A gem from the archives: Fred Farina on Caltech's approach to licensing technology. I wanted to re-issue this show since I met Siemens TTB chief, Stefan Heuser. And in just a few weeks you'll hear Joeph Steig and Phil Weilerstein of NCIIA descibe their work with colleges and universities.

Thanks to Tech Coast Angel Bill Collins for introducing me to Fred.

Show #241 (46:26) Listen

Not doing as many deals as you did in 2007?

For many angel groups that's the case, but is this downturn in funding based on "the ability or the willingness to do it?" asks this week's guest Scott Shane.

Scott's blog post "The Myth of an Ever-Expanding Entrepreneurial Youth" showed up on my iPhone as part of the front page of the New York Times. That's great exposure for the author of Fools Gold and Illusions of Entrepreneurship; it's a blog you should follow.

Show #240 (32:23) Listen

Need flexibility? "There's no fixed pattern that we have to follow in order to turn that technology into the exciting new product for Siemens," says Sarah Peach.

"So our focus is on, what we say, outside in," says Stefan Heuser of Siemens TTB (Technology To Business) based in Berkeley, CA. Siemens is big, "like a German GE", but he acts as an investor in, "really early-stage startups," with investments of $250K to $1M.

Where angels often want to see an experienced entrepreneur, Sarah and Stefan are more comfortable working with great technology.

Right now it's easy to find a great CEO, but executive search is expensive. How does he deal with the search firms to control this cost?

Show #239 (29:55) Listen

It's easy to imagine, angel investors bring their own bias when it comes to making decisions. How do you make your investment decisions? How do you predict an entrepreneur's likelihood of success? And for Super Angels, those individuals making 50-60 investments, how does their process differ? One thought jumps out: due diligence, some Super Angels do less of it.

Rob Wiltbank of Willamette University and Richard Sudek of Chapman University team up on today's show to describe their research into how angels succeed. They're both academics and investors themselves, so I ask Rob, because he knows the statistical ins and outs, how does it influence his investing?

When it comes to decision making, if there are 2 kinds of angels out there, what are the implications for entrepreneurs? "It behooves the entrepreneur to know how the investor sees opportunities." And how might the investors' perspective change during the due diligence process? Join us for a fascinating discussion of the psychology of the investment process.

Show #238 (40:31) Listen

Here's a remastered interview from the archives: Tech Coast Angels Dave Berkus, John Harbison and Luis Villalobos join me for a discussion on due diligence. These three know what they're talking about; between them, they've funded over 130 early-stage deals. So if you see yourself pursuing angel investing any time soon, this is the show for you.

And not just for entrepreneurs, I pulled this out of the vault and dusted it off for the Southwest Regional Angel Leadership conference call; I missed the call, but wanted to contribute something to the discussion. Here it is.

Show #126 Remastered (1:12:50) Listen