Angel Insights Blog

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

This post originally appeared on Seraf-investor.com

Note: This article is part of an ongoing series on Board Directors. To learn more about their roles and responsibilities, download this free eBook today Director's Guidebook: How to be an Effective Board Director in Early Stage Companies or purchase our books at Amazon.com.

How can a small group of people, who get together 4 to 12 times a year, have such a big impact on the future success of an early stage company? Ham and I will consider this series of articles a great success if we answer this question in a way that helps you build great boards for the companies you are involved with. We believe we can convince you of the incredible value a board delivers for a startup company, so let’s get started.

By Graeme Thickins, ACA PR Team

Following on from Part 1 of our recap on the 2017 ACA Summit in San Francisco, we have more great insights to pass along from the event. The following is a summary of notes gathered by members of another angel group that attended the event.

Summit Insights from Victoria Barnard and Aviva Ajmera, Women’s Capital Connection

By Graeme Thickins, ACA PR Team

More than 650 angel investors came together for a very full three days of learning and networking at the 2017 ACA Summit in San Francisco April 26-28. Attendees represented 42 American states, 5 Canadian provinces, 18 countries, and more than 36% were women – a new record for the annual ACA event. It would take a book to fully recap the entire event, but here are some notes and quotes that will give you a taste of what transpired.

By: Marianne Hudson, ACA Executive Director

It was with great enthusiasm that the Angel Capital Association honored Catherine Mott with the prestigious Hans Severiens Award at last week’s 2017 ACA Summit.  The Hans Severiens Award is presented annually to recognize one individual’s work in advancing the field of angel investing. Catherine is a great representative of the spirit of the award, with impacts ranging from developing and educating angel best practices to regulatory policy work to advocating for startups and helping expand the diversity of the angel investing community.

By: Linda McMahon, SBA Administrator

Once upon a time….

It’s the classic opening to our favorite fairy tales. As children we dream of magic potions and knights in shining armor that will provide our happily ever after. How were we to know that our own hard work, skill and determination could be far more effective?

By Solomon Brenner, ACA Member (Keiretsu Forum Mid-Atlantic).  This post is adapted from an original post on Startup2Angel.

Whether the patent process is worthwhile and beneficial depends on the inventor, the opportunity and the timing. Deciding to go through with the process can be intimidating, costly and time-consuming. That’s why I decided to call Danielle Williams, an attorney at Winston & Strawn who has handled dozens of patent cases.

Some of the benefits of patenting an innovation include:

Anna deTiege, ACA Membership Consultant

The Angel Capital Association is pleased to announce the three finalists for the 2017 Luis Villalobos Award, a national award recognizing ingenuity, creativity, and innovation among startups: DesignMedix, Magnetic Insight, and Peloton Technology. These were among many companies nominated by ACA’s membership of angel investors.

The three finalist companies will be honored and the winner announced April 27 at the 2017 ACA Summit in San Francisco. The award is named in memory of Luis Villalobos, whom angel investors admired nationwide for his active investing and mentoring truly innovative companies.

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

This post originally appeared on Seraf-investor.com

This article is the first in an ongoing series on Due Diligence. To learn more about performing due diligence quickly and effectively, download this free eBook today Stones Unturned: An Investor's Guide to Due Diligence in Early Stage Companies or purchase our books at Amazon.com.

Some investors will tell you after spending 60 minutes with an entrepreneur they know in their gut whether to make an investment. They rely on their instincts and sometimes their ability to “pattern match” with successful opportunities and entrepreneurs they worked with in their past.

By: Marianne Hudson, ACA Executive Director

Every day, ACA members ask us for ideas on how they can improve everything from deal flow to impact to liquidity.  Other members have fantastic ideas and experience in solving those same issues.

So let’s say you are part of an angel group that has lost some of its mojo and you’re losing out on the very best entrepreneurs because of newer players in your startup ecosystem.  These investors have innovative ways to fund companies and have deep connections into the leading entrepreneurs, innovators and follow-on investors.  What do you need to do to be innovative and not only bring a fresh take to your entrepreneurial community, but also regularly help great startups grow with these investors?

By: Marianne Hudson, ACA Executive Director

Need compelling reasons to come to the 2017 ACA Summit?  Here are eleven reasons you need to travel to San Francisco on April 26-28.  Sure, ACA will share some of the content from the event with members afterwards, but there are many things you can only get by actually being there:

• The vibe.  ACA members are loud – in a very good way.  They love to share real stories and best practices that make a difference in your returns.  The sound of voices at an ACA Summit reception is truly unique and well, loud.