Archive for June 2014Thursday, June 26, 2014 By: Alan S. Knitowski, Chairman, CEO & Co-Founder at Phunware, Inc.
Alan S. Knitowski is well versed in the world of entrepreneurship. Beyond experience as an angel investor and fund manager, Alan is a successful serial entrepreneur with multiple exits to companies such as Cisco Systems, Level 3 Communications and Internet Security Systems (now IBM). Currently Chairman and CEO of Phunware, which helps brands to engage,
manage and monetize their customers across any connected device using its pioneering multiscreen as a service (MaaS) platform, Alan shared his perspective regarding the importance of accredited angel investors to his entrepreneurial success.
Tags: Protect Angel Funding Wednesday, June 25, 2014 By: Ken Kousky, angel investor, Executive Director of BlueWater Angels (Midland, MI), and member of ACA’s public policy committee. We invite you to get to know Ken and other ACA members via this periodic feature. If you have a great idea for a member profile, please contact Sarah Dickey.
How and when did you get involved in angel investing?
Tags: Protect Angel Funding Monday, June 23, 2014 By: Elizabeth Hess, CFO at TRX Systems, an ACA member portfolio company that provides algorithms and products that deliver location indoors and underground, in areas where GPS is unreliable or unavailable. Elizabeth shares her thoughts about the potential change to the accredited angel definition based on her experience with angel funding at TRX and other entrepreneurial companies. The potential re-definition of Accredited Investors would drastically reduce the number of angel investors, barring many from participating in backing new ventures. This is of great concern to those early stage investors, and an even greater concern to the entrepreneurs who rely on them. Early stage financing is the most difficult to obtain but it is the basis for everything. Entrepreneurs may do technical research, talk to customers, validate the market, and flesh out key elements of a business plan- but to progress beyond the “slideware” phase, they must hire employees and start the actual development work. Employees reasonably look for some indication of viability before signing on, both from a financial standpoint and a technical standpoint. Angels are willing to invest at this stage, before there are any real proof points, because of their background and experience, their ability to dive deep during due diligence, and to make an informed decision to invest. The angel investor provides both the funds to bring people on and the assurance that there has been some validation of the business concept. Tags: Protect Angel Funding Friday, June 20, 2014 By: Marianne Hudson, ACA Executive Director Last week, Scott Shane wrote a column in Entrepreneur.com, Would a Higher Accredited Investor Threshold Clip Angels’ Wings? While the answer to that question to me is obviously “yes”, Scott concluded “data on the angel capital market’s response to the 2010 increase in the (accredited investor) threshold doesn’t support that view.” I’ve read his column and traded an email or two with him since, and I have to say, Pardon Me? Tags: Protect Angel Funding Monday, June 16, 2014 By: Angela Jackson, Portland Seed Fund The largest ever ACA Regional Meeting took place June 3-5 in Portland, OR. Angels from Nevada to Alaska discussed emerging data and deal flow trends for angels, syndication, helping portfolio companies in crises, and celebrating exits, among other topics. In addition to interactive sessions, 20 companies from throughout the region presented investment opportunities. Event host Angela Jackson, Managing Director of the Portland Seed Fund, provides insights into the fun work of creating and hosting this important regional event - by angels for angels. It was a crazy notion, that we could entice 100 people to travel to Portland, Oregon on short notice for an ACA regional angel meeting. Yet, with enticements like a beautiful, walkable, transit-friendly city, a foodie's dilemma on every corner (Food cart or farm-to-table? Craft brew or Willamette Valley Pinot?) we thought we had a shot. Tags: Wednesday, June 11, 2014 An Interview with: Michael Bolick, Selah Genomics CEO
It is fair to say Selah Genomics CEO, Michael Bolick, knows a thing or two about angel investment. As a serial entrepreneur with 25 years of experience in the life science and healthcare industries, Bolick
Tags: Protect Angel Funding Monday, June 09, 2014 By: Bill Payne, Vegas Valley Angels and Frontier Angels This blog post originally appeared on Berkonomics.com The sale of equity in private companies is regulated by the Securities Act of 1933, which requires that the company either register with the SEC or meet one of several exemptions (Regulation D). A Private Placement Memorandum (PPM) is a special business plan defined to meet an SEC exemption. In most cases, those entrepreneurs choosing to raise capital using PPMs retain specialists (many of whom are lawyers) to write their PPMs – a rather expensive undertaking. I don’t fund new companies that have prepared PPMs for investment. I am an angel investor, that is, an accredited investor who is assumed by the SEC and others to be sufficiently wealthy to afford to lose the investment and supposedly experienced enough to make good choices on fundable companies. Angels, as group of accredited investors funding startup companies, are assumed to meet a Regulation D exemption for purchasing equity in private companies. Like most angel investors, I have preferences for the terms and conditions of investment and intend to negotiate with entrepreneurs on those terms, such as valuation, company structure, the makeup of the board of directors, liquidation preferences and others. I have yet to read a PPM written for a startup company that meets the parameters we angels generally establish for funding new ventures. Tags: Friday, June 06, 2014 By: Matt Dunbar, ACA Board and Upstate Carolina Angel Network
In recent weeks in the Upstate Business Journal, several exciting local startups have made the news for their significant national and international successes: The Iron Yard expanding its code school to cities across the Southeast; KIYATEC winning a rare grant from the National Cancer Institute and being featured at the upcoming BIO International Convention; and Selah Genomics realizing a highly lucrative acquisition by a European
diagnostics company.
Tags: Protect Angel Funding |