SAC III due diligence
Tweet After the semifinals, our group of 33 investors was able to actually vote on the finalists. We announced the finalists over on the SAC blog. They included the following companies: Phytelligence Nimia Shift Labs Staging and Design Network Daily Dollar Guide Analytics The due diligence teams began their deep dive into these companies. I ended up on the Staging and Design Network team and through the many weeks of narrowing the 43 companies to these final six felt that I had friends and responsible investment colleagues performing due diligence on the other companies. This was a good feeling, even if it is only a $5,000 investment – I am not the type of person who is ok with throwing the investment away on a company that isn’t the best risk adjusted option of the group. Through the due … Read entire article »
Filed under: Entrepreneurship, Investing, Seattle, Startups, Technology
Ackman, PG, & Due Dilligence
Tweet An interesting take on one of the larger capital stocks, it seems all the hedgies are excited for large cap stocks these days. What I find interesting though as due diligence for the Seattle Angel Conference III is nearing completion is the amount of depth in Ackman’s presentation. I found a lot of the depth in the research here is not reflected in early stage investment. Although I have seen some early stage research that is 5x more in depth than this and likely too in depth…. A Rising Tide is a Good Gamble – Ira Sohn Conference 2013 Bill Ackman by ValueWalk.com … Read entire article »
Filed under: Investing
SAC III Semifinals
Tweet Due to some scheduling conflicts, we had to move to HUB Seattle’s space for the semifinals. The change of venue was refreshing having already spent 10-12 hours vetting companies at the Davis Wright Tremain offices with this group of investors. So far though, the actual interaction with the other investors was great. The group consists of male and female investors. Some in tech, some in real estate, some in the medical profession, some in the food industry, the list goes on. Meeting and beginning to build relationships with the other investors has been an important part of the process and one that I hope you get the chance to partake in for Seattle Angel Conference IV. The semifinals were great, the pitches were well polished, the attendance from the companies was … Read entire article »
Filed under: Entrepreneurship, Investing, Technology
SAC III Quarterfinals cut meeting
Tweet If you haven’t been following the series of posts, let me quickly recap. The Seattle Angel Conference has pulled 33 investors into a room over a few weeks to sift through 43 companies and ultimately pick 1 company to invest their combined $165,000. The first round the investors picked the top 30 companies they were collectively interested in, then each of those companies presented a 3min pitch in the quarterfinals. Of those 30 companies in the quarterfinals the investors need to narrow the group to 12 semifinalists, then 6 finalists to present at the actual conference on May 16th. I believe there are still tickets to the May 16th event. When the group of investors piled into the Davis Wright Tremain conference room for the quarterfinal cut meeting, the energy was pretty high. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Entrepreneurship, Investing, Technology
SAC III Quarterfinals
Tweet The quarterfinals were fast and furious, three minute pitches with two minutes of questions afterwards. With 12-13 companies pitching per night, there was a lot of information to process. Each new presenting company was pitching almost immediately after the last one and for the un-prepared investor it was a Jim Cramer lightening round dizzying even the most savvy trader. With the quality and excitement of the companies, the dizziness quickly wore off and all the investors began diving in with questions that went to the heart of the businesses being presented. The room was filled with incredibly intelligent people who have backgrounds in technology, business, the medical field, etc. and the questions that filled the two minutes almost always provided enough insight for the investors to understand where the company stood relative to the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Entrepreneurship, Investing, Technology
Seattle Angel Conference III
Tweet You may have noticed the slight increase in posts related to early stage investments and investing lessons from angels & VCs. This year, I am participating in the Seattle Angel Conference as an investor and have been learning a lot as I spend a few hours each week with 20+ other brilliant investors vetting companies. The experience is forcing me to put my thoughts about investment forward and explain to people how I view the world of investment opportunity vs. what others may see. It is highly stimulating and is most certainly making me a better investor of all types of assets. I have slowly been collecting my thoughts on the process itself and want to share those as well. The premise of the group is simple – a bunch of … Read entire article »
Filed under: Entrepreneurship, Investing, Startups, Technology
Investing lessons from Dave McClure
Tweet I was pleasantly surprised to see Jonathan Sposato channeling my investing lesson series in his new member-only series Startup Jedi. Great to see that people like to convey information this way and especially exciting that topics such as what the hell are startup investors looking for is interesting to more people than just me! I haven’t profiled Dave McClure yet, I have profiled some other interesting investors such as Howard Lindzon, Chris Sacca, Fred Wilson, Chris Devore, Jeff Clavier, and others on the way. I had previously avoided McClure as he comes across as such a loose cannon. At least the things that he appears to be investing in and the reasons he appears to be investing appear much more on par with a day trader than they do an investor. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Investing, Startups, stocks, Technology
Investing in lotteries
Tweet Investing is often difficult to discern from gambling, in fact many day trading strategies are based on the same principles of successful gambling. By successful gambling, I am referring to those gambling strategies that leverage the statistical odds built into the wager system to strategically pull out a profit and not the casual betting you and I may do at the school auction. I was recently at an angel investing conference here in Seattle. The conference was put on by the great TechStars Azure team and was focused on explaining the angel investing process. There were a variety of angel investors speaking from professionals like Geoff Entress, Chris Devore, and Andy Sack to angels who also have a day job like T.A. McCann and Christina Storm. During the talk, one comment struck me as … Read entire article »
