Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. There are two ways to organize your angel network: member-led or manager-led. Member-led groups let the members source deals, lead the investments, and recruit the members. They hire staff members to handle the administrative tasks. Manager-led groups hire experienced professionals to perform key functions such as determining which startups to fund.  Managers also work on screening the deals so only the fundable ones go through to the members. They also prepare the founders so their documents and presentations are ready. They maintain communication with the startup throughout the process. They lead the diligence process and produce the diligence report.  Some angel groups partner with incubators, accelerators, universities, and other groups.   The partner provides meeting space and shares the operational cost of the group. Some partners provide administrative support. The choice of member-led versus manager-led often comes down to the availability of someone to take the role of the manager.  Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.Let’s go startup something today. ___________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at:   Check out our other podcasts here:   For Investors check out:   For Startups check out:   For eGuides check out:   For upcoming Events, check out   For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group   Please , share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of

Investor Connect Podcast

Startup Funding Espresso -- Choosing the Organizational Structure

On this episode of Investor Connect, Hall welcomes Allison Piper Kimball, Managing Partner at Wave 27 Ventures. Allison, MSPH, MBA is also the founder of the Blue Catalyst Group. Angel investing is Allison's third career, after first working as an environmental and occupational health consultant and then spending almost two decades as an executive in the retail electricity industry. Allison served in a variety of roles including as Chief Operating Officer of Texas electricity retailer StarTex Power before and through its sale and transition to Constellation Energy; and then as Chief Operating Officer at Spark Energy, a nationwide retail electricity and natural gas company which she helped take public in 2014. Throughout her career, Allison worked closely with multiple entrepreneurs at all stages of company growth and development, from start up to taking companies in their early years from start up to sale or IPO. Allison leverages this experience to mentor and invest in entrepreneurs and early-stage companies.  Allison is a member of the Houston Angel Network and serves on its board of directors, is an LP in Golden Section Ventures and The Artemis Fund, and serves on the board of Montucky Cold Snacks. Allison is active in regional startup, business model and pitch competitions, and mentoring entrepreneurs. Allison holds an MBA in Finance and Information Systems from Tulane University, a Master of Science in Public Health from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a Bachelor of Science from Clarkson University in New York. Allison shares what excites her now, advises startups and investors, discusses how she sees the angel industry evolving, and mentions some of the startups she has invested in. You can contact Allison via email at , and via LinkedIn at .  __________________________________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at:    Check out our other podcasts here:   For Investors check out:   For Startups check out:   For eGuides check out:   For upcoming Events, check out    For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group    Please , share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of .

Investor Connect - 631 - Allison Piper Kimball of Wave 27 Ventures

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Angel investing can be fun and financially rewarding to the investor as well as helpful to the startup. It can also be challenging. Here are some challenges to consider: Angel investing requires hands-on work with the startups not only in funding but also in supporting them after the investment. Angels often fill in the gaps left by the local incubators and accelerator programs in coaching them into a place where they can raise funding. First-time angels can find it time-consuming and expensive to learn the process. New market segments require the angel investor to continually learn new industries and business models.  There’s no collateral for the investment and it can all go to zero as it’s a risky investment class. One out of ten investments will be a home run.   Two or three will provide a small return on investment. And the rest will fail.  Angel investing can be a rewarding endeavor but it’s not without its challenges. Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.Let’s go startup something today. ___________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at:   Check out our other podcasts here: For Investors check out:   For Startups check out:   For eGuides check out:   For upcoming Events, check out   For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group   Please , share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of

Startup Funding Espresso -- Challenges in Angel Investing

This is Investor Perspectives. I’m the host of Investor Connect, Hall T Martin, where we connect startups and investors for funding. In our new Investor Perspectives series entitled “How to Solve the Real Estate Problem”, you’ll hear about growth in the real estate space. As the COVID pandemic passes, we emerge into a new world. The real estate space is now undergoing tremendous change as we shift to a new normal way of life. Work from home and the shift to working from anywhere is changing the real estate market. We have investors and startup founders describe the changes coming up. Our guests are: , Chief Investment Officer, , 01:17, CEO, ,  05:34, Founder, , 07:31, Founder and CEO, ,  10:16 We hope you enjoy the show. _______________________________For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at:   Check out our other podcasts here:   For Investors check out:   For Startups check out:   For eGuides check out:   For upcoming Events, check out   For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group   Please , share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of

