-
CEO Fusion Event: CEOs of your investee companies in Toronto may be interested in this event. Details below.
______________________________________
The management team of a high-growth company is its most important asset as over 60% of company failures result from the leadership team to failing execute the business plan. With economic fear and uncertainty rampant keeping your team motivated and focused on performance more important than ever.This workshop, facilitated by Jim Love of Performance Advantage, will include a management team diagnostic designed to help CEOs of high-growth companies identify issues that can seriously hamper the performance of your management team and present a number of strategies to keep them focused on performance.
In this economic climate if the team isn’t effectively executing on its plans, it can easily prevent any hope of raising financing and result in failure.
Entries from February 2009
links for 2009-02-26
February 27, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Categories: 1
links for 2009-02-25
February 26, 2009 · Leave a Comment
-
Tom Friedman suggested bailout money for VCs; Fred Wilson articulately pointed out that only the incompetent VC firms would take the money and that skilled VCS actually do have money and can raise more. Entrepreneurs pointed out in comments on Fred's post that there IS a shortage of money from entrepreneur's POV. In a comment on my post on the subject, Fred suggested tax breaks for angels.
Angels are motivated by fear and greed just like everyone else – angel investors, that is, who, in better times, are a source of funds for entrepreneurs launching the businesses of their dreams. Angels (I've occasionally been one) are just as perverse as all other investors; we're more likely to invest at market tops when everybody else is and less likely to invest in scary times like the present even though there's greater opportunity now.
Categories: 1
links for 2009-02-23
February 24, 2009 · Leave a Comment
-
Historically, the Canadian VC sector has played a vital role in the development and success of Canadian knowledge-based companies. Unfortunately, the domestic VC market has never fully recovered from the 2001 bust of the technology boom. In 2008, VC investment in Canadian companies declined 36% compared to 2007. Notably, investment by foreign vc firms dropped from 41% of the total invested to 28.5%. All sectors have been affected by this reduction in investment, except cleantech where investment approximated 2007 levels. VC-backed companies are also receiving smaller amounts; the avg amount invested per firm declined to $3.6m in 2008 from $5.0m a year ago. With the decline in the Canadian market, vc fundraising activity in 2008 dropped slightly relative to 2007 results. Unfortunately, fundraising activity in both years was the lowest on record since the mid-1990s. In comparison to Canada, investments by vc funds in the U.S. showed modest declines of 8% in 2008.
-
Whatever the headlines predict these days, there may still be good news for entrepreneurs. Many successful products, services, and pivotal ideas have been launched during an economic lull, according to Bhaskar Chakravorti, a senior lecturer of business administration at Harvard Business School, citing the examples of Motorola, Southwest Airlines, Revlon cosmetics, Hewlett-Packard, and MTV.
Good ideas are not hard to come by. The more complicated part is to harness the diminishing supply of capital. But capital can still find its way to a credible idea, he argues.
-
San Francisco, CA — Known by some as the "godfather of Silicon Valley," Ron Conway, angel IT investor in early-stage technology start-ups and Special Partner at Baseline Ventures, says cloud computing alters the way we think about computing and transforms the way we use devices, such as mobile. The underlying effect is to create a huge number of opportunities for companies.
Ron Conway
Ron ConwayA video interview with Conway about cloud computing as a disruptive force is featured on IdeasProject, a new website developed by Nokia. IdeasProject is an online space that provides a new way to interact with thought leaders and their big ideas about the future of connected communications. For more on Conway's idea, visit http://www.ideasproject.com/idea_person.webui?id=201
-
State legislators and Governor Tim Pawlenty may be moving closer to agreement on a proposal that would provide tax credits for so-called “angel investors,” who provide funding to high-risk, early-stage Minnesota companies.
In the last legislative session, bills authored by Rep. Jim Davnie (DFL- Minneapolis and Sen. Kathy Saltzman (DFL-Woodbury) allowed an angel investor to claim a tax credit in the same year as an investment was made. The governor, by contrast, proposed a four-year holding period before the credit could be claimed. The issue was shelved last year because of a lack of funds in the state budget.
-
Not everyone is has been scared off by weakening returns on venture capital: Marc Andreessen, best known for co-founding Netscape and serving as the chairman of social network builder Ning, is creating a new venture fund. He first announced that he’s “creating a fund” on the Charlie Rose Show yesterday, and he confirmed to peHUB that it’s going to be a venture capital fund.
Of course, Andreessen is already an active investor who has backed Facebook, Digg, Twitter, and many others; and he has been running an angel fund with former Opsware executive Ben Horowitz since 2007. Andreessen told Rose the venture fund will “preserve and extend” the angel model; investments will range from $200,000 to $1 million, with $500,000 as the “typical size.”
“What we’re seeing is a whole generation of startups that actually don’t need very much money to get started, so the cloud computing example, or a mobile application, an iPhone developer doesn’t need very much money to get started,” he said.
Categories: 1
DemoCamp19 – March 3, 2009 – Networking Tickets Available!
