He's the co-founder of the Hub Angels in Boston, David Verrill is chair of the Angel Capital Association's Collaboration Committee, too. Hub is organized around a fund, so he had capital to invest and weathered the economic storms of 2009 better than some angel groups. Even so, David advocates that now is a good time to review "the terms we're using when negotiating these investments". So it's no surprise that he's organizing the ACA Syndication Webinar Series that will focus on syndication, due diligence and terms.

Show #276 (15:09) Listen

Join David for the Syndication Basics webinar 3pm Eastern Wed March 3rd

It's Spring (almost) so it must be time for a regional angel conference. Angel Capital Association encourages these regional pow-wows and many are just a few years in the making. These smaller conferences have a more intimate feel compared to the mega-events. Here's where I'll be:

Seattle: March 11-12, the NW Regional Angel Summit hosted by the Alliance of Angels

Tucson: March 22, the SW Regional Angel Summit hosted by the Desert Angels

Istanbul: April 15-16, EBAN's 2010 Congress. Join me as I moderate a panel on angel investing and 'animate' the Awards ceremony.

Austin: April 21, the Texas Entrepreneur Funding Symposium. Come see Austin's vibrant entrepreneurial community for yourself; I'll keynote.

San Francisco: May 5-7, Angel Capital Association's Annual Summit. Come to this must-attend event of the year, finally in San Francisco where it should be every year! Expect a super line-up of noteworthy speakers and panelists.

Hope all is well and I will look forward to getting together with you in preparation for our "Next Big Thing" in Tucson.

I need to mention two scenarios: my daughter, Claire, in California was forwarded our podcast from Curtis Gunn the new leader of Desert Angels. She was quite impressed.

More interesting, we are finalizing a deal with O******** L*** out of Maryland. (Another of our "out of state", "syndications deals"). We have probably 10 investors for short money but syndicating as part of a $1.2M round.

The CEO was frantically trying to reach me last Friday. We had set us a final, final due diligence call for later in the day. I had met with him in our screening, regular meeting, and one update over the last four months. I was committed to make an investment, unbeknownst to him. He called me and said, "One of my friends sent me and I listened to the Frank Peters Show and I am calling to ask for your money as I understand you will not invest without the CEO asking for the investment... " He said he found it quite interesting.

I had liked him enough and had enough contact without actually doing the physical phone call; however, the point was not lost on him or the value of that personal contact with each investor. Our due diligence leader had done a powerful job; however, it was very impressive that he took our session to heart. Powerful stuff.

Thanks for sharing the wonderful world of Angel Investing with so many.

Your appreciative friend, Mic

Meet Mic in person: March 22, at the SW Regional Angel Summit in Tucson, hosted by the Desert Angels

Could your startup use $20,000 in seed capital? Mind spending 10 weeks in Austin? If so, Joshua Baer is someone you're gonna want to know better!

Joshua's the Managing Director of Austin's Capital Factory, a seed-stage mentoring program. Startups must apply and out of the hundreds that do, 5 are selected. Each receives $20,000 in cash, $20,000 in stuff and, best of all, the attentions of 20 mentors over the 10 week program.

Since angel fundings are down, wouldn't most investors be suited to returning to the roots of what it means to be an angel? Can you picture a Capital Factory franchise in your neighborhood? What if you could organize those risk-averse investors and get them involved with a structured mentoring program like Joshua's? What could it mean to your local innovation economy?

Entrepreneurs, you better apply quickly...

P.S. During the interview I say I'll check out Joshua's OtherInbox email organizer. I signed up and have been using it happily for 2 weeks!

Show #275 (32:27) Listen

Join me in Austin, April 21, at the Texas Entrepreneur Funding Symposium.

Two JumpStarts, but no dead battery, that's Dave Berkus!

Dave is making his 16th appearance on the show, Ray Leach of JumpStart Ohio, his 2nd, and ACA board member Katherine O'Neill of JumpStart NJ, her first.

"The new normal," according to Ray, "is going to have a big impact on angels, on how companies get funded and how quickly they can scale." That being the VC industry's poor track record and inability to attract new investment.

It's the innovation economy of the future we're talking about.

Show #274 (49:31) Listen

Save these dates:
March 3, Syndication Basics webinar
March 22, SW Regional Angel Summit in Tucson, hosted by the Desert Angels
April 15-16, EBAN Congress 2010 in Istanbul
April 21, the Texas Entrepreneur Funding Symposium in Austin
April 28, Term Sheets webinar
May 5-7, the ACA Annual Summit in San Francisco

Hi Frank,

I'm listening to your show over a year now, and it's my most favorite podcast! For me it's enlightening to hear insights about the US and worldwide angels. I hope to meet you personally when you are visiting Germany. Until then I'm looking out for your podcast, interesting interviews and thoughtful questions! Thank you very much!

Lets talk about http://asana.com - a bay area internet technology company which raised 9 Mio. USD within three days. When I'm looking at the Angel Investors it seems to be the elite. My question (as an German entrepreneur without knowing how this system works internally) is: How are these deals made? What is the most important factor?

With kind regards, Birger Hartung

European enthusiasm for angel investing has been growing over the past few years. What's the potential for the future?

More growth, according to Brigitte Baumann, President of EBAN. Part of this growth comes from younger angels who may be working the corporate track, but are attracted to eventually become an entrepreneur. But do these younger angels qualify? In the US we use the SEC's definition of an Accredited Investor, but there's nothing like that in Europe.

Are these angel groups robbing the cradle? And, besides money, what can these younger angels bring to the table? You'll be surprised.

Show #273 (34:49) Listen

Meet Brigitte in person at the EBAN 10th Annual Congress, April 15-16 in Istanbul.