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Open Angel Forum Is Off To A Great Start
When I wrote my post titled An Angel Investor Group Move That Makes Me Vomit I expected to write my little rant and be done with it. A month or so later Jason Calacanis picked up the mantle and started a Jihad against the idea of angel groups charging entrepreneurs to pitch to them.
The result is the Open Angel Forum. I participated in the second event last week in Boulder. I thought it was spectacular and the twitter stream from #OAFCO reflected this sentiment. About 20 active (at least four investments in the past year) early stage investors (angels and seed stage VCs) attended. Six entrepreneurs presented their companies in short seven minute pitches. Five sponsors underwrote the food and drink at the event. There was plenty of networking before and after. That was it – small, intimate, and highly relevant to all.
Most of the presenters wrote blog posts about the event which will give you a great feel for what they experienced.
- Odojo – My Experience presenting at The Open Angel Forum
- FaceFile – Open Angel Forum Colorado
- Grogger – OAF: Things Getting Better for Entrepreneurs
- TeamSnap – TeamSnap presents at Open Angel Forum
- Kijubi – Kijubi @ Open Angel Forum in Boulder Colorado
The events continue with Open Angel Forum San Francisco on March 4th and Open Angel Forum New York City on April 8th. If you are an entrepreneur or an angel investor in either city, check them out.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Brad Feld, FaceFile. FaceFile said: RT @bfeld: Open Angel Forum Is Off To A Great Start http://goo.gl/fb/lwup [...]
Damn impressed!
Its one thing to whine about something (I did), but its a world of difference to go out and change it.
So what were the results of the event though (so far) ? I mean, how many of the presenting companies are now in talks/negotiations for actual funding? Did you personally take an interest in anything you saw? What are the next steps for the companies that presented at this?
(Disclosure: I'm probably going to apply for the event NYC to pitch/present my http://wow.ly concept/business)
the google ads in your post look like they are advertizing for the very thing you are trying to displace.
I've trained myself to skip right over most ads (regardless of where they are on a page)…but now that you point it out, it is pretty funny! One of the downsides to running keyword-based ads on a blog I think (they don't really take context , intent, or tone into account)
In LA, I think 4 of the 5 are now "done deals". In Boulder, I know that at least 3 of the 5 (that I've heard about) have new interest from investors they'd didn't know before OAF. I am looking at 1 or 2 closely myself.
Sounds like a great event.
Our local ACA group is based on a similar philosphy of trying to keep it simple and just provide regular opportunities for quality companies to meet qualified investors.
Unfortunately, it takes a lot of work to make something "simple" happen and balancing the often competing interests of making a living and doing service work can be tricky, so I can certainly empathize with the desire to try and combine the activities.
Thanks that is great to hear!
fyi you can block Google Ads from unwanted advertisers, in your Google AdSense control panel.
Yeah – I know. I'm just more amused by the silliness and persistence of some of the ads.
Props for people that do things.
Where I live, there are tons of conferences with people "discussing" (whining?) about why the government doesn't do this and doesn't do that to help startups. I wish I could get paid an honorarium to attend them, I'd make millions.
[...] platforms and read a few posts from the VC’s who put this Open Angel Forum on – which, also directed me to the blogs of the entrepreneurs who presented, which is what got me thinking to be a successful company in Boulder, especially as a Founder and [...]
It would be better for everyone if the entire OAF event(s) were posted on video so those of us who are a continent away can get some idea of the standard required to present and raise interest.
it's of course a great idea, but there are two issues. 1- it costs money and time to record this stuff at decent quality, and 2 – most startups don't want their pitch on video for everyone to look at (some don't mid and we could do those).
David, how's it going; good points.
Ann, there is a third, and much bigger problem with this – because of the Federal and State Laws relative to any (private, or public) securities offerings. I'm a Series 7/63/55 registered rep (in order to do prop tradign), so i learned about this while studying for the Federal and State securities tests.
The Federal Securities Act of 1933 has "rule 505" which pertains to private equity offerings (actually there is rule 506, and several others that pertain, too; plus relating laws pertinent in each state. It restricts solicitation of equity investments to accredited investors, and to a certain # of investors (35 max; varies by state). Since individual states have their own securities laws which further refine the federal regulations, some states are stricter at enforcement than others. But I don't think there's any state in the U.S. where you can "legally" have an open solicitation to the public, for equity investment.
According to the Federal Law, if you are responsible for an investment presentation in which results in non-accredited investors writing a check — then later on they decide it was a mistake, after it doesn't work out — then you (the party that facilitates the solicitation) are liable to re-imburse them for 200% of their original investment. The penalties in some states (e.g. California) are harsher. And some states enforce it more diligently than others.
Also, you cannot have promotional agents or "success fees" for private offerings; those will get you thrown in jail faster than a bank robbery. I have seen those suggested for Angel Groups. Just Google it, and you'll see that's REALLY asking for (quick) trouble.
Problem is, when an equity investment goes south, then some investors are bound to have their lawyer pursue whoever acted as the "broker" or "agent", and the lawyers come in and this stuff can (read: will) dig all this law up very quickly; then the specialists and the agencies come in. So you can see where if an Angel group video casted "a live deal" on the internet and people were writing checks from all over, where you'd put the group at risk from getting sacked not only by the Feds, but by 50 state securities commissions — AND god knows who else:(
I have recently interviewed a number of the top experts nationwide on this topic, and have attended organizational meetings for new Angel groups all over the West Coast, in the past year. This is always a big topic that has to be dealt with and written into the charter, to protect the members and the organizers.
If you want to talk to an expert about it, contact my friend Sue Preston of San Francisco. She's an attorney that has written two of the best books on Angel investing, and she is active in advising Angel groups on what to what out for.
Unfortunately, there has been a long history of criminal manipulation and exploitation with regards to securities offerings, which creates a massive legal overhang that impacts every modern-day startup making a private or public offering.
hth, -steve b.
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