Brock Blake, CEO of FundingUniverse.com, teams up with his Co-host, Bill Payne.  Bill Payne is an expert when it comes to angel investing.  He is a member of the Tech Coast Angels, the Vegas Valley Angels, Aztec Angel Networks, and the Frontier Angel Fund.  He also serves as the entrepreneur-in-residence at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

In this series, Bill and Brock will provide some tips on how to successfully raise capital from friends and family.  There are some very important issues to take into consideration:

1. How to approach a friend or family member
2. Debt or equity investment?
3. Using a 2-page executive summary

 

 The Capital Food Chain: Raising Capital from Friends & Family: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Over the past month, I have had the pleasure of recording a series of podcasts with angel investor & industry expert Bill Payne. Our series (produced for FundingUniverse.com) will cover an array of topics on starting a new venture and obtaining the capital necessary to succeed. Currently, we are launching a new show on a weekly basis (usually every Monday).

Here are some of the topics that we have covered or will cover over the next few months:

• The Capital Food Chain: Self-Funding, Bootstrapping, Raising $ from Friends & Family, Debt vs. Equity, Raising $ from Angel Investors, Raising $ from VCs, Investment from Public Markets, Using business brokers & consultants to raise money, Using your attorney to Raise $
• Business Plans: Forms & Uses (Elevator Pitch, Executive Summary, PowerPoint Presentation, & Full Business Plan)

As you can see, we aren’t lacking in topics/content to cover. The above list is only the tip of the iceberg. We will also include interviews from successful entrepreneurs and angel investors. In the next few weeks, we’ll release an interview of Will West (CEO of Control4 — has raised over $250M from VCs in his lifetime) and John May (the Chairman of the Board for the Angel Capital Association).

What other topics would you like to see covered? Who else would you like to hear interviewed? Feel free to make suggestions and I’ll do my best to make it happen.

I just read an article on Inc.com entitled:  Women Outpace National Start-up Rate.  I couldn’t believe that the number of women-owned businesses is growing more than twice as quickly as the national start-up average –that’s awesome!  I wonder how many of those women are using FundingUniverse.com to find angel capital?

Personally, I know of quite a few women here in Utah that are either starting or creating successful early-stage ventures.  We’ve had quite a few women entrepreneurs present at one of our Speedpitching luncheons and they have all faired very well.  I’m excited to be a witness of the growing trend!

I just read an article in Business Week that I thought is very relevant to our entrepreneur network:  How to Score Funding Without VCs.  The reason that I like the article so much is because it completely relates with the podcast series that Bill Payne and I are producing on the Capital Food Chain.

When seeking early-stage financing, there are many creative ways to obtain capital.  Some of which might include:

1. Personal savings
2. Credit cards
3. Beg & borrow
4. Loans
5. Customers
6. Consulting

Keep up the hard work and sacrifice.  Isn’t life great as an entrepreneur?! 

Congratulations to each of the new ventures that pitched at Tuesday’s Speedpitching Luncheon. Here is a list of the presenters (in no particular order):

1. PowerCODE
2. Simplifile
3. 10Speed Media
4. Seatability
5. Sonic Retail
6. Central Logic
7. Phytobase Nutritionals
8. Women Celebrating Life
9. Pachira Institute
10. Wherever Media

We also had a good group of angel investors in attendance. The following investment groups were represented:

1. UTFC
2. vSpring Capital
3. Olympus Angels
4. Grow Utah Ventures
5. Utah Angels
6. Life Science Angels
7. University Venture Fund
8. Thorpe Capital
9. And many more solo angels…

Here are a few pictures of the event (wow… those pictures are small!):

Finally, thanks to our sponsors — without them, the event would not have happened!

1. Stoel Rives
2. Wilson Sonsoni Goodrich & Rosati
3. Diversified Insurance
4. SOS Technical Staffing
5. Express Personnel