Investor Perspectives – How to Solve the Real Estate Problem: Growth in the Real Estate Segment

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Should you start an angel network? Before launching an angel network, assess your community as follows: Do you have accredited investors interested in startup investing? Do you have any investors who will take the lead on diligence and investing for each deal? Do you have a champion who will organize and lead the angel group for the first 2-3 years? Do you have a flow of startups seeking funding that you can access? Is there a resource for incubating and educating those startups in the area? Are there local service providers such as attorneys, accountants, financial advisors, and others who can support the startups? Are there other investor groups that currently fund those deals in your community to support syndication? Is there access to follow-on funding for startups? Research your community to see what currently exists and what must be built. Check with the local entrepreneur groups to make this assessment and get their potential support for starting an angel group. Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.Let’s go startup something today. ___________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at:   Check out our other podcasts here:   For Investors check out:   For Startups check out:   For eGuides check out:   For upcoming Events, check out   For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group   Please , share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of

Startup Funding Espresso -- Should You Start an Angel Network?

In this episode, Hall welcomes John Zic, Partner and Founding Team Member at EQUIAM. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, EQUIAM is a non-traditional, systematic VC firm. They use deeply researched, proprietary, data-driven algorithms to make their investment decisions. EQUIAM focuses on finding great firms and capturing the high returns associated with these bets, but they are equally invested in bringing world-class portfolio engineering practices to the private markets, mitigating risk, and increasing long-term performance. This focus, along with their proven execution capability, allows them to offer their investors diversified portfolios of private firms designed to outperform in even the most challenging environments. EQUIAM is deal-structure agnostic, tapping both primary and secondary markets for private firms. They leverage a variety of private and publicly available data streams to create a book of signals that identifies private firms positioned for outperformance. Their visibility on both historical and live-price data, combined with their logic-driven models, allows them to identify and unlock the most attractive entry and exit points for their investors. John leads several functions at EQUIAM overseeing the investment execution process, driving investment model optimization efforts, and leading core strategic initiatives. Prior to EQUIAM, John was the 6th non-founder hire at Forge. While there, he facilitated $500 Million+ of private equity secondary transactions helping to grow company revenues 300% Y-o-Y. John executed hundreds of transactions across dozens of issuers, gaining best-in-class knowledge of private secondary transaction mechanics, issuer-specific idiosyncrasies, and general private equity market dynamics. In addition to market-related activities at Forge, John led multiple data-centric initiatives including the formulation and development of the Tech30 Index, a market-cap weighted index of the 30 largest VC-backed private companies in the U.S. based upon proprietary secondary-trading marks.  Prior to Forge, John spent several years in management consulting with a heavy focus on data science and big data analytics. John discusses how he sees the VC industry evolving, the biggest change he thinks we will see in the next 12 months, his investment thesis, and some of the companies he has invested in. You can visit EQUIAM at , and via LinkedIn at  .  You can contact John via email at , and via LinkedIn at .  __________________________________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at:    Check out our other podcasts here:   For Investors check out:   For Startups check out:   For eGuides check out:   For upcoming Events, check out    For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group    Please , share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of .

