies from the time the investment is first presented and investigated.
Angel Investors
Business “angels” are high net worth individual investors who seek high returns through private investments in start-up companies. Private investors generally are a diverse and dispersed population who made their wealth through a variety of sources. But the typical business angels are often former entrepreneurs or executives who cashed out and retired early from ventures that they started and grew into successful businesses.
These self-made investors share many common characteristics:
They seek companies with high growth potentials, strong management teams, and solid business plans to aid the angels in assessing the company’s value. (Many seed or start ups may not have a fully developed management team, but have identified key positions.)
They typically invest in ventures involved in industries or technologies with which they are personally familiar.
They often co-invest with trusted friends and business associates. In these situations, there is usually one influential lead investor (“archangel”) those judgment is trusted by the rest of the group of angels.
Because of their business experience, many angels invest more than their money. They also seek active involvement in the business, such as consulting and mentoring the entrepreneur. They often take bigger risks or accept lower rewards when they are attracted to the non-financial characteristics of an entrepreneur’s proposal.
Understanding Equity Capital
Equity capital or financing is money raised by a business in exchange for a share of ownership in the company. Ownership is represented by owning shares of stock outright or having the right to convert other financial instruments into stock of that private company. Two key sources of equity capital for new and emerging businesses are angel investors and venture capital firms.
Typically, angel capital and venture capital investors provide capital unsecured by assets to young, private companies with the potential for rapid growth. Such investing covers most industries and is appropriate for businesses through the range of developmental stages. Investing in new or very early companies inherently carries a high degree of risk. But venture capital is long term or “patient capital” that allows companies the time to mature into profitable organizations.
Angel and venture capital is also an active rather than passive form of financing. These investors seek to add value, in addition to capital, to the companies in which they invest in an effort to help them grow and achieve a greater return on the investment. This requires active involvement and almost all venture capitalists will, at a minimum, want a seat on the board of directors.
Although investors are committed to a company for the long haul, that does not mean indefinitely. The primary objective of equity investors is to achieve a superior rate of return through the eventual and timely disposal of investments. A good investor will be considering potential exit strategies from the time the investment is first presented and investigated.
The Venture Capital Process
A startup or high growth technology companies looking for venture capital typically can expect the following process:
Submit Business Plan. The venture fund reviews an entrepreneur’s business plan, and talks to the business if it meets the fund’s investment criteria. Most funds concentrate on an industry, geographic area, and/or stage of development (e.g., Start-up/Seed, Early, Expansion, and Later).
Due Diligence. If the venture fund is interested in the prospective investment, it performs due diligence on the small business, including looking in great detail at the company’s management team, market, products and services, operating history, corporate governance documents, and financial statements. This step can include developing a term sheet describing the terms and conditions under which the fund would make an investment.
Investment. If at the completion of due diligence the venture fund remains interested, an investment is made in the company in exchange for some of its equity and/or debt. The terms of an investment are usually based on company performance, which help provide benefits to the small business while minimizing risks for the venture fund.
Execution with VC Support. Once a venture fund has invested, it becomes actively involved in the company. Venture funds normally do not make their entire investment in a company at once, but in “rounds.” As the company meets previously-agreed milestones, further rounds of financing are made available, with adjustments in price as the company executes its plan.
Exit. While venture funds have longer investment horizons than traditional financing sources, they clearly expect to “exit” the company (on average, four to six years after an initial investment), which is generally how they make money. Exits are normally performed via mergers, acquisitions, and IPOs (Initial Public Offerings). In many cases, venture funds will help the company exit through their business networks and experience.
via sba.gov
Wonderful !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sunday, December 19, 2010
NYC Venture Capital and Angel Showcase on Thursday, February 3, 2011 in New York
via fundingpost.com
Great !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks,
Creating Start-Up Success
Check out this SlideShare Presentation:
Creating Start-Up Success
View more presentations from Alexander Osterwalder.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
PartnerUp Community - Forums: Financing A Business - Seeking FUNDING From Credible Angel Investors/Venture Capital Firms
Lisa Falcone posted a new Financing A Business thread 4 days ago
Seeking FUNDING From Credible Angel Investors/Venture Capital Firms
-the concept in its simplest form; the next hot, universal social media, and entertainment web-based start-up.
-credible team of 2; COO is winner of the Harvard i3 business competition and Harvard College graduate, turned down 100k offer for purchase of his first online start-up by former CEO of Napster
-presently talking with multiple programmers to code back-end of the website.
-possess necessary materials - executive summary, business strategy, the front end of the website, and a video of myself as CEO and the COO discussing the concept of the website, which we can send to you upon your response.
-please contact me at lisa.falcone85@gmail.com with your name, representation, contact info, and website, if applicable.
Thanks,
Lisa edit
via partnerup.com
Great !!
