Southeast Angel Investors Huddle Up

Bill Warner Sunday, March 30, 2008

I had the pleasure of attending a meeting of the Southeast members of the Angel Capital Association in Greensboro last week. We saw some very good start up company presenations and spent some time sharing war stories. More importantly was the clear interest in being able to more quickly and efficiently share investment opportunities amongst the member organizatons. Most angel organizations cannot provide all the financing that is needed for a start up company themselves. They often need to find other investors to share in the deal in order to come up with all of what is needed. This form of syndication is gaining interest and momentum not only in the Southeast, but across the country. There still is a lot to do to work out the details of how this works, but many angel organizations have already engaged others to make simultaneous investments in start ups.

This is good news for entrepreneurs, but a dual edged sword. When an entrepreneur presents to one of the angel organizations in the Southeast, most of the others will know about it very quickly. That means that entrepreneurs have to be well prepared to make their first presentation. The result is that, if it goes well, everyone will know it. If it goes badly, everyone will know it too. The message to entrepreneurs is, “be well prepared before you make your first presentation.”

We saw some very encouraging news about the outlook for angel investing for 2008. It looks like most angel organizations will be able to at least sustain their level of investing in 2007, despite the difficulties that are emerging in the economy. So it is still full speed ahead for entrepreneurs who need angel investors. Contact the Triangle Accredited Capital Forum for guidance.

Filed Under: Angel Investment



Bill Warner is the Managing Partner of Paladin and Associates, a business consulting firm in the Research Triangle Park area of central North Carolina, and is the Chairman of the Triangle Accredited Capital Forum, an angel investor network with over one hundred members throughout the southeast.

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