Tag Archives: Angel Investor

Angel Investing – Ringing in the New Year 2016

New Year 2016 conceptIt’s that time once again to reflect on the prior year and make some resolutions for the next. In last year’s post, I suggested that you develop your own investment strategy, take a closer look at the convertible notes in your portfolio and add some interesting reads to your list. Here are a few of my suggested resolutions for 2016: Continue reading

Angel Investing – Twelve Days of Christmas 2015

12 days of christmas: 12 Snowflakes

On the first day of Christmas
a founder shared with me:
A Term Sheet for Series B Continue reading

Angel Investing – Make way for the Crowd

This past Friday, just a day shy of Halloween, the SEC finally voted on Title III of the JOBs Act, the “Crowdfunding” provision enabling individuals who do not meet the definition of “accredited investor” to participate as investors in online portals investing in the start-up space. This “democratization” of capital formation will be done through funding portals that will need to register with the SEC and become a member of a national securities association. Continue reading

Angel Investing – Happy New Year 2015

new year designAnother year has passed and it’s time to think about resolutions for the New Year. As an angel investor, it’s a great time to reflect on the past year and then turn your thoughts forward to investment opportunities in 2015. In last year’s New Year’s post, I suggested that you think about knowing your co-investors, getting your investment dox in order and looking at the world through the lens of an entrepreneur. Continue reading

Angel Investing – Twelve Days of Christmas 2014

12 days of christmas: 12 Snowflakes

On the first day of Christmas
a founder sent to me:
A Financial Model error free Continue reading

Angel Investing – Financial Projections – “Cash is King”

Cash is King Shopping Money Vs Credit Buy Power CurrencyAs an angel investor, I see lots of financial models, which range from the very simple to the extremely complex. I am often asked why I insist on seeing the actual model ( yes the excel not the pdf version) as it all based on layers of assumptions. In response, the financial model is nothing more than a quantitative expression of the business model and in fact what is most important to me are the assumptions that underlie the numbers. Continue reading

Angel Investing – “Back to School”

As a Keyboard with "Back to School" Button.parent, Septembers were always filled with the chores of “back to school” – books to be purchased, sharp pencils, the search for that perfect lunchbox….. As an angel investor, September also puts me in a “back to school” frame of mind. At Golden Seeds, I have the privilege of overseeing The Knowledge Institute, which houses our Investor Training Series. Our fall sessions in New York begin in September when members are back from summer vacations. In preparation for our training sessions, I am constantly looking for new resources, books, etc. to continue to enhance or improve our training materials.

Although by no means an exhaustive list, here are some resources that I have found to be quite helpful: Continue reading

Angel Investing – “Dream, Girl……”

26fa03f0-8072-4593-9156-e4fa79e7fe3bThere’s a great quote from Albert Schweitzer  – “Do something wonderful, people may imitate it”. Hopefully other people will imitate the over 184 backers (myself included) of a current KickStarter Project called Dream, Girl: The Documentary. Continue reading

Angel Investing – “Brain Fuel”

Brain Power Gauge Measures Creativity and IntelligenceSomeone asked me recently what I enjoyed the most about being an angel investor and I responded that it was like “brain fuel”. Having the chance to learn about so many creative approaches to solving complex problems and interfacing with passionate and driven entrepreneurs, both young and old, is one of the most fun and intellectually stimulating experiences. Also being part of  Golden Seeds, an active and engaged angel group, provides another avenue for obtaining this precious “brain fuel” as our members bring such a wealth of diverse expertise and perspective to the process of evaluating early stage companies. Whether or not a particular investment opportunity is one that I chose to invest in, I always come away having learned something new and interesting and looking at a problem differently. Continue reading

Angel Investing – Avoiding “Energy Vampires”

focus on solutions conceptEarlier this week, I was listening to an NPR program on “energy vampires”, those special individuals whose interactions can literally drain the energy from us.  The term “energy vampires” was coined by Dr. Judith Orloff, a clinical professor of psychiatry at UCLA in her book Positive Energy. Now everyone has had some experience with “energy vampires” – those special people who cause some of the following reactions:

  • You hope a call to them goes directly to voicemail
  • You need a trip to Starbucks before and after meeting with them
  • You would rather have a root canal  (the extreme version)

You get the point…… Continue reading