Friday, December 17, 2010
Seedcamp Launches a European Version of AngelList
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Wealth Alliance Financial Group: HOW TO WRITE GREAT BUSINESS PLANS?
Wealth Alliance Financial Group: HOW TO WRITE GREAT BUSINESS PLANS?: "HOW TO WRITE GREAT BUSINESS PLANS? The Business Plan is a chance for you to communicate your competency and knowledge of an idea or business..."
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Friday, December 10, 2010
The Commentator: Angel Investors
The Commentator: Angel Investors: "Some key points I agree with mentioned in the video: 1) Don't be afraid to take and existing idea and making it your own. You don't have ..."
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
How to Attract Angel Investors
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- Partner Sites
- Answerbag
- Livestrong
via ehow.com
cOOL !
Monday, December 6, 2010
Startups get ready to woo investors
Startups get ready to woo investors
by John Yantis - Dec. 5, 2010 12:00 AM
The Arizona RepublicIf you want money from Paul Winandy, you better come with more than a just a good idea.
The managing director of the Arizona Technology Investor Forum reviewed applications from roughly 130 business startups this year. Eleven of them will present to his group, made up of about 50 angel investors who focus on early-stage technology funding in Arizona. Out of those 11, only three or four will actually receive capital.
"There are probably some other good companies in that mix that merit investment," Winandy said. "There's just not enough dollars to go around."
Winandy and other investors will be looking for the next great idea during the Invest Southwest Capital Conference this week in Scottsdale. Eleven companies will present at the three-day event that kicks off Wednesday in hopes of finding angel or venture-capital funding.
Arizona venture-capital investment was dismal during the most recent quarter, according to two reports, but experts caution against reading too much into the numbers because of similar declining numbers across the U.S. and region as well as funding that went unreported.
Just two companies in the state received financing during the third quarter for a total investment of $7 million, Dow Jones VentureSource said.
Another report, the MoneyTree Report from PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association, said $13.9 million was invested in three Arizona companies during the quarter.
Venture capital is used to gauge the entrepreneurial strength of a region. Investors typically provide the funding in exchange for a stake in the companies. They hope recipients will be acquired by another company or go public at a later date, providing a big payoff for backers.
Frank Grimmelmann will be studying the companies at Invest Southwest closely to see how senior management teams come across given the short amount of time they have to pitch their firms.
"That's something you obviously don't see in the write-ups or summaries or even a business plan, but in today's market clearly management is a key indicator," said Grimmelmann, who became an active angel investor after moving to Arizona nine years ago.
About three years ago, after being involved in four high-tech startups, Winandy decided to he would focus more on investing in the state because of the scarce capital in the region for startups. He became involved in the Arizona Technology Investor Forum, where members are required to invest a minimum of $25,000 over two years.
"Over the last three years, we've invested more than $3.5 million in about 14 different startups," he said. "It's a drop in the bucket compared to what's needed in Arizona. But at least the group is active."
Winandy will be at Invest Southwest as an investor and as a presenter of a company called WebPT LLC, a Phoenix-based company that develops Web-based electronic medical records for physical therapists.
"At ATIF, we see a lot of deals come across our plate, pretty much everybody who is looking for money in the state," he said. "I must have seen 200 or 300 different companies over the last three years. Not one of them has ever attracted me to go back to an operating role until I saw WebPT."
As an angel investor looking at other companies, Winandy concentrates on what he knows: software. He looks for companies where a strong management team is already in place.
Then he wants to know if they've already built their product. Next, he determines if the company is generating revenue and whether its market will continue to grow.
"You can't just come with a concept and be a nice guy," he said. "That might work in Silicon Valley. But it doesn't work in Arizona. You have to find a way if you're an entrepreneur to take that idea and actually bring it into life. If you gotten that kind of traction, then it starts to become an interesting investment, or at least something to consider."
Invest Southwest is good for spotting trends in emerging companies, investor Ed Vanderslice said. He considers companies doing work in industries with potential for growth in the next five to 10 years.
"A lot of time when the economy is not doing very well, going all the way back to the Great Depression, that's quite often the time some of the great business concepts that get incubated and developed," said Vanderslice, a former Intel employee, said. "Generally, when things are going well, you don't generally have a lot of your best people out there trying to create something new."
He predicts green technology will be big, comparing its potential to the tech bubble of the 1990s.
"A lot will crash and burn early, but the survivors are potentially huge," Vanderslice said. "You've got Amazon.com and Google and a few other companies who have made it through all that to become industry giants 10 years later. What it really comes down to in green tech is having core technology, having some defensible technology as well as having the ability to address a very large market."
Vanderslice invests for himself, but he may also work with a company through mentoring or helping to define its strategic vision.