February 23, 2009 · Leave a Comment
The next DemoCamp, DemoCamp19, will be happening on March 3rd. If you missed your chance to get a 
ticket run to the site now as a new block of networking tickets are now available.
Categories: General NACO · NACO Events
Tagged: democamp, democamp19
AngelConf in Silicon Valley – “Learn about Angel investing from the experts”
February 23, 2009 · 1 Comment
On March 5 2009, from 1:30-3:30, a group of Silicon Valley’s most prominent Angel investors is hosting a free event to explain the secrets of Angel investing: how much you’re supposed to invest, what legal agreements you need, where to find startups to invest in, and how to pick winners.
To find out more and get an invitation if you happen to be in California that day, visit http://www.angelconf.com/
Categories: 5547802
links for 2009-02-22
February 23, 2009 · Leave a Comment
-
Reading the news that General Motors and Chrysler are now lining up for another $20 billion or so in government aid — on top of the billions they’ve already received or requested — leaves me with the sick feeling that we are subsidizing the losers and for only one reason: because they claim that their funerals would cost more than keeping them on life support. Sorry, friends, but this is not the American way. Bailing out the losers is not how we got rich as a country, and it is not how we’ll get out of this crisis. You want to spend $20 billion of taxpayer money creating jobs? Fine. Call up the top 20 venture capital firms in America, which are short of cash today because their partners — university endowments and pension funds — are tapped out, and make them this offer: The U.S. Treasury will give you each up to $1 billion to fund the best venture capital ideas that have come your way.
Categories: 1
OCE Mind to Market Session 16 – Turning Students on to Science
February 17, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Mind to Market Innovation Series - Ontario Centres of Excellence
Despite the growing importance of science, engineering and technology to Canada’s economy, statistics show that in Western countries, enrolment in post-secondary science and engineering programs continues to decline. Global research suggests that youth see these fields as important for society, but not for them. Join this panel discussion to explore the issues and opportunities to grow Ontario’s “talent pipeline,” starting from the early years through employment.
MODERATOR
Mark Chamberlain, CEO, Trivaris
PANEL MEMBERS
Dr. Robin Williams, Clinical Professor, Department of Pediatrics, McMaster University
Dr. Bonnie Schmidt, President, Let’s Talk Science
Dr. Allison Sekuler, Associate Vice-President and Dean (Graduate Studies), McMaster University
Paul Koenderman, Executive Vice President, Aecon Group Inc.; CEO, Aecon Industrial Group
Tuesday, March 3, 7:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
Hamilton Convention Centre, Webster Room 1 Summers Lane, Hamilton, ON L8P 4Y2
For more information about the Mind to Market Innovation Series, please visit http://m2m.oce-ontario.org, contact the event hotline by e-mail or at 416-861-1092 x1019 / 1-866-759-6014 x1019. Regular Registration $40, Table Registration (of 
$280, Student Registration $20
The OCE Mind to Market Innovation Series thanks our sponsors.
Categories: Angel Links · NACO Events
Tagged: Hamilton, Mind To Market, Ontario Centres of Excellence, Science education
links for 2009-02-16
February 17, 2009 · Leave a Comment
-
“All the investors I know, myself included, have pretty much lost half” their investable wealth since last September, said Lu Cordova, a well-known local angel investor who’s also CEO of Corlund Industries and chairman of the board of governors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. “A lot of investors who are in the $3 million to $5 million net wealth range, they’re out of the game. That’s a fair number of them. In Colorado, I’d say that’s maybe somewhere between 40 to 50 percent.”
The angels that remain active are gravitating toward distressed assets and real estate, particularly income-producing real estate, that’s perceived as cheap, Cordova said. That leaves many early-stage companies out in the cold.
Categories: 1
links for 2009-02-15
February 16, 2009 · Leave a Comment
-
SINGAPORE : SPRING Singapore is launching a S$30 million programme to help nurture innovative start-up companies.
The initiative, called the Incubator Development Programme, aims to help young firms gain better support and access to resources.
Categories: 1
links for 2009-02-13
February 14, 2009 · Leave a Comment
-
Venture capitalists have the Dragons' Den television series to thank for making their industry sexier than it has been since the dotcom bubble a decade ago.
But even his credentials as a former Dragon could not help Doug Richard, a well-known entrepreneur and angel investor, when he sought to raise money for Trutap, the mobile phone social networking company he co-founded.
"I have had to cut the company right back to the core and will probably sell it to a foreign group," Mr Richard told the Financial Times.
-
BUT. The golf course would pale after a while, how many rounds can you play in a week? And even the yacht starts to feel a bit cramped, despite the nice cocktail sundowner, and the sunset is the same every evening…
I am starting to yearn once more for that excitement that one of our medtech businesses might actually commercialise a new medical technology that could cure people of dangerous conditions, that clever bit of software that could revolutionise the way some industries improve their productivity, that smart electronics business that might deliver real energy and cost savings to the communications industry…
And angels might even be missed if they went on strike. We know we are very critical and hard to please, so only very few start-ups get funded even by angels, but secretly we hope that we are wanted, that you need us really!
