The Angel Capital Summit Blog

How does your assessment of the Management Team affect your risk profile of the investment?When you ask investors, whether they are venture capitalists or (good) angel investors, they will tell you that they invest in people.  In fact, they'll often say that they would prefer to invest in a good team before they will invest in a good idea, because the right team will eventually come upon the right idea, and the opposite is not true. 

Journalist calls out Sequoia and "stepford wives of Sand Hill road."A former FT journalist questions the wisdom of the widely-circulated RIP Good Times presentation by Sequoia Capital which was widely distributed in the days and weeks following the financial crash.Tom Foremski says:If the sky is falling today it likely isn't falling one or two years out, paradoxically these are good times.

Silicon Valley and Manhattan thought leaders with the courage to poke their heads out of the fox holes are suggesting that IPOs could return in early 2009.This piece in AlwaysOn (a good look at the insiders' network spanning hubs of power from Cambridge to Palo Alto) quotes IPO experts Lise Buyer (San Fracisco startup maven) and Jeff Matthews (Greenwich, CT hedge fund manager) on the doom and gloom lightening in early 2009.

Almost every business is impacted by the cost of oil; an understanding of these connections should shape every decision.If you don't already understand the concept of Peak Oil, drop everything and figure it out.  Now.  The future depends on it.  In fact, as we will hear in much more detail on Nov 21st, at the Angel Capital Summit, we're in an era of Peak Everything.  Concrete, steel, copper.  The hyper-wealthy are now buying gold mines, because they can't actually get their hands on very much gold. 

Cleantech, web 2.0, biotech sectors are poised to counteract national financial crisis.It has been an exciting few weeks, with many high-end networking events around sustainability, investing and clean tech.  While the global financial crisis remains in full swing, many investors, entrepreneurs and thought leaders are looking to the future and charting the course for the next phase in Colorado's economy.

Inventions That Will Shape Our Future(Psst!  Hey Buddy!  Got an idea?  Need one?)  FYI:  The Colorado Inventor Showcase happens on Nov. 10, 2008DATE:  Monday, November 10, 2007TIMES:  3:30 pm - 8:00 pm

(Howard puts on a GREAT event!!)Oct. 15th - The 3rd Annual Investment & Finance Cross-Networking Event

Here's a 2-step recovery program for the Colorado entrepreneurial community.It is said that in China, the word for crisis is weiji, and that it contains the characters for both danger (wei) and opportunity (ji).

The smart kids are coming to Denver!!“If you want to be informed, go to other conferences. If you want to be challenged, go to Defrag!”Robin, Headmix

Blacktie Colorado: Bringing together non-profits and the people that support them.I've been involved with Blacktie Colorado almost since its' inception.  (Disclosure:  I'm on the Blacktie board.)  It's my appreciation that Blacktie's almost unique on the Internet for what it does.  Operating in 8 markets - Cleveland, St.

The Oracle of Omaha knows a good buy when he sees it.Kipling's influential poem, If, starts thusly:If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you...and continues by offering the most inspiring verse for the challenging decisions we all must face:If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same;finally concluding with the promise:

Leaders will convene to build a strong regional economy for 2009 and beyond.Last week had me thinking about transcending (and including) the current financial crisis.  The inspiration for that piece was partially grounded in a column I had written for Colorado Biz magaine

NY Times article highlights city-by-city recession measures.In an article over the weekend, the New York Times reported that "most cities have officially entered a recession."  Here's the map:

Report from a panel Discussion at Demo Gala 2008I thoroughly enjoyed myself last Thursday at CSIA's DEMOgala, looking at all of the cool software companies and talking to company founders. Right after lunch I stopped by a sparsely attended session that was supposed to be a discussion on innovations in investing. It turned out to be quite different: three of the four panelists that were supposed to join David Cohen were replaced an angel and another investor.

Take a long look at this report, and learn many surprising facts from the SBA.The Small Business Administration (SBA) is as focused as anyone on the hard data and information around entrepreneurship and investing as anyone.  Their recently released study identifies a much bigger universe of investors that most people had thought, and confirms many important details that we "knew" intuitively, but could not support scientifically.