Economy

By: Emily Angold, ACA Marketing Manager

What would it be like if start up success wasn’t so hard to predict? What if you could leverage a research-based, long-term study to help you assess a company’s potential? Even better, what if you had a turnkey, proven way to set early stage entrepreneurs up for success as they go beyond founding a business and start building their business? 

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

Remember all those articles about whether venture was overvalued?  With blinding speed, they now seem quaint.

Bluntly stated, most venture-backed companies are in a fight for survival.  Although certain areas of life sciences may do somewhat better, I think the impact will be widely felt.  Complicating the fight is the fact that no one can predict how long it will last and what the immediate post-Corona economy will look like. 

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: Marianne Hudson, ACA Executive Director

ACA and angel investors celebrated victory this week at our nation’s capital as the bill to solve the “99 Investor Problem” passed the House of Representatives on Tuesday, May 22.  The resolution to the 99 investor problem is part of S.2155, the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, which focuses on reducing the regulatory burden on community banks by rolling back Dodd-Frank regulations.  Included in the bill is a provision to raise the cap on the number of investors in angel funds and syndicates from 99 investors to 250 in funds of $10 million or less.  This piece of legislation passed with 258 votes, 33 Democrats voting in favor, so somewhat bipartisan.  The bill was signed by the President on Thursday, May 24, making it law (probably pending rule-making).

By: Marianne Hudson, ACA Executive Director

Recently two articles caught my attention for calling attention to the importance of startups to national economies, with one particularly pointing out how key angel investors are.  Both writings point to how startups create jobs and innovations to our economy and they are the kinds of articles that Members of Congress and other policy makers read.  (That helps ACA make progress on Capitol Hill, trust me!)

Below are both articles with some excerpts so you get the general idea.  Check out the full articles too.

By Maria Contreras-Sweet, SBA Administrator

What creates two out of three net new American jobs; produces close to half of our nation’s goods and services (nonfarm private GDP); and can be found, coast to coast, in every small town, big city and rural enclave?

The 28 million small businesses that propel our economy forward and define our national entrepreneurial spirit.

To be American is to have the freedom to innovate, take risks, create, transform and put in the hard work that has led to the successes – and failures – that define human progress. From May 1-6, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) will recognize and honor the critical and  life altering contributions of America’s moms and pops, manufacturing enterprises, Main Street retailers and entrepreneurs during National Small Business Week.

By: Marianne Hudson, ACA Executive Director

The Angel Capital Association has appreciated the work of leading academics on assessing the impact of angel investors on promising entrepreneurs.  A recent blog by Laurent Blasie in the March Digest of the National Bureau of Economic Research does a particularly good job of summarizing the study:

This post originally appeared on Forbes.com

Editor’s Note:  ACA’s annual Fall workshop, now called the Angel Insights Exchange, will be in New Orleans on November 9-10.  We picked New Orleans not only for its iconic activities and food, but because it has a growing entrepreneurial vibrance.  Here’s a taste of the city’s growth in the form of the NO/LA Angel Network.

Despite the devastation Hurricane Katrina caused 10 years ago, the huge disaster that hit New Orleans brought a silver lining. With a giant microscope on the area, young people were drawn to New Orleans and the surrounding region to help.

In the years immediately following Katrina, young people turned out in droves. They came to volunteer, to rebuild and to educate children, but then something interesting happened. Many liked the area and stayed. Their friends came too. Over time all these new NO/LA (New Orleans/ Louisiana) residents perpetuated an explosion of entrepreneurial activity—something the area desperately needed.

By: Ken Kousky, BlueWater Angels and Krista Tuomi, American University

A number of public policy activities and initiatives that occur in American states are just as important to angel investors as federal-level issues.  The key state issues include tax credits for angel investments, matching co-investments by the state, grants and incentives to angel networks and even state-run venture and angel funds.  Knowing what works remains a critical challenge at both the state and national level requiring that we organize and support our interests in both arenas.

Our last blog post analyzed some international matching grants, highlighting in particular the well-designed New Zealand and Israeli programs. This blog examines four types of public offerings in the US. 

By: Ken Kousky, BlueWater Angels and Krista Tuomi, American University

The Angel Capital Association has played an important role in shaping the most vital public policy issues that affect angel investment practices ranging from the implementation of the JOBS Act to the definition and verification of accredited investors. While meetings with the SEC and Members of Congress have been vital for ACA members, political actions at the state level are just as important.

The key state issues include tax credits for angel investments, matching co-investments by the state, grants and incentives to angel networks and even state-run venture and angel funds.  Knowing what works remains a critical challenge at both the state and national level requiring that we organize and support our interests in both arenas.

Subscribe

ACA On the Road by Angel Capital Association  on  March 11
ACA Announces Keynote Speaker for Summit: Kwame Anku by Angel Capital Association  on  March 08