Tag Archives: Angel Investing

Angel Investing – Tackling the “Big Idea”

Posted on August 23, 2013 | Leave a comment

Group of business people in shape of light bulb ideaLast week, I had the opportunity to attend the “Big Idea Innovation Tournament”, a pre-term exercise for the incoming 2015 MBA class at the Wharton School. The incoming students were asked to come up with a “big idea” on the topic of climate change and then present those ideas first to fellow students and then to a panel of alumnae/i and faculty judges. Students were given a very limited amount of time to come up with their ideas and formulate a presentation. For the final presentations, the student teams were given 2 minutes and 5 powerpoint slides to discuss their concept and convince the judges as to both the impact and the feasibility of their idea. The judging panel, on which I had the privilege to sit, then had the very difficult task of picking the winner from ideas ranging from managing energy usage, conserving water and our other scarce resources as well as measuring the carbon footprint of the foods we consume. Continue reading →

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Posted in Angel Groups, Angel Investing, Golden Seeds, MBAs, Uncategorized, Wharton School

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Angel Investing – Launching new entrepreneurs

Posted on May 22, 2013 | Leave a comment

Keyboard Illustration "Launch 2013"Last week I had the opportunity to participate in the official launch of the second annual class of entrepreneurs involved in  TechLaunch, New Jersey’s Technology Accelerator. As an investor in and mentor to this new class of entrepreneurs, it was fun to see the teams, all clad in bright blue t-shirts, provide the audience with the quick preview of their company’s idea. For a glimpse of these exciting new companies, see the recent profile in either NJ Tech Weekly or North Jersey.com. Continue reading →

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Posted in Accelerators, Angel Groups, Angel Investing, Golden Seeds, Opinion, TechLaunch, Uncategorized, Venture Capital

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Angel Investing – Term Sheets and Value Protection

Posted on May 16, 2013 | Leave a comment

Accountant With Giant Golden CalculatorThis is the fourth post on Term Sheets and how they impact returns to investors. In addition to economics and control, term sheets also contain provisions that impact how as investors we can add some level of protection for the value of our investment. Although there are a number of provisions in the term sheet addressing this, the three most important to me are:

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Posted in Angel Groups, Angel Investing, Due Diligence, Opinion, Term Sheets, Uncategorized, Venture Capital

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Angel Investing – It’s all about the Execution!

Posted on May 8, 2013 | Leave a comment

Crackers jump 1This past week I had the opportunity to spend the week with my daughter Charlotte, watching her compete at a horse show. Charlotte, now an adult, has been riding and competing for a number of years and I never cease to be amazed by the strength and beauty of these incredible horses and how the riders can control such powerful animals. In much the same way I feel that being an angel investor enables me to be a “vicarious entrepreneur”, being a “HorseShowMom” allows me to imagine myself in the saddle. Now, in terms of full disclosure, I did take some riding lessons early in my daughter’s riding career which were quickly ended when I flew over the jump (without the horse!) and decided at that point that I was best suited for ground crew! Continue reading →

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Posted in Angel Groups, Angel Investing, Due Diligence, Opinion, Uncategorized

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Angel Investing – Inside the Brain of an Angel

Posted on April 18, 2013 | Leave a comment

Power Of The MindIn a recent post, I published an excerpt from a new book called “What Every Angel Investor Wants You to Know” by Brian S. Cohen and John Kador.

I had the opportunity to read the book en route to the Angel Capital Association (ACA) Summit and would highly recommend it to both entrepreneurs and angel investors alike. Written in the first person and filled with anecdotes, war stories and wisdom gained from Brian’s many years of angel investing, this book is both a fun and insightful read.

Having started investing in this space back in the late 90’s (yes I was only 14 at the time!!), I have learned that when all is said and done, for me angel investing is all about investing in great people and helping them build great companies.

Thank you Brian for sharing your wisdom and insights in your new book! I am looking forward to the next one!