Investor Connect - 628 - John Zic of EQUIAM

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. A key part of angel investing is negotiating terms with the startup. It’s important to take time to negotiate good terms for the investors in your group. Key areas to focus your negotiations include the following: Valuation - this is the most important term as it determines equity ownership and is the primary determinant of returns. Option pools and who pays for them - the options pool is important to the growth of the company as it incentivizes the team. The investors could pay for a portion of it as part of the overall negotiation. Board composition - for most companies raising a Series A, the board consists of two investors: two from the company, and one as an independent. Vesting founders’ shares - requiring a portion of the founders’ shares to vest over time ensures there will be shares available to pay for a replacement if needed. Liquidation preference - it can compensate for what the investors consider too high a valuation. Minimum amount of funding required - it’s important for the team to raise enough to achieve a meaningful milestone before the next raise.  In addition to negotiating good terms, the process should maintain a good relationship with the startup. Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.Let’s go startup something today. ___________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at:   Check out our other podcasts here:   For Investors check out:   For Startups check out:   For eGuides check out:   For upcoming Events, check out   For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group   Please subscribe, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of

Startup Funding Espresso -- Negotiate Good Terms

In this episode, Hall welcomes Thomas Madden, CEO at TransMedia Group. Headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, TransMedia Group is a full-service public relations and marketing firm serving clients worldwide since 1981. TransMedia has conducted highly successful PR campaigns for many of the largest companies and organizations in the country, including for The City of New York for which it won a Bronze Anvil Award from the Public Relations Society of America. Other major clients over the years include giants AT&T, Rexall Sundown, and many startups across all fields. Tom is the quintessential “PR man.” Telling him to stop publicizing, inventing products like his Knife and Forklift™ that helps you to exercise while eating, and writing articles, blogs and books, are like telling the government to stop spending money—pointless. His popular blog is called MaddenMischief. Tom’s rise in the world of media was meteoric, evolving from news reporter at The Philadelphia Inquirer, to speechwriter for the CEOs of AT&T, Kellogg’s, and other companies. He became a highly ranked executive at NBC, serving as Vice President, Assistant to the President under then-CEO Fred Silverman, for whom Tom also wrote speeches when he was Director of PR at American Broadcasting Companies. When television wunderkind Silverman became CEO of NBC, Tom was the only ABC executive he took with him. Tom has won many awards and owns Madden Talent, a licensed talent agency representing actors, artists, and models. He lives in Boca Raton, Florida, with his wife Rita. He is the author of several best-selling books including Spin Man, King of the Condo, Is There Enough BRADY in TRUMP to Win the inSUPERable Bowl?, and his latest book, Love Boat 78, available on Amazon and recently nominated for 2020 Reader's Choice Awards. Tom shares what led him to start working in the public relations space. He advises entrepreneurs and discusses how he sees the industry evolving. You can visit TransMedia Group at , and via Twitter at  .  You can contact Tom via email at , via LinkedIn at , and via Twitter at   _____________________________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at:    Check out our other podcasts here:   For Investors check out:   For Startups check out:   For eGuides check out:   For upcoming Events, check out    For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group    Please subscribe, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of .

Investor Connect - 626 - Thomas Madden of TransMedia Group

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. After investing in a startup, it’s important for the angel investor to determine their role with the startup. There are several roles to consider: The investor can take an advisory board seat and provide coaching to the startup on an informal basis. The investor can take a board seat and help guide the founders through a formal board seat with regularly scheduled meetings and reports. The investor could forego the board seat, but stay in touch with the founders to provide support and advice. It’s important to define with the founders the information rights including what content and how often it should be delivered. The frequency of updates should match the needs of the company. When the company is in a steady-state mode, this is often quarterly. If the company is in crisis mode such as running out of cash, then this should move to weekly. Regardless of the state of the startup, the investor should check in at least once per quarter with a call to the founder. Finally, the investor should track the investment in their portfolio and maintain the most recent valuations and ownership levels. Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.Let’s go startup something today. ___________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at:   Check out our other podcasts here:   For Investors check out:   For Startups check out:   For eGuides check out:   For upcoming Events, check out   For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group   Please subscribe, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of

Startup Funding Espresso -- After the Investment

Hall T Martin interviews angel and venture capital investors on how they invest and talks with CEOs who discuss their sector and what to look for. Hall T Martin also leads the Startup Funding Espresso series in which you can learn about startup funding and investing in the time it takes to have an espresso. https://investorconnect.org/