Angel Insights Blog

Dan Rosen, Alliance of Angels

Editor’s Note – Dan Rosen shares a note to Alliance of Angels members and his portfolio companies with his thoughts on the financial impact of COVID-19 on startups. 

By: Pat Gouhin, Chief Executive Officer

As the devastation of COVID-19 continues to leave small businesses and non-profit organizations in its wake, Senator Marco Rubio, Senator Collins, and the Rubio-Collins Small Business Recovery Plan task force have been working around the clock to develop a non-partisan package to protect organizations.  The goal of the bill is to empower current infrastructure at the Small Business Administration for the Keeping Workers Paid and Employed Act.  Senators Rubio and Collins are calling for banks and credit unions to scale up their processes to meet the extraordinary needs we are currently facing. 

By: Ham Lord, Chairman of Launchpad Venture Group and Co-Founder of Seraf-investor.com 

This post originally appeared on Seraf-investor.com

It’s amazing how the world economic situation changed seemingly overnight with Covid-19. One moment we were enjoying a healthy economy with a robust outlook on the future. Suddenly, a pandemic crisis sweeps over the globe creating uncertainty in all aspects of our lives. We’ve been through economic downturns before, yet this time it feels different. Being forced to live in a world of “social distancing” has changed people’s psychology because it has altered everything about our day-to-day world. 

By: Greg Mesack, Partner at GrayRobinson

The Angel Capital Association (ACA) is constantly advocating on behalf of its members in Washington, DC.  While ACA’s members are supporting startups and entrepreneurs, your association is working to ensure that the government does not create roadblocks to your mission. 

By: Pat LaPointe, Frontier Angels

Forward by Pat Gouhin, ACA CEO: We have created “Leaders in Action” so that we can share with you much of the thought leadership, conventional wisdom, and emerging trends that we are seeing within ACA.  Some of the posts will be unique to ACA activity and others will be more general in nature. We are headed for challenging times for everyone.  As I took a moment to reflect on the recent past and all that is going on around the world, I felt some level of comfort in being surround by a wonderful Board of Directors that is filled with vision, knowledge, experience, and the passion that will be needed to push us through the upcoming months.  My second thought was that much of that wisdom should not remain isolated in a boardroom conversation.  For that reason I have asked one of our many board sages for his permission to reprint a letter that was recently distributed to his portfolio companies.  A special thank you goes out to Pat LaPointe for permission to push out this letter…

By: Pat Gouhin, Chief Executive Officer

As we have continued to monitor the impact of Covid-19 on our Country, and in fact the World, and worked through our contingency plans for the ACA 2020 – The Summit of Angel Investing event, we have continuously reached out to our partners and local government officials to gather the most up to date information needed to guide us in our decision process regarding the Summit.  As we consider the health and safety of our Summit attendees, and given the meeting guidance we have received from local, State and Federal agencies, we have decided to postpone the ACA 2020 Summit meeting. The future configuration, format, and date are all under review. 

By: Pat Gouhin, Chief Executive Officer

In late 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission proposed amendments to the existing “Accredited Investor” definition to increase access to investment opportunities.  The additions include new categories to the definition that would allow for someone to qualify as an accredited investor based on professional certifications and designations, or other credentials issued by an accredited education institution.  The SEC is not proposing changing the thresholds for an accredited investor and those are expected to stay as is.  A 60-day public comment period was provided in which the Angel Capital Association submitted a response letter for further clarification and expansion of sections of the proposed updates. 

By: Pat Gouhin, Chief Executive Officer

The Angel Capital Association cares deeply about the health and well-being of our community. ACA understands the coronavirus outbreak is an evolving situation and we are aware of how the uncertainty affects your decision to participate in ACA and Angel Group activities. We are monitoring the coronavirus impact and following recommendations by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and local health organizations. We are empathetic to those already touched by the impact of coronavirus, as well as for all the other stakeholders that share the responsibility of demonstrating effective judgment and strong leadership during these tumultuous times. 

By: Pat Gouhin, Chief Executive Officer

We are still planning for a successful event in a little more than two months. You are part of the ACA family and your safety remains our highest priority.  We know our many members and partners have been excited about participating in this year’s ACA Summit, ACA 2020 - The Summit of Angel Investing, to be held May 12-14, in Denver, Colorado. 

By: Pat Gouhin, Chief Executive Officer

The Angel Capital Association along with the Association of University Research Parks, International Business Innovation Association, SSTI, University Economic Development Association, Association of Public & Land-grant Universities, Center for American Entrepreneurship, National Venture Capital Association and Technology Councils of North America recently pledged their support for the Regional Innovation Program (RIS; now Build-to-Scale) within the Department of Commerce.  The RI Program encourages and supports the development of regional innovation strategies by funding flexible awards with a 1:1 match. This program received funding of $33 million in Fiscal Year 2020.