357_ What are Angel Investors Looking for in Return? (Part 1 of 2)
Mark Weakley , Partner, Holme Roberts & Owen, Boulder has helped a number of entrepreneurs raise angel funding...the right way, and that's the key. If the company is going to go on a rapid or an accelerated growth path, it will likely need some amount of institutional financing. Angel investing can get you on that trajectory, allow you to hire employees, develop your business model, finalize prototypes, and establish that what you are doing has validation in the marketplace. And then be in a better position to seek venture financing money. Another reason is a trend over the last 4 or 5 years where the venture funds are doing a lot less early stage investing. So you’re seeing the Angel Investors filling in that gap. Mark also talks with Larry about the 4 things angels are looking for and business plan strategies. LISTEN Part 1 of 2

360_  Angel Investors, Term Sheets, Valuation and Control
A good target audience, vetting system, for your business plan or executive summary would be your corporate or business or finance lawyer. Because if they are not getting it after the first two sentences, it’s likely the angel investor isn’t going to do any better points out Mark Weakley , Partner, Holme Roberts & Owen, Boulder as he addressed questions about getting healthy financing from angel investors. Mark brought up some poignant thoughts about term sheets and evaluation. Valuation is often looked at by the entrepreneur only in terms of ‘how much of the company am I going to have to give up?’ They’re not thinking about the return that the angle wants to have. The entrepreneur is thinking if my valuation of the company is $4 mil and I have to raise $2 mil, then I have to give up ½ of the company. There you see the entrepreneur’s interest is control, management, other issues; and they’re not really thinking ‘What makes sense for the angel?’ LISTEN Part 2 of 2

Related Links:  Holme Roberts & Owen || It's the Law Interviews || CTEK Angels || Rockies Venture Club || Keywords:  Mark Weakley, Holme Roberts & Owen, HRO, Angel Investors, Entrepreneurs, Business Plan, Venture Capital >>Bytes: 5623957> LISTEN 8/13/07

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362_ Heidi Roizen : Living in the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
Heidi Roizen has spent her entire life in the entrepreneurial ecosystem of Silicon Valley, first as an entrepreneur and ultimately as a venture capitalist helping other entrepreneurs build the great companies of tomorrow. She is currently a Managing Director of Mobius Venture Capital, a venture fund with over $2 billion under management. Lucy Sanders, CEO and Founder of the National Center for Women & Information Technology and NCWIT board member, Lee Kennedy with Larry Nelson, co-founder of w3w3.com explore the 'legend behind the lady entrepreneur'. They got some great advice for all who want to build a substantial company. Heidi's father continues to be influential in her thoughts and actions. Heidi's definition of common sense networking is an understanding of what to give in return and to ask for help when it is appropriate. Her long-time friendship with Bill and Melinda Gates is very inspiring and explains why she considers passion, tenacity and learning new things key to building the future. A day before this interview, Heidi funded a new company...there will be news here.

Related Links:  Mobius Venture Capital || NCWIT Heroes || NCWIT Blog || CO Coalition for Gender and IT || NCWIT Practice|| NCWIT Channel || Keywords: Heidi Roizen, Mobius Venture Capital, Lucy Sanders, Lee Kennedy, Entrepreneurs, National Center for Women & Information Technology, NCWIT Heroes >Bytes: 16585563> LISTEN 8/20/07

274 Big Companies Offer Little Companies an Exit Strategy
Listen, take action and cash in on an opportunity that has been around for decades. Russ Farmer, Executive Director of SBIR Colorado has helped many new startup innovative companies get grant funding from the federal government. More and more large companies are looking for ways to reduce their internal high-risk research in favor of buying companies that have technology that is ready to go. It really makes sense and is a win/win for Big & Small companies.
Related Links: Looking for Money || PBC, Inc. || ADA Tech || PodCast Directory || Keywords: SBIR, STTR, Russ Farmer, PBC Inc, Innovation, Federal Grants, Large Companies, High-Risk Research > Bytes 594770 LISTEN 3/12/07

397_Making Business Sense with Diverse Diversity
What does diversity mean? Terry Morreale, Senior Engineer, Applied Trust and producer of the Women in IT Channel explored that question with Susan Kunz, CEO and Co-Founder of Solidware Technologies. In addition to how 'diversity' is traditionally defined such as differences in gender, ethnicity, nationality, Sue and Terry went outside of the box and looked at other areas and discussed the business benefits of really being diverse. Sue points out that, "It comes in lots of flavors. Socio-economic background, age, family placement (I love having interns as well as folks who have been in their careers for a long time). This brings a great balance of new ideas, energy, and experience to a team. Char, Co-founder of Solidware is Afro-American but her real diversity has to do with family placement; as oldest of 12, Char can manage anything, experience base, gender, education, and style. And how about team dynamics? "Diverse teams tend to be much more creative and innovative than those who think alike. Sometimes they can be more challenging to manage, but I'll take this challenge before striving for uniformity." Then they talked about the growing IT shortage.  LISTEN

Related Links:  Solidware || Women in IT Channel || Applied Trust Engineering || Wikipedia || Keywords: Susan Kunz, Terry Morreale, Diversity, Solidware Technologies, Applied Trust, IT > Bytes: 14895963> 10/22/07 LISTEN