It’s been a while since I’ve written about one of our Speedpitching events.  Last week, when we sent out an email announcing our upcoming event on June 4th (in Utah), we received an email response from one of our previous participants:

The first Speedpitch event that I participated in was wonderful - a terrific experience. The Speedpitch put our company in front of a lot of different types of angels, got us about a dozen follow-up meetings, as well as several term sheets. It was a great position to be it having to choose between competing funding offers - and I am sure that the Speedpitch event allowed us to be in that position. We have since raised close to $1 million through equity and licensing deals and we will be looking to grow to the next level very soon.

Can I tell you how much fun it is to get emails like that? 

I spent some time watching/listening to a panel of Silicon Valley Angel investors moderated by Guy Kawasaki.  The panel featured three rock-star bay area angels including:

1.  Andy Bechtolsheim:  Co-Founder and Chief Architect and Sr. VP, Network Systems, Sun Microsystems — Google’s first angel investor
2. Ron Conway:  Independent Angel Investor, former Founder & Managing Partner of Angel Investors LP — probably one of the most active angels I’ve heard of (he has invested in over 120 companies over the past couple years)
3. Dr. Ian Sobieski:  Managing Director, Band of Angels Fund

Here are a few highlights and tips from the video:

• Ron and Andy told the “Google Story” — how & when they first invested in Google.
• Non-intended “plug” for our Speedpitching events from each of the investors:  “within 5 minutes, I can know if I’m interested.”
• Why is an angel preferred to a VC?
• What is the primary motivation of angel investors?  Obviously each angel wants to make money, but beyond that, the angel likes to interact and work with entrepreneurs.  Entrepreneurs are the future.  They also want to be able to give back and be a part of something where they can lend help and expertise.
• Guy does a good job moderating and getting to the meat of the conversation:  how do you find deals?  What should the entrepreneur’s pitch look like?  (Keep it short:  1-4 page executive summary, no more than 20 page PPT, etc.)
• “Planning is essential.  Plans are useless.”  The process of writing a business plan is important for the internal success of the company… but the document that you submit to investors should be a very shortened version focused on management, market/financial opportunity, sustainable competitive advantages, and traction.

Highly recommended.  If you are an entrepreneur trying to raise investment capital, check it out!

I just got off the phone with another one of the entrepreneurs that has successfully raised investment capital through FundingUniverse and, let me tell you, there is nothing better!  It’s so much fun to hear their unique story and hear about their learning experience.

With this company in particular, they participated in one of our SpeedPitching events last summer.  They met a significant group of investors that were interested in their plan, and were even invited to pitch in front of one of the angel groups.  After their pitch (to the angel group), they realized that they were not ready to move forward with an investor and went back to their preparations.  After about 6 months of working on their company, financial projections, and business plan… they are now back on the “fundraising trail.”  They have already raised a significant chunk of their total amount and will be pitching again in front of the same angel group within a month (to finish the round).

Anyway… if you want to make my day, give me a call at FundingUniverse headquarters to tell me your success story!

FundingUniverse was fortunate enough to be able to participate in today’s Utah Angel Summit.  It ended up being a fantastic turnout with nearly 100 angels, vcs (and some service providers) in attendance.

Luis Villalobos, the founder of the world’s largest angel group (Tech Coast Angels), was the keynote speaker and he did an amazing job.  You can tell the Luis has been around the block and knows his stuff.

Here are a few things that stuck out in my mind:

• I was very impressed with his approach of “transforming” a company into a great deal.  He spoke about how 99% of the deals are not great deals when they first come to you… BUT, as an investor, you can transform good opportunities into great ventures.  The concept was refreshing because so many investors just automatically “pass” when they see the smallest concern in the deal.
• He mentioned a few signs of the type of CEO he looks for:
  • Impeccable Integrity:  It’s more than the normal “not going to lie, steal, etc.” integrity.  Luis is talking about the type of entrepreneur that identifies problems (early) and takes responsibility (as opposed to hiding problems, making excuses, shifting responsibility, etc.)
  •  Knows Business Model:  the CEO that knows exactly what the business has to do to be successful and focuses on them — and we’re talking about the nitty gritty key drivers/statistics.
  • Continually Measures:  Piggy-backing on the last concept… the CEO is continually tracking, analyzing, and adjusting the key metrics of the business.
  • Knows how to Connect the Dots:  The CEO just makes things happen.
  • Motivational:  The CEO can motivate his/her team.  Can recruit team members and communicate vision.
  • Focuses on Value to the Customer:  The CEO is more focused on delivering value to the customer (over revenue/profits) because they know that customer value = success.
• Luis knows angel investing inside and out.  He knows what to focus on.  He knows how to bring value to the company.  He has built a very successful and well-performing angel group.

Even though the event was for the angel investor, I always encourage entrepreneurs to attend those types of events.  To me, the more that you know about the investor’s motives and expectations… the better.

Thanks to Luis for a great event today!

At the 2007 Utah Technology Council Annual Members meeting on March 28, 2007, Brock Blake, CEO of Funding Universe, was recognized as the 2006 Emerging Executive of the Year.
Blake joined other distinguished 2006 Executives of the Year award recipients:

• CEO of the Year: Richard Nelson, Utah Technology Council
• Legislator of the Year: John Valentine, Utah Senate president
• Trustee of the Year: Alan E. Hall, chairman of Grow Utah Ventures
• HR Executive of the Year: Glade Nelson, North America head of HR for Novell.
• CTO of the Year: Ken Knapton of ContentWatch

“I am humbled and honored to join such an elite group of successful executives,” Blake said.

Blake emphasized that while he is honored to receive the award, the recognition does not solely belong to him.

“While my name is recognized, this award is really a tribute to the hard work and efforts of the entire FundingUniverse team,” Blake stated. “I sincerely believe that. Our team is amazing. I am grateful to be a part of such a dynamic and talented group.”For the rest of the article, click here.

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