Entries from September 2008
Visitng us from the United Kingdom for the 2008 National Angel Summit as the Lunch Keynote Speaker is serial Angel-investor Permjot Valia.
Bringing with him an impressive history of investments, Permjot has been involved with 20 businesses in the last four years. Currently based in London, England, he is a member of the board of the Enterprise Investment Scheme Association (EIS) and is their representative on the British Business Angels Association.
Permjot Vaia
Permjot Valia will be sharing his wisdom and experience and speaking on “How EIS has Worked in the UK to Boost Angel Investment” during the Lunch Keynote speech on Oct. 16, 2008
For more information about Permjot Valia, please visit his blog at http://www.businessangelblog.com/
To secure yourself a seat at this event, please visit http://2008summit.eventbrite.com/ to order your ticket for the 2008 National Angel Summit in Halifax, Nova Scotia from Oct. 15th – 17th.
See you in Halifax!
Categories: General NACO
Tagged: National Angel Organization, 2008 National Angel Summit, Halifax, Permjot Valia, EIS, Business Angel Blog
David Berkus
The National Angel Organization is thrilled to announce that David Berkus will be joining the 2008 National Angel Summit as its Dinner Keynote Speaker on Oct. 16th, 2008.
As one of the keynotes at the National Angel Summit, he will presents his vision of the ideal board at the early stage Angel and venture post-funding level. This is a must-attend event as Berkus tells stories of young boards gone bad and of those doing great work in the world of Angel- and venture-funded startups.
Founder and President of Berkus Technology Ventures, LLC, Dave Berkus is an early stage venture capitalist with a hands-on background in technology. An entrepreneur for over fifty years, he formed and managed successful businesses in the entertainment and software arenas, and is a respected technology industry leader and spokesperson.
For more information on David Berkus, his publications, and all of the great work that he is doing, please visit: http://www.berkus.com/
To secure yourself a seat at this event, please visit http://2008summit.eventbrite.com/ to order your ticket for the 2008 National Angel Summit in Halifax, Nova Scotia from Oct. 15th – 17th.
Categories: General NACO
Tagged: 2008 National Angel Summit, David Berkus
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The graphic below is an attempt to illustrate the value creation stages in a typical technology company: 10% for locating the target company and completing the transaction; 40% from the value-added by contributions to the strategy and ongoing corporate governance; and 50% for the value created from the strategy and execution of the eventual exit—or sale of the company.
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An extraordinarily valuable lesson for both entrepreneurs and investors is that when you sell a business a well designed and executed exit strategy can easily increase the business valuation by 50%, and sometimes by 100%.
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Angelsoft on Tuesday announced that it has officially launched version 3.0 of its angel funding platform, which will connect entrepreneurs to over 400 angel investment groups and 11,000 investors across the world.
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We’re in the middle of a wider economic downturn, there are no IPOs, funding is getting thin, but are the Angels unhappy? It looks like not. The downturn has sorted out the wheat from the chaff, the bar has been raised and they feel well-placed against even some of the biggest VC funds. Lucky, then, that working with startups remains a passion for these guys. Jason Calacanis chaired the panel. You can watch it here.
Categories: Angel Links
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In a recent business angel blog, I suggested that now was actually a good time to start a business. I do though have some general words of advice for managing through the current turmoil.
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John Ruffolo, Deloitte National Technology Leader, speaks on the Fast 50 awards announced yesterday.
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CAMBRIDGE, Mass.–Famed investor Vinod Khosla is one of the clean-tech industry's most vocal cheerleaders. But most of today's clean technologies fall short of his 1-billion-car test.
"If it doesn't scale, it doesn't matter," says Khosla. "Most of what we talk about today–hybrid, biodiesel, ethanol, solar photovoltaics, geothermal–I believe are irrelevant to the scale of the problem" of climate change.
