Leaders in Action

By: Sarah Dickey, ACA Membership Director

The programming team for ACA 2021 - The Summit of Angel Investing is full of experienced, respected angel investors and ecosystem providers, and they are hard at work creating a virtual experience that will change the way you think about angel investing. 

By: Bridget Weston, CEO of SCORE

If you are an entrepreneur building a small business, you know that it takes more than spreadsheets, financial projections, and a big marketing push to reach business success; it also takes passion, dedication, and attention to detail. 

By: Amy Duncan, Fund Manager - San Diego Angel Conference (SDAC) III

The number of accredited angel investors in the U.S. has held steady at around 300,000 for the last ten years. Based on the definition of an accredited angel of a net worth of $1 million or more, the potential number of angel investors could be up to four million. As angels are typically characterized as making individual investments between $25,000-500,000 in early-stage companies, it’s likely that many who are qualified have a lower risk appetite. 

By: Nick Zasowski, Director at Global Startup Studio Network

Startup studios are gaining steam across the angel investing landscape. With numbers like they are reporting, it’s easy to understand why. As the Global Startup Studio Network (GSSN) researched last year, the early signs of studio data are just the beginning for the growing expectations. Eighty-four percent of startups coming out of studios go on to raise a seed round. Of those startups that make it to the seed round, 72% advance from seed to Series A, compared to only 42% of traditional startups. 

By: Matt McMahon, Director – SEED (Small business Education and Entrepreneurial Development), National Institutes of Health

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is proud to be an Angel Capital Association Platinum Partner. NIH supports a dynamic portfolio of 1,500 cutting edge small businesses with over a billion dollars of non-dilutive investment every year. Angel investors can partner with NIH to help NIH-funded small businesses bring their products and services to the healthcare marketplace, where they can improve health and save lives. 

By: Emily Angold, ACA Marketing Manager

As an entrepreneur and seasoned angel investor, Bill Payne understands the critical importance of education to make well-informed decisions that determine the success or failure of a startup.

John Guy, Manager, Emerging Companies Section Policy at Biotechnology Innovation Organization

Five years ago today, the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act was signed into law. This important piece of legislation included several provisions helpful to start ups like small biotechs, including permanently extending both the R&D Credit and the Small Business Stock Gains Exclusion (Tax Code Section 1202), providing both investors and the companies they invest in security without worry of losing access to the critical incentive in the future. 

By: Elaine Bolle, RTP Capital Associates

Rob Neville is a serial entrepreneur, and his story is a powerful testimonial about the importance of angel funding. 

By: Dror Futter, Legal and Business Adviser to Startups, Venture Capital Firms and Technology Companies

The SEC announced a series of amendments (likely to be effective early next year) to the rules governing private offering exemptions – by far the most frequent path for venture fundraising.  The amendments retain the same “menu” of exemptions but make incremental improvements. For the early stage community, the amendments include a very useful provision that excludes “Demo Days” from being considered general solicitations provided certain conditions are met. 

Editor’s Note – This story originally appeared in the Idaho Business Review by Sharon Fisher and reposted with permission by the Angel Capital Association.

Kevin Learned is on his third career, and he’s not done yet.  To many Idaho companies, Kevin Learned isn’t just an icon, he’s ang angel.  That’s “angel” as in angel investing, where people invest money early in a new company’s career to help it get off the ground.  But that’s only what he’s done most recently.  While most of use are satisfied with a single career, Learned has had three. 

Subscribe