Seriously, a fireside chat with Sir Mix-A-Lot! Seattle Startup Week is coming October 20th-24th. If you haven’t committed to attending at least one event, go check out the lineup and select one to attend. There is something for everyone, investors, entrepreneurs, developers, designers, you name it, there is an event next week of interest. There are seriously way to many awesome events to list for everyone, I am speaking at or attending a few, those include:
Monday – I am on a Startup Matchmaking panel
Tuesday – I am hosting a fireside chat with Susan Preston
Wednesday – Want to pitch some angel investors over beers?
Thursday – This talk with Andy Liu & Russell Benaroya looks awesome
Since the last email update, I’ve been heads down with the folks behind the Seattle Angel Conference series. We established a new volunteer run non-profit named Seattle Angel of which I’m now the President. The mission of Seattle Angel is to drive further angel activity within the Northwest. That includes better connections with existing angel groups as well as developing new ways for investors to get involved with investing in early stage companies. One of those new ways is the launch of the Seattle Angel Fund, this is an investor driven fund that is modeled after the Oregon Angel Fund and will be run by Susan Preston. There have been a lot of funds announced this year, if you are planning to raise I am happy to provide some insight on the different angel groups and funds that are available.
I’ve also been working to wrap up my book on angel investing. I have interviewed over 50 of the top angel investors and am including a portion of those interviews in my book. The first draft is complete and the edits are coming fast and furious. As a publishing date comes into sight, I’ll pass more details out here about how to get early access. If you’d like to be more involved or perhaps be interviewed, let me know!
One result of my work on the book has been a deeper focus on how investors can add early stage investments as an asset class to their portfolio. I’ve been working with a few wealth managers on this thinking and paying close attention to the changing definition of accredited investor. As I continue to refine it, you will hear more about this. If you have been trying to figure out how to add early stage investments to your portfolio, I’m happy to chat more.
Finally, a few big events that you should be aware of if you are thinking about raising capital for your early stage company or investing in early stage companies. Besides the events mentioned above for Startup Week and the regular monthly angel group meetings there are a few key events to attend:
- The 2014 Techstars Demo Day – November 6th at the Showbox SoDo. There is a start time for investors to attend the demo day and an after party that starts at 6PM. If you need more details, let me know.
- The 6th Seattle Angel Conference – November 12th @12:30PM at the Impact Hub Seattle. I have 10 discounted tickets if you are interested, please email me. I also have 1 free ticket for a hungry entrepreneur who wants to meet a few hundred angels
- The fall WTIA First Look Forum – November 18th @2PM at the Bellingham Golf & Country Club. Deadline to apply is October 18th, get your applications in now!
- The 9Mile Labs Milestone9 event – November 20th @2PM at the Washington State Convention Center. If you don’t have a ticket and need one, feel free to ask.