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Attracting angel investors requires an understanding of what this unique breed of investor is seeking. Stand out from the startup masses with these insights from experienced investors, and you'll be more likely to catch the eye of an angel.
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But here’s what’s really interesting: Rafer and his cofounder, David Cancel, elected to raise the money almost entirely from angels, forgoing the traditional venture capital most companies would pursue at this stage. This is Lookery’s second funding event. In January, it raised a $1 million note, which converts to equity given in this deal.
Categories: Angel Links
Yesterday Deloitte & Touche’s “Technology Fast 50″ rankings were released. This award, presented annually, showcases the 50 fastest-growing tech firms in Canada.
The take away from the announcement:
Growth rates of Canadian technology companies [are] falling after a decade of remarkable gains. Deloitte’s survey of Canadian tech CEOs reveals a “perfect storm” scenario: little venture capital, few IPOs, a tightening credit crunch and slowing markets.
So, what were the results? This year’s firms averaged a growth rate of 2500%. By itself, this is an excellent growth rate, showing growth most companies would be envious of. However, when compared to the performance of last year’s companies that averaged a growth rate of just under 4000%, this year’s performance is not quite as impressive.
The causes, as stated by John Ruffolo, Partner, Deloitte, Global Tax and Canadian Industry Technology, Media & Telecommunications Leader, in an interview with BNN this morning included a shortage of venture capital in Canada, rise of the Canadian dollar and a slowing of the US economy.
The impact? Canadian technology companies may have to limit their investments in new technologies and focus on profits rather than growth.
There are, however, a few bastions of growth left in the technology industry in Canada, according to Ruffolo. These include the wireless industry and the green/clean technology industry.
To learn more about the Technology Fast 50 program and apply for the 2009 awards, please visit www.fast50.ca.
Categories: General NACO · NACO News
Tagged: angel, deloitte fast 50, economic conditions, vc, venture capital
The NAO is pleased to pass on the invitation of our director, Michelle Scarborough of OCRI, to the 12th Annual Ottawa Venture & Technology Summit. 
Details are as follows:
When: October 7th – 9th, 2008
Where: Fairmont Chateau Laurier Hotel, Ottawa, Canada
Who: 18 pitching companies, top-of-mind keynote speakers and panellists, investors, and leaders in the CEO community, all brought to you by OCRI!
Why: Ottawa is a centre for VC investment in Canada – and 80% since 2003 have had US VC participation. 65% of VC-funded Ottawa-area companies are Summit alumni.
How to register: Visit the registration page.
Enjoy autumnal Ottawa!
Categories: General NACO
W. Daniel Mothersill
Frank Peters, host of his namesake website, the Frank Peters Show, recently hosted an interview with NAO President, W. Daniel Mothersill.
To listen to the podcast, click HERE.
Some of the topics covered in the podcast include:
- the 2008 National Angel Summit in Halifax;
- role of Angels in Canada;
- international co-investment;
- role of universities in commercialization;
- and more!
Frank will also be participating at the 2008 National Angel Summit in Halifax, Nova Scotia on Oct. 15th – 17th. He will be offering his insight and expertise as a featured panelist on Sustainability of Angel Groups. More more information on the 2008 National Angel Summit, please visit: http://2008summit.eventbrite.com/
The NAO would like to thank Frank for facilitating the interview. Visit theFrankPetersShow.com for more great stories on Angel investing!
The Frank Peters Show
Categories: General NACO
Tagged: 2008 National Angel Summit, Frank Peters, Halifax, podcast, W. Daniel Mothersill
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Lately we’ve been discussing the many reasons why taking smaller, angel-sized investments instead of larger venture capital stakes often makes more sense for startups in a wobbly, exit-bereft market like the…
Categories: General NACO
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A great presentation by Claire Munck from EBAN on business Angel Networks.
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The purpose of this event is to gather individuals who may be able to form a pool of capital for leveraged investment in local business opportunities – both for direct financial and broad community benefit.
Categories: General NACO
