Archive for January 2015

By: Christopher Mirabile, ACA Board and Launchpad Venture Group

This post originally appeared on Inc.com

Most people are pretty confused about what crowdfunding is and is not. Here are the ten key concepts entrepreneurs and investors need to understand.

1. Product crowdfunding and equity crowdfunding are really different.

Most people still confuse them. Product crowdfunding is done on sites like Kickstarterand Indiegogo. It allows you to finance innovation directly, at the product level; contributors pre-purchase products or simply donate. Conversely, with equity crowdfunding investors take stock ownership in the company making the product, which is very different and quite a bit more complicated. Equity crowdfunding is not yet fully democratized for ordinary investors, but sites like AngelList and WeFunder allow larger (accredited) investors to do it.

By: Elizabeth Usovicz, General Manager of Transaction Commons, as part of a series she writes for ACA aimed at entrepreneurs, "Your Pitch is Just the Beginning."

Asked to explain his investment philosophy to a group of entrepreneurs, the founding partner of an investment fund put it this way: “There are only two things I care about: Can you make product, and can you sell product?”  If you’re the founder of a startup, you know first-hand that sales drive revenue, and revenue drives both investment and growth. How good are your sales skills?

All sales are the result of creating a connection with the buyer, and the best salespeople are adept at developing meaningful business relationships with their prospects. Here are some essentials to developing relationships like a sales pro.

As we say goodbye to 2014 and jump in to 2015, we would like to add our congratulations to all ACA members with recent growth, investments, and exit news!   Here are a few recent stories below:

Big Returns!

By: Christopher Mirabile, ACA Board and Launchpad Venture Group

This post originally appeared on ScratchPaper.

Competent entrepreneurs can explain their company in terms of what the product does. Good entrepreneurs can explain their company in terms of their customer and their market. Fundedentrepreneurs can pitch their company in terms that an investor can relate to.

For most entrepreneurs, it’s not easy or intuitive to put the investor version of the story together. They can talk a blue streak about the product, the customer, maybe the market. But they cannot pitch the business as a good investment in a way the investor can quickly grab onto.

Turns out, there is an easy formula that works nearly universally. The key to this formula is that it covers all the required subjects, but strings them together into a coherent and engaging narrative flow. Once you grok the formula, it all kind of clicks and you suddenly understand what it is you are trying to convey. From then on, it’s easy.

By: Marianne Hudson, ACA Executive Director

ACA is aimed at providing the best information and resources for our member angels and the startup community. As we begin what we hope is a fantastic year for investors and entrepreneurs alike, we share 32 of the best articles, blogs and books in our field from 2014 to help you build your own libraries.

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ACA Announces Keynote Speaker for Summit: Kwame Anku by Angel Capital Association  on  March 08