"I don't think we're going to be seeing a lot of IPOs again any time soon," says Early Exits author, Basil Peters (no relation), "so the old model of building companies, ... is dead". But don't despair, Basil has several exciting new developments to share.

He's busy. He's putting on an Exits workshop for the Band of Angels. He writes a blog where his most popular post is Don't Blow the Biggest Deal of Your Life. He'll be speaking in Seattle this week at the NW Regional Angel Summit hosted by the Alliance of Angels. If that's too short notice for you, make plans now to see him kick-off the Angel Capital Association's Annual Summit in San Francisco, May 5-7.

Show #279 (30:51) Listen

Meet me in 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.

"I don't have your check and I don't have your paperwork," so went the email. That's because I'm not investing in this pay-to-play round. "You're the only one who isn't," went the terse reply.

It's been that kind of year; hearing from my portfolio companies who haven't hit their stride, but continue to promise a bright future. Maybe I feel defensive, a need to justify why I didn't write a check and instead got converted to Common and diluted, terribly. I'm certainly no smarter than all the others who did write a check, but my conscience has been nagging at me and as therapy, I recalled the words of Kevin Covert in this podcast from the archives, so I thought I'd share it with you again.

Show #119 (34:32) Listen

Meet me in Seattle: March 11-12, at the NW Regional Angel Summit hosted by the Alliance of Angels, or in Tucson: March 22, the SW Regional Angel Summit hosted by the Desert Angels.

Do your genes control your level of entrepreneurship? Your willingness to risk? To go it alone?

Case Western University economist Scott Shane has a new book, Born Entrepreneurs, Born Leaders: How Your Genes Affect Your Work Life which will confirm some of your hunches about entrepreneurs. "Entrepreneurship, job satisfaction, financial risk-taking", Scott says our genes influence all this and more.

I'm ready for Scott because Joshua Baer has me reading The HypoManic: The Link Between a Little Craziness and A lot of Success by John D. Gartner, which describes the Puritans as venture capitalists, but also as a "lunatic fringe whose paranoia was matched only by their grandiosity". Does that description still fit?

Think of the gene pool of this country... it contains remnants of all the settlers who abandoned the old country and came to America to seek their fortune. Maybe that explains entrepreneurship in this country, but Scott argues, no, that's not the case.

"Novelty-seeking", that's the new buzz-word, and Scott describes how it affects entrepreneurs' drive to do what they do.

Then as we wrap up, Scott helps me to apply these theories to my home life...

Check out Scott's Illusions of Entrepreneurship and the classic, Fool's Gold?: The Truth Behind Angel Investing in America.

Show #277 (30:15) Listen

Come to an angel conference:
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.

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

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.

"The fact is, most of these companies will fail, no matter how much due diligence you do," so says Mic Williams.

He moved to Boston for love then decided to create the Boston Harbor Angels.

Mic shares the stories, the process, the syndication strategies and his refreshing attitudes about due diligence as we discuss getting deals done in New England.

Show #272 (42:48) Listen

Interested in exotic travel?
Come to Istanbul for the EBAN 10th Annual Congress, April 15-16. Then jet-set with me to Austin for the Texas Entrepreneur Funding Symposium, April 21st. Complete the sweep in San Francisco, May 5-6-7 at the ACA Annual Summit.

Here we are at year-end, so it seems an appropriate time to take a look back at the life of Luis Villalobos, as told by his friends.

Show #267 (21:04) Listen

Join me for the Newport Beach Bike Safety Ride, 8am Jan 31st.

Make a New Years' resolution to come to an angel conference in 2010:
March 22, SW Regional Angel Summit hosted by the Desert Angels in Tucson
April 15-16, EBAN's 10th Annual Congress in Istanbul
April 21, Texas Entrepreneur Funding Symposium in Austin. I'll keynote.
May 5-7, Angel Capital Association's Annual Summit in San Francisco (where it should be every year)

What's the difference between a wind-down or work-out and bankruptcy?

Philadelphia-based Rob Bovarnick knows and he shares that and more in today's show.

Fox Business, Forbes, he's an expert on bankruptcies and he's building an audience in traditional media. Will an appearance on the show open his eyes to podcasting? Or, more likely, I'll be learning something from Rob.

Show #260 (27:57) Listen

Register Now
8 Dec 2009 the Puerto Rico Venture Forum in San Juan

On the show today: Hans Severiens Award winner Bill Payne, Tech Coast Super Angel Dave Berkus, the NVCA's John Taylor and Seattle's Dan Rosen, Chairman of the Alliance of Angels - that's a power panel!

John brings the NVCA 3rd Qtr report and the angels chew on the implications. "[A] deliberate industry shift towards a longer term venture capital investment strategy." We all know what that means: longer times for angels to exit. Is there an alternative to 8-9 year terms before exit? That's when things get lively!