"I leave myself open to what the opportunity presents itself to be," he said. "I kind of backed away from the industry for a couple of years after leaving Intel. Now I've been looking at ways of re-engaging in the industry without going back into a corporate role again."
Grimmelmann, who has been in senior management positions and/or running his own company since he was 26, attends several capital conferences a year. His expertise is in health-care technology and finance.
"Sometimes it's a good experience and sometimes you wish you could rethink it," he said of investments.
He was invited to Invest Southwest and says those involved in Arizona venture and angel capital are a fairly tight circle of people who know who is actively investing.
He compares Invest Southwest to speed dating, where investors take a look at companies and get a feel for them initially. The meeting dictates what he's interested in and what he'll follow up on.
"The other thing the Invest Southwest conference does is allow you to network with other investors," Grimmelmann said. "There's a lot of power and strength in being able to know what other investors are doing and getting their perspectives."
Grimmelmann says he's a bit unusual in that often he'll take a proactive role in the companies he invests in. That allows him to bring his capital, experience and network of relationships to the deal.
Investments can come from angel groups locally or syndication across multiple groups in multiple states, Grimmelmann said.
"I think what we're increasingly seeing is the angel groups now take on investments that in past were funded by the venture-capital firms," Grimmelmann said. "The venture-capital firms are quite often looking for a later-stage or a larger investment in order to not have so many investments in their portfolio that don't make sense."
Reach the reporter john.yantis@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8280.
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via azcentral.com
Go for it !!
Thanks,
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Individual investing, a new trend among angel investors - Startups news
Individual investing, a new trend among angel investors-Startups news- Bangalore: Angel investment has gone through different stages of development since at first when angels were helping entrepreneurs with time and
via siliconindia.com
Interesting !!
Individual investing, a new trend among angel investors - Startups news
Individual investing, a new trend among angel investors-Startups news- Bangalore: Angel investment has gone through different stages of development since at first when angels were helping entrepreneurs with time and
via siliconindia.com
Interesting !!
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Learning to play the business game has big payoff
What did you accomplish last summer? Here's how Vancouverite Brian Wong sums up his mid-year crisis: May: Laid off from job at Digg.com;June: Travelling. July: Look for new job. August: Decide to start a company. September: Land $200,000 in venture capital. October: Top it up to $300,000 after meetings with angel investors. Prepare for launch in first-quarter 2011.
Best of all, Wong is just 19. When he made his first trip to Silicon Valley last year, he had to take a train from San Francisco because he's too young to rent a car. But this is life on the young-entrepreneur edge. Wong graduated from UBC's Sauder Business School in April 2009. At 16, he had started a Web design company, Aer Marketing, with friends, and they developed an application for Twitter
--
FollowFormation.com
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just to prove they could.
When Wong graduated, he tried to talk his way into a Silicon Valley conference for app developers. Shocked they hadn't reserved any free tickets for students, he asked if there was a way to get in free. Told only speakers get in gratis, he volunteered to speak -- as a developer of a Twitter app. He leveraged his Valley debut into meetings with various tech luminaries, including Digg founder Kevin Rose, which led to Wong's first real job. His subsequent layoff wasn't personal; Digg, a content-surfacing company past its prime, laid off 10% of its employees last May, and another 30% last month.
Wong felt adrift, wondering from where his next paycheque would come. He started working on a business idea he'd been nurturing, for a new model of embedded advertising in mobile gaming. (When you're 19, you believe, as Wong says, "everyone and their mother is playing Angry Birds." That game is now the No. 1 paid iPhone app.)
The result: Wong launched Kiip. me (pronounced "Keep me"), a stealth-mode startup dedicated to replacing banner ads with more organic, effective ads for games on the iPhone and Android. "We're trying to leverage the unique aspects of each game to create a new advertising model," says Wong. After raising $300,000 from True Ventures, a "very early-stage" VC in Palo Alto, Calif., and a number of angel investors, Wong hired a design team to develop the concept while he brashly lobbied game developers to come on board.
After lining up five game companies, he turned to Madison Avenue, commuting to New York to meet with big brands and agencies. In a presentation last week, Wong mentioned how he had hit it off with Pepsi's social media marketing leader, and how keen they were to work together.
How does anyone get so confident so fast? Wong says skipping four grades helps. "Ever since Grade 3, I started hanging out with people older than me," he says. "I picked up things very quickly. That's sort of my talent." When pressed, he admits his IQ was measured at 156 -- five years ago.
At university, Wong spent more time trying to meet interesting people than fretting over class work. His advice to young entrepreneurs is to network like a big shot. Wong has become an expert on figuring out e-mail addresses of chief executives, then asking them for a meeting or help.
Great !!!
Thanks,
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Seed Capital From Angel Investors: Brian Garrett, Co-Founder And... - Topix
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