ACA Western Regional Angel Forum 2018

7:30

Conference Registration, Coffee, Continental Breakfast and Networking

8:30

Welcome 

Paul Voois - Tech Coast Angels
Sarah Dickey - Angel Capital Association

8:45

Angel Round Robin & Priority Discussion

Tailer the event to your interests as each attendee provides your critical questions for investing in 2018 and beyond.  

9:30

The American Angel Report

What makes an angel investor successful? That’s one of the many questions answered in The American Angel, a ground-breaking, in-depth study of 1,659 angels and how they invest. This brief introduction to this on-going data effort highlights the changing face of investors in the dynamic market.

Linda Smith – ACA Board Chair, Sierra Angels

9:45

Getting Deals Done: Building Your Network Targeted to Your Communty

Three leading angels from different locations and investment models around Western Region, provide insights on how they, and their community, collaborate to get deals done. This session will expose attendees to different angel investing approaches, deal terms, and meaningful discussion on successful of techniques to walk away from the session with actionable ideas for investment growth and engagement.

Facilitator: Silvia Mah - Hera Angels

Frontier Angels - Pat LaPointe
Rockies Venture Club - Kevin Morninstar
Tech Coast Angels - Dave Berkus

10:30

Networking Break

11:00

            How Angels Can Collaborate with Key Ecosystem Partners:
            VCs, Corporations, Universities, & Incubators

Key partners are critical at all stages of the investing cycle. This discussion focuses on the ways for angels to efficiently work with key eco-system partners including why they want to engage? What works best, and ways to avoid pitfalls.

Moderator: Richard Sudek, Tech Coast Angels, UCI Applied Innovation 

• Brad Corona - Vertical Venture Partners
• Stanton Rowe - Corporate Vice President, Advanced Technology and CSO Edwards Lifesciences
• Rory Moore – CEO & Co-Founder EvoNexus
• Bob Goff – Sierra Angels
• Mark A. Smith - Executive Director, Verizon Ventures

12:15

Networking Lunch:

The most requested session of the day: Connect with current and future co-investors in this angels-only space

1:15

Fireside Chat: Getting to the DNA of Success

Jeff Kearl – CEO Stance
Richard Sudek – Tech Coast Angels, The Cove

As an experienced entrepreneur including his current role as the CEO of Stance, angel investor, and VC, Jeff Kearl has been on all sides of the financing and company growth tables.  During this fireside chat, Richard Sudek and Jeff will focus in on his core experiences and important lessons learned concerning market disruption, brand differentiation, and positioning for the next wave of opportunities.

2:00

Understanding Capital Models; What Active Angels Need to Know

Ron Weissman - Band of Angels  

2:15

New Market Opportunities; Investing Ahead of the Curve

As an angel investor taking risks is part of the territory.  But what if we can get an edge to know which markets will be disrupted and which technologies will enable that disruption to take place?  Our speakers will focus on the best opportunities in technology including blockchain, semiconductors, AI, VR/AR, and IoT as well as those markets which are ripe for the next disruption such as Medicine, Connected Car, Autonomous Vehicles and automation.  At the end of the panel the attendees will understand not only the top areas will yield the highest potential return and why these are the best investable areas.

Moderator: David Friedman – Tech Coast Angels

• Raghu Bala – CEO Netobjex 
• Kurt Busch – CEO Syntiant 
• Kim Kovacs - OSEA Angels / Arroyo Ventures
• Hicham Semaan- Tech Coast Angels

3:00

Networking Break

3:30

Maintaining High-Energy Diligence Teams and Deal Enthusiasm

How can angels and groups maintain dynamic, high-energy due diligence teams capable of handling their steady streams of deal flow? While a significant amount of attention has been paid to due diligence best practices from a process and content perspective, less focus has been given to the equally important human side. There is a fine balance between performing thorough due diligence and keeping members interested, motivated and willing to “come back for more”.  Panelists discuss how their groups manage this balance and ideas for improvement.

Moderator: Kathie Priebe – Golden Seeds, Sierra Angels

Speakers:

• Diane Palme - Sand Hill Angels
• Pat LaPointe – Frontier Angels
• Paul Voois – Cove Fund/TCA Orange County

4:15

What is Next for Angels?

Facilitated conversation on the top of mind topics for attendees.  Angels will engage on 1-2 topic/problem within small groups and provide these insights to colleagues

Moderator:  Scott Hamilton (Executive Practices)

5:00

Networking Reception: 

Connect with your colleagues and the day’s discussions over drinks.