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Angel Investors
to Get Their Wings
during St. Louis Seminar
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National
and local experts will share latest strategies for angel investment
success.
By William Poe
Think of it as a multi-millionaire meeting. Or a capitalist conclave.
It is, in fact, an angel assembly, and you probably won’t be invited.
Don’t fret, though, because the results of this power powwow may
be very good for any St. Louisan with a thick business plan and
a thin wallet.
It’s all about high-yield, early stage angel investing, and the
all-day Power of Angel Investing seminar is coming to St. Louis
June 14. If you have a net worth of $1 million or more or an annual
income of $200,000 to $300,000 or more—and $250,000 or more to invest—reserve
your seat today. If you aren’t a member of that exclusive club,
well, there’s always the “ABC’s of Investing” seminar series at
St. Louis Community College.
The angel investing seminar offers a unique curriculum including
presentations, case studies and panel discussions on finding the
right angel investment opportunities, portfolio strategies, deal
sources, valuation, due diligence, structuring investments, post-investment
roles for angels and exit strategies.
“The purpose of the conference is to help the investors learn how
to refine their skills as angel investors, so they can make more
knowledgeable investments. We’re trying to make people comfortable
with this type of investing,” says Andy Hoyne, an Armstrong Teasdale
attorney who works with the St. Louis Angel Network.
The Angel Network was formed in 1999 to support St. Louis-based
early stage technology companies seeking investment funding from
investors. Hoyne says the upcoming seminar is one way the network
hopes to attract local investors beyond the 50 or so who are members
of the local network.
An “angel” is a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission-accredited
investor who provides private financing for emerging growth companies
that are typically too small to attract venture capital and too
large to rely on funding from family or friends. Angel investments
usually range from $250,000 to $2 million but may start at $50,000
and top out around $3-4 million. Most angels also provide their
business expertise and connections to the companies they fund.
Many angels also go out of their way to remain anonymous to the
general and business public and shy away from an organization such
as the Angel Network, Hoyne says. “The Power of Angel Investing”
seminar is a mechanism to share early-stage investing information
with potential area angels who wish to remain behind the scenes,
Hoyne adds.
Marcia Mellitz, president of the Center for Emerging Technologies,
which is a local conference sponsor, says the seminar is “part of
an effort to build an environment that supports entrepreneurism
and to give people a comfort level, so they understand the process
and to make them better investors.”
For Mellitz, whose organization assists start-up and early stage
technology companies, the seminar is seen as a potentially valuable
tool. “Angel money is the first money into the companies I’m dealing
with,” she says. “Without it, there’s no opportunity to attract
venture capital.”
RCGA Senior Vice President Steve Gilbert notes that St. Louis sponsors
hope the seminar will attract 25 angels who are, as yet, unknown
to the network. “There are people in St. Louis who may be angel
investors and who do not want to formally join a network. We want
to get them to be angel investors no matter how they choose to do
it,” Gilbert says.
The seminar is being presented by the Colorado Capital Alliance
(CCA), headquartered in Broomfield, Colo., and supported by the
Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership of Kansas City, and
was brought to St. Louis by the Technology Gateway Alliance and
RCGA.
CCA, a not-for-profit organization considered a national leader
in venture and seed capital development, selected St. Louis as a
site for a handful of workshops, says CCA President Marcia Schirmer,
in part because St. Louis offers “a triangle” of old money, new
money and budding entrepreneurial enterprises that can benefit from
angel investing.
The seminar, Schirmer says, is an opportunity for potential angels
“to join seasoned national and local angel investors, legal and
financial experts and private accredited investors in a protected
setting to network and share information and expertise.”
The attendee list, she adds, will remain private, and no entrepreneurs
seeking capital will be at the seminar.
Participants will receive workbooks and supplementary materials
including valuation models, due diligence information and a guide
to angel investing, Schirmer says. A featured speaker is Bill Payne,
a seasoned angel investor based in San Diego.
Seminar sponsors include the Kauffman Center, the Technology Gateway
Alliance, Andersen, the Center for Emerging Technologies, Nidus
Center for Scientific Enterprise, the RCGA and Washington University’s
John Olin School of Business.
The angel seminar, being held at Washington University, runs from
7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursday, June 14. Interested individuals
may contact the CCA at 303/404-8818 or visit the CCA web site at
www.angelcapital.org.
William V. Poe is principal of Poe Communications, a St. Louis advertising
and marketing communications firm. |
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