Thank you for such a wonderful presentation. Your professional delivery and ability to correlate your own personal experiences made for a truly great learning experience.]]>I sure wish I had you as a professor in business school. My only regret is that I did not have the benefit of your knowledge twenty years ago.
Truthfully, I would have canceled every appointment and spent another 5-10 hours.
Again, thank you for enriching my life.J.F.
So I can't remember the last time I saw a presenting entrepreneur get kissed after his presentation. No, not by the investor, by his wife; still it was just one of many stand out moments at the Founder Institute's graduation in La Jolla tonight.
The Funded's Adeo Ressi created FI to groom entrepreneurs and tonight he graduated 10 teams from the 4 month intensive. Local angels serve as mentors.
The results? Pretty impressive, and romantic at times.
I look forward to sitting in again.
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Do you dream of it, too? Going from entrepreneur to angel investor to venture capitalist...Show #301 (31:02) Listen
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The Tech Coast Angels rejoice as Green Dot (NYSE: GDOT) goes public. The original investors waited 9 years for this IPO, but it's worth it: as much as 110x returns for those who jumped in originally! Congratulations!San Diego Police Department
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Lieutenant Ernie Herbert
Date: July 21, 2010 (Wednesday) Homicide Unit
Time: 0900 hours (619) 531-2275
ARREST MADE IN JUNE 8, 2010 MURDER
San Diego Police Department Homicide Unit detectives have arrested Kent Thomas Keigwin for the June 8, 2010, murder of La Jolla resident John G. Watson.
]]> On June 8, 2010, at approximately 6:20 p.m., John Watson was discovered deceased inside his Camino Del Oro apartment. The medical examiner's office, determining the death to be suspicious, called on the San Diego Police Department Homicide Unit to conduct a death investigation.During the initial stages of the death investigation, homicide detectives discovered Watson was a victim of financial fraud, where Watson's identity was stolen and $7.5 million had been transferred from one of his investment accounts. Information learned during the investigation led them to identify 59 year-old, Keigwin, as the suspect of the financial crime. Keigwin was arrested for the financial crimes, in the early morning hours of June 11, 2010, when he arrived unexpectedly at the death scene, where homicide detectives were still gathering evidence inside the apartment. Keigwin was booked into San Diego County Jail for the financial crimes, and held on $2.5 million bail.
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Growing pains in a young angel group?
Many of us have been there...
It's a small world when it comes to early-stage investing. That's what you'll think after meeting Mumbai Angels' Prashant Choksey. Educated in San Diego he returned home to eventually organize one of only two angel groups in India.
In any group you'll see the 80-20 rule: most of the work done by a subset of the membership. Listen to Prashant's plans to incentivize these big contributors and keep them active.
Show #300 (29:37) Listen
JumpStart Inc.'s Ray Leach, a frequent guest on the Show, joins AOL's Steve Case, Yahoo's Jerry Yang and others on the new National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
Read the press release
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Angel investing from a world-wide perspective, that's what you get from the 2010 Hans Severiens Award recipient and Angel Capital Association Chairman Emeritus, John May.
Show #299 (33:06) Listen
FastIgnite's Simeon Simeonov published this article a few days ago and it continues to attract a lot of attention. In case you missed it:
"With high-tech companies needing less capital due to advancements in technology, startup development methodology and online marketing, we have seen a Renaissance in angel investing. While angel investors participate in part for the excitement of engaging with entrepreneurs and placing bets on the future, they also do it for the expectation of significant financial returns. Various studies of angel investing published in the last decade estimate aggregate returns to angels on the order of 18-37% per year, well above market. The catch is that 50-70% of angels make less than what they invest. Returns are very unevenly distributed and this begs the question to what extent is portfolio theory fundamental to angel returns."
For all the risk you take as an early-stage investor, wouldn't you love a 2 for 1 match?
JumpStart Inc's CEO Ray Leach and Tech Coast Angel Dave Berkus discuss angel funds and in Ray's case, he enjoys great support from the state of Ohio where they've recognized the importance of angel investors in creating jobs. Dave and I groan with jealousy as Ray describes the $3.5M Ohio has granted to 2 native angel groups.
Dave has his own news: today he announces the new TCA sidecar fund, the Angel Capital Fund. No government matching, but it does have many well thought out features that your angel group will want to implement.
These new funds mean more money for entrepreneurs.
Get ready for some exceptionally good news!
Show #298 (45:16) Listen
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What incentives does the UK offer angel investors? How do they encourage early-stage investment?
Warning: jealousy alert!
Let's ask Tony Clarke; he should know. He's the President Emeritus of the European Business Angel Network (EBAN), Chairman of the British Business Angels Association (BBAA) and co-chair of the World Business Angel Association (WBAA).
Looking to brush up on international early-stage investing approaches? Tony can cite how it's done in many parts of the world and why more countries are keen to learn the best way to encourage and promote business angels in their countries.
Show #297 (36:14) Listen