-
Interest rates are very low at the moment. Savers are typically getting just two to three percent return on their deposits. At those rates, it makes sense for investors to seek a better return from other sources. On an anecdotal basis, what I have noticed is an increase in the amount of companies obtaining funds from angels but as loan finance rather than straightforward equity.
So, I think the paradox of low interests rates may be to make investing in companies via loan instruments more attractive. Certainly, I realize that investors still have an appetite for investing in companies, but they are now more concerned about managing their downside rather than only seeking an upside.
-
Cash rich "business angels", who invest in start-up companies with high growth potential, were undeterred by the deteriorating economic conditions, and the number of deals rose 18% compared with 2007.
-
OTTAWA, ONTARIO – Winners of the Canada's Top 10(TM) Competition (http://www.topcanadiancompanies.com) head to Boston and New York next week for a series of U.S. investor forums. The companies will take part in one-on-one meetings and formal presentations during their week-long tour which exposes Canada's leading life science, cleantech and technology companies to American venture capital investors, angels, licensing executives and potential strategic partners.
-
Entress then summarized what he sees as the top three trends in angel investing in the current climate:
—Valuations of companies are substantially down. “You’re seeing huge decreases, 80, 90 percent in some cases, and about 50 percent on average,” he says. That must be factored into any investing strategy.
—Angels are getting a chance to invest in deals that used to go to venture capitalists. “VCs have been focusing on triage,” Entress says. “Everyone’s worried about financing risk going forward. If you’re worried nobody’s going to fund a company down the road, you’re going to hold back.”
—Angels can acquire existing companies and websites at the right price. “There are opportunities for interesting strategic combinations,” Entress says. As recent examples, he points to his acquisition of Seattle startup Judy’s Book last year, as well as Pet Holdings’ pickup of Fail Blog.
-
NEW YORK, Jan 28, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Angelsoft.net, the software provider to over 450 Angel Groups and VCs world-wide, reported that the valuation for funded startups in Q4 2008 fell by 25% when compared to Q3 of the same year. From October through December groups reported investing in 128 deals with a median pre-money valuation of $3 million. That is a 25% drop from the median pre-money valuation of $3.9 million for the 123 deals that received investment from July through September. This represents the largest quarter-to-quarter drop in the 4 years that Angelsoft has been tracking company valuations through their software.
-
Investors looking for decent returns certainly won't bemoan their disappearance. Labour Sponsored Venture Capital Corporations (LSVCCs) have been dismal when it comes to generating returns for their investors.
Categories: 1
Australian Association of Angel Investors 2009 Conference
February 13, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Date: Wednesday 18 February to Friday 20 February 2009
Time: Begins 11:00 am Wednesday
Venue: Rydges Hotel Chelsea Ballroom, 9 Glenelg Street, Southbank, Brisbane
Cost: Member $685
Non-member $960 (Includes all sessions, workshops, conference lunches, cocktails and gala dinner)
Attend the Master Class workshops on angel investing, enjoy free admission to the CleanTech Investor Forum, hear from and speak with experienced angels from Australia, Europe, USA and Asia. Angel investing is for everyone who has the passion to participate.
Categories: Angel Links · NACO News
Innovacorp at the National Angel Summit
February 13, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Our thanks once again to Innovacorp of Nova Scotia, who sponsored our 8th Annual National Angel Summit in Halifax, helped us publicize it, and provided their President & CEO, Dan MacDonald, as a keynote speaker.
Innovacorp helps high potential early stage companies commercialize their technologies and succeed in the global marketplace, and we are happy to have worked with them on this ground-breaking event.
Categories: NACO Media Mentions
Tagged: Dan MacDonald, early stage companies, Halifax, InNOVAcorp, National Angel Summit, Nova Scotia
links for 2009-02-09
February 10, 2009 · Leave a Comment
-
Despite the bad economy it’s a good time to be an angel investor. So says the new head of the region’s largest angel group.
Randall Crowder, the new executive director of Central Texas Angel Network, knows as well as anyone that money is tight during the recession. But as venture capital firms keep busy with existing portfolio companies, making sure they have enough capital to see them through the economic downturn, it gives his team of money men the ability to go where VCs fear to tread: investing in early-stage, pre-revenue startup companies.
Categories: 1
Looking for an Angel Getaway?
February 6, 2009 · Leave a Comment
It is our pleasure to announce that Desert Angels, based in Tucson, Arizona, will be hosting the 2nd Annual ACA Southwest Regional Summit.
A quick blurb about the event:
The second annual ACA Southwest Regional Summit will be held in Tucson on March 22nd and 23rd. The focus will be on the current economic situation and its effect on angel investing. However, regional issues will also be discussed and social events will provide an opportunity for attendees to become better acquainted.
Additional details can be found at http://desertangels.org/
Categories: 5547802
Tagged: ACA, Southwest Regional Summit, Tucson
links for 2009-02-01
February 2, 2009 · Leave a Comment
-
"It reminds me of a great business lesson I learned many years ago. I was told by one of the partners at Ernst & Young that people only buy for one of three primary reasons…"
Categories: 1