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Posted in Angel Groups, Angel Investing, Due Diligence, Golden Seeds, Opinion, Uncategorized

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Angel Investing – Term Sheet “Control” Provisions

Posted on April 10, 2013 | Leave a comment

teamwork rowingIn a recent post I discussed the “economic” aspects of a term sheet. In addition to laying out the economics of a proposed transaction, the term sheet also provides a road map to various issues revolving around “control”.  As angels, although we are not involved in the day to day management of our portfolio companies, we need to have a voice in strategic issues that impact our portfolio companies. Typically this “control” is exercised either through: Continue reading →

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Posted in Angel Groups, Angel Investing, Golden Seeds, Opinion, Term Sheets, Uncategorized, Venture Capital

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Angel Investing – Investing in Women Entrepreneurs

Posted on April 3, 2013 | Leave a comment

successful word cloudIn their soon to be released book –  What Every Angel Investor Wants You To Know  – An Insider Reveals How To Raise Smart Money For Your Billion Dollar Idea (McGraw Hill, 2013), Brian Cohen, Chairman of New York Angels, and John Kador, demystify the process of Angel investing.

Of particular interest to me is Brian’s experience with investing in early stage companies that are either founded by women or where women serve on the senior leadership team. There is lots of buzz these days on how women should or should not position themselves to excel in the corporate ranks. In the excerpt from his book below, Brian provides us with some great DATA as well as opinion on the case for investing in women. Continue reading →

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Posted in Angel Groups, Angel Investing, Golden Seeds, Opinion, Uncategorized, Venture Capital

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Angel Investing – Term Sheet Economics

Posted on March 25, 2013 | Leave a comment

RechenschieberIn my last post, I listed four areas that Term Sheets cover. This week, I thought I would focus on some of the “Economic” terms. The terms below apply to Convertible Preferred Stock, although there are clearly other types of securities used to fund early stage companies.  These “economic” terms outline who gets what and cover such concepts as:

Valuation: For a Preferred Stock Offering, this represents the per-share price that you will be paying for the investment as well as the “pre-money” company valuation that this price implies. In addition, the term sheet will typically indicate the “post-money” valuation which includes in the company valuation the new funds being invested. Continue reading →

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Posted in Angel Groups, Angel Investing, Due Diligence, Golden Seeds, Term Sheets, Uncategorized, Venture Capital

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Angel Investing – Term Sheets and Country Western Music!!!

Posted on March 13, 2013 | 1 comment

Hank WilliamsProbably one of the things I have found that many of my fellow angel investors enjoy even less than analyzing the financial model of a company they are contemplating investing in (see my last post ) is diving into the Term Sheet. A  term sheet is a document that lays out the key terms of a proposed investment. Once those key terms have been negotiated and the term sheet is executed by both parties, it serves as the basis for drafting the other documents which comprise the legal closing documents in a transaction.

At a recent meeting, one of colleagues made the comment that term sheets are like country western songs – you know those soulful ballads that bemoan the difficult breakup, the secrets never shared, the soulmate you trusted who walked away and left behind a pile of debt……  When you make an angel investment you are not only entering into a financial transaction, you are entering into a relationship with the CEO/founders/management team. If you have been investing in this sector for awhile, it is likely you have made at least one investment that did not turn out as planned!  Another way to think about the term sheet is a kind of “pre-nup” for angel investing. Clearly if you don’t really believe that a particular investment has the potential to be a good partnership over time, you probably shouldn’t make the investment. Continue reading →

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Posted in Angel Groups, Angel Investing, Due Diligence, Financial Models, Golden Seeds, Opinion, Term Sheets, Uncategorized, Venture Capital

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Angel Investing – Financial Models

Posted on March 6, 2013 | 2 comments

Gold Guy With Business Reports“I am a serial entrepreneur with a business idea that will generate $100 million in sales in 3 years!!!!” , sound familiar? As an angel investor, I meet many passionate entrepreneurs who present a very optimistic outlook for the future of their business concept. Building financial projection models is a very difficult process for the CEO of an early-stage company and an even more difficult process for the investor to believe in.

So, is there any real value in financial projections? Continue reading →

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Posted in Angel Groups, Angel Investing, Due Diligence, Financial Models, Opinion, Uncategorized

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