Is the future of angel investing about to change?

Today many angel investments are the first round in a series of capital raises that will eventually include venture capital. But venture capital "resets the clock" according to Dave Berkus and can keep angels in the deal for a lot longer term while they seek a billion dollar exit. Bill, Dan and Dave have read Basil Peters' Early Exits and we discuss an alternate future for angel investing.

Show #253 (43:56) Listen

Stewart Craine and his Barefoot Power are out to eliminate kerosene lamps in impoverished areas and replace them with better and cheaper electric LED lamps. At first I thought such an undertaking might be the focus of a non-profit, but Stewart says "solving energy problems for 1.5 billion people, a $10-30B problem, non-profits just haven't scaled that much". Reminds me of Dan Pallotta's Uncharitable, How Restraints on Nonprofits Undermine Their Potential; listen to my interview with Dan, then I mention M. Yunus' Banker To The Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty, but that's not what Stewart's doing either, "close, but significantly different". Listen closely to my first guest in mainland China.

He's partnered with micro credit specialists Oikocredit to create the Barefoot Angels Fund.

Show #250 (29:15) Listen

Join me in Toronto at the National Angel Summit Oct 14th and 15th. Registration details.

Then I'll be speaking Dec 8th at the Puerto Rico Venture Forum in San Juan. Guaranteed 80 degrees! Registration details.

He shuttled deals between 5 networks at Tech Coast Angels; over 8 years he's seen more than 100 companies get funded.

Today Jeff's with MHS Capital with a different investment strategy. But Jeff's heart is with VentureNet, he's helped run the event for the past 5 years, and since it's less than a week away it's time for you to jump!

Register today at VentureNet.org.

Show #248 (19:11) Listen

Let's take a trip back to my alma mater, UMASS Amherst where Paul Silva volunteers as the Chairman of the Entrepreneurship Initiative, an organization teaching students how to become successful entrepreneurs; he's also the Managing Partner of Angel Catalyst. Nearby, Phil Weilerstein is the Executive Director for NCIIA and Joseph Steig runs its Venture Well program.

"Unproven and young" describes the challenges facing university entrepreneurs. My guests detail the programs that help them get that next stage of funding.

Show #245 (49:19) Listen

Care to know the "economics of running funds"?

Jim Jaffe knows. He's the President/CEO of the National Association of Seed and Venture Funds, NASVF.

It's a challenging time for Seed funds, Jim tells you why. Challenging times? Maybe that makes it a good time for everyone to get together at the NASVF 16th Annual Conference next week in Oklahoma City.

Show #243 (31:31) Listen

He founded the Melbourne Angels, co-founded the Australian Association of Angel Investors and was a founding partner in Melbourne Venture Partners so Jordan knows his way around investing in early stage companies in Australia.

Show #242 (43:01) Listen

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

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

Do west coast angels pay more?

Are New Yorkers more financially conservative?

The rivalry on the coasts will go on, but one thing is certain, the New York Angels are paying less when they're investing in early stage deals right now. "The valuations sound outrageous to anyone raising funds three or four years ago."

David's the founder of the New York Angels, Angelsoft and The Incubator at RTV. Is anyone doing more to promote angel investing and entrepreneurship?

Show #229 (37:58) Listen

It's Fast Pitch season!
Jump on the Inland Empire's event May 14th at the Hilton Ontario Airport. Then in Orange County at UC Irvine on June 9th.

"CAPCO's are the most insidious, complex effort to raid city and state treasuries in the name of venture capital." I didn't know what a CAPCO was until I met with Bill Payne in Las Vegas last month. Over breakfast he described the work George Lipper has done over the years to expose these scams.

George has left NASVF in protest over the organization allowing CAPCOs as members, "it'll be a few years and they'll be running the organization". So he's built a new website to continue his crusade, LipperCurrent.com.

Besides scams we talk about Seed funds. Is it a good time to start a new Seed fund? "Only if you can be very patient."

Show #228 (44:59) Listen

For early-stage angel-backed deals it's been a measure of success when VCs come along and invest in the next round.

Angel investor Basil Peters suggests we re-think that outcome, "I think that there are things that have changed which angels should think carefully about, in developing the financing strategy for the companies in which they have invested and, even more importantly, to think about before they make their next angel investment".

As VC funds have grown to an average of $300 million, this means the math for each deal "increases the minimum exit valuation... probably into the hundred million dollar range". Angel investors will be waiting for years for these exits.

Basil discusses his new book: Early Exits, Exit Strategies for Entrepreneurs and Angel Investors (But Maybe Not Venture Capitalists). It'll make you think...

Show #227 (38:12) Listen

Events
Join me April 27-28 at the 9th Annual EBAN Congress in Madrid.

Register for UCLA's upcoming 2009 Entrepreneurs Conference on May 8th.