Angel Investment Network Blog

The Angel Resource Institute (ARI), Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and CB Insights today announced findings from the first Halo Report, a collaborative effort to raise awareness of early stage investment activities by angel investment groups.  The research series highlights angel investment activity and trends in North America and provides much sought after data that has not been previously available to entrepreneurs or early stage investors.

Halo Report Highlights:

• Angel groups are active throughout the U.S. in 2011
  • California leads in deals and dollars among individual states
  • 79% of angel group investments were in companies outside of California
  • 70% of total funding was invested outside of California
  • Median angel group rounds size grew to $700,000, an increase of 40% over 2010
  • 58% of angel group investments were in healthcare and internet companies
    • 60% of healthcare investments were in medical device and equipment companies
    • The most active angel groups were Tech Coast Angels, Band of Angels, Golden Seeds, Central Texas Angel Network and Launchpad Venture Group

    Angel investors, those who invest their own funds and expertise directly into startup companies, appear to be taking on an increasingly important role in driving entrepreneurship throughout the United States.  Their investments are in startups and young companies, which have been cited by the Kauffman Foundation as the key source of net new jobs in the country.  Nationwide, these angel group investments have opened up new opportunities for centers of innovation and entrepreneurship.  The Halo Report found that many deals are syndicated among investors.  As a result, companies needing larger investments have access to the additional capital they need to grow their businesses. read more

Click this link for the full interactive version: https://www.simplybusiness.co.uk/microsites/guide-to-social-media-success/

An elevator pitch is a short business plan used to quickly and simply define a business concept and the plan proposition. The “elevator pitch” reflects the notion that it should be possible to deliver the business plan to the potential investor in the time span of an elevator ride, or approximately thirty seconds to two minutes.

Source: https://www.template.org/?p=189

In November 2011, Wildfire conducted an ROI survey of over 700 marketers from all around the World. The results were compiled into an easy-to-digest infographic, found below.

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Source: https://www.emoneydaily.com/how-the-big-macs-stack-up-the-big-mac-index-infographic/69822627/

Warren Buffett is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is widely regarded as one of the most successful investors in the world. Often introduced as “legendary investor, Warren Buffett“, he is the primary shareholder, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.

This infographic done with Mint, looks at what his empire, Berkshire Hathaway, is built upon.

Source: https://www.sociableblog.com/2011/10/09/the-wealth-of-warren-buffett

These days everyone from marketers to designers, bloggers and video producers dream of “going viral.”  Everyone wants to be the next Charlie Bit My Finger or Old Spice guy.  But striking it viral can be difficult.  There’s no exact recipe or formula and going viral requires luck (and frequently money as well), but ProBlogger has done a little research and asserts that, even if you can’t guarantee virality, understanding the key components of what makes content go viral can help you ensure that your great content gets “the attention it deserves.” read more

Business loans, angel investors and venture capitalists — in many cases, these three entities are determining the success or failure of small businesses across the country.

This graphic takes a deep look at each source of capital, have uncovered how much money is going where, and identified common considerations, compromises and benefits of each. In the end, this gives a good visual look at the state of business financing in today’s economy.

Source: https://www.lendio.com/blog/visual-funding-infographic/ read more

As the head of Angel Investment Network, I’ve had the chance to speak with a lot of angels over the years.  When discussing their experiences, some things kept coming up again and again…

1) Not looking at enough deals

Make sure you look at as many investment opportunities as possible.  The more business plans you read, the more likely you are to find the one that pushes all the right buttons.  It also lets you  notice industry trends and see if any competitors and emerging.  Last year I read about 50 plans about wind turbines, who all claimed to be the best.  You quickly realize that there are so many new players fighting for market share that it would be a very difficult call to make in terms of making an investment. Professional venture capitalists expect to look at 100 companies for every investment they make, so you should join several angel groups to make sure you see as many deals as possible. read more

A picture from the white board at Ryan Spoon’s presentation on creating early stage pitch decks (primarily focused on the seed round).

Please take this for what it’s worth: just one investor’s opinion. As is true with everything – the best answer is “it depends”. It depends on your background, your company, your raise, and your audience.