Angel Insights Blog

By: Kevin Learned and Denise Dunlap, Sage Growth Capital

You may have been hearing a lot of buzz recently around ‘alternative’ investment structures in private investing; this has been a particularly hot topic among angel investors. This blog post departs from our usual musings on how to efficiently and effectively use syndicates (aka SPVs or single purpose vehicles) to discuss our latest investment adventure: the launch of a revenue-based fund. 

By: Bill Payne, Frontier Angels

This article was originally written in May 2001 and has been updated multiple times.  Others have referred to this and similar methods as the Benchmark Method and the Bill Payne Method.  The Scorecard Valuation Methodology is useful for investment in most pre-seed and seed stage opportunities, except those with very high capital requirements prior to achieving first revenues (such as some life science and energy deals). 

By Marianne Hudson, Executive Director Emeritus

The Securities and Exchange Commission issued a concept paper seeking comments on “harmonizing” securities offering exemptions a few months ago.  These exemptions, like Regulation D, which investors rely on for more than half of all private offerings, set the rules for how securities can be bought and sold without extensive registrations. This SEC paper provided a truly unprecedented opportunity for organizations like ACA to suggest improvements to regulations that impact angels and the startup companies we support. 

By: Ham Lord, Chairman of Launchpad Venture Group and Co-Founder of Seraf-investor.com and Christopher Mirabile, ACA Chair Emeritus, Managing Director at Launchpad Venture Group and Co-Founder of Seraf-investor.com

Note: This article is the eleventh in an ongoing series on valuation and capitalization. To learn more about the financial mechanics of early stage investing, download this free eBook today Angel Investing by the Numbers: Valuation, Capitalization, Portfolio Construction and Startup Economics or purchase our books at Amazon.com.

As your angel career develops, and you start to build a larger portfolio of companies, you are increasingly asked to make follow-on investments. Not only do companies need investment to get off the ground, the faster they grow, the more cash they need. Whether to follow-on, and how to follow-on, are questions which have long given rise to angel debate. We’ll tackle that topic in depth here, but I’ll start out by confessing to bias right up front: Christopher and I are both believers that follow on investments are essential to achieving good returns. We firmly defend and negotiate for pro-rata rights to participate in future financings. Our overall perspective is that with your earlier checks you are basically buying options on a front row seat which comes with the right to add more “smart money” into the winners as they begin to show promise. 

By: Emily Angold, ACA Marketing Manager

The annual Innovation Showcase at the ACA Summit can be a crucial event for participating startup companies to make lasting connections that will ultimately lead to new opportunities.  Companies are nominated by organizations - ACA member angel groups, venture funds, accelerators, and universities government agencies or trade commissions - and selected to make a brief presentation to the entire ACA Summit audience.  Participating companies also spend two and a half days networking, connecting and learning more on how angel investors really think about opportunities across the board.  The “showcase” represents an incredible chance for these underwriters to showcase their best portfolio companies to the angel investors and startup ecosystem leaders at the Summit. 

By: Emily Angold, ACA Marketing Manager

Education is necessary for growth in any profession, but it is vital for angel investors.  Without the tools needed to make smart investments, starting as an angel investor is challenging to say the least.  ACA offers many courses to help angels succeed, including one of the most popular programs, Fundamentals of Angel Investing.  Fundamentals of Angel Investing was created for members to introduce new angels and accredited investors to angel investing basics so they can start smart and further their angel investment knowledge. 

By: Pat Gouhin, Chief Executive Officer

I just returned from another trip to Washington, DC where I teamed up with our tax coalition partners; National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) , Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) and Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed).  We conducted a series of congressional visits with key representatives from the tax writing Senate Committee on Finance and House Committee on Ways and Means. We also met with the Assistant to the President for Financial Policy on the National Economic Council.  This coalition, started by ACA over four years ago by Public Policy Chairman David Verrill, brings a consistent voice to US tax policy that impacts investors and entrepreneurs. It is managed by ACA’s consultants at GrayRobinson.

By: Linda Smith, ACA Chair Emeritus

As we approach the anniversary celebration of our nation’s birth, there is also much to celebrate about your professional organization, the Angel Capital Association (ACA).  It has been my privilege to serve as the Chairman of the ACA for the past two years. I have had the opportunity to work with many of you to enhance our association’s impact, stature and relevance to the innovation ecosystem, particularly the key role we play in capital access and job formation. Thank you for your support. 

By: Pat Gouhin, Chief Executive Officer

As part of the staff leadership transition, Marianne Hudson and I recently joined forces in Washington, DC with Chris McCannell and Greg Mesack of GrayRobinson, ACA’s government affairs consultants.  Chris and Greg orchestrated a series of visits with legislators on both sides of the aisle, senior agency executives and other key partners in pursuit of ACA’s 2019 Public Policy Plan.  Meeting objectives included introductions to key allies, as well as re-emphasizing plan priorities which included: 

By: Ham Lord, Chairman of Launchpad Venture Group and Co-Founder of Seraf-investor.com and Christopher Mirabile, ACA Chair Emeritus, Managing Director at Launchpad Venture Group and Co-Founder of Seraf-investor.com

Note: This article is the eleventh in an ongoing series for angels new to investing. To learn more about building an angel portfolio, download this free eBook today - Angel 101: A Primer for Angel Investors or purchase our books at Amazon.com.

In the first two parts of this series on angel exits, we examined four different types of successful exits and four different types of failed exits. With our final article in the series we will address a few miscellaneous topics that are important for angel investors to understand as they build a diversified portfolio. And, for another take on angel exits, please read our article on an introduction to angels and exits.