Exit Strategies for Angel Investors - presented to the Northwest Energy Angels in Seattle, September 11, 2009

Part 1 - Click here.

Exit Strategies for Angel Investors Video - Part 1:

• Organized angel investing is still quite new - only ten or twelve years old.
• Successful investing requires two things - buying right and exiting well.
• The big ‘new story’ is the large number of small and medium size exits.
• The ideal size for big companies to acquire is $10 to 30 million.
• Companies are being acquired earlier and earlier - often just 2 years from startup.

Part 2 - Click here.

Exit Strategies for Angel Investors Video - Part 2:

• Venture Capital in North America is in crisis - big funds aren’t working anymore.
• Traditional Venture Capital funds have grown too large for today’s exits.
• We now have a much better idea of the differences between traditional Venture Capitalists and Angel Investors.
• The most important differences relate to the exit - the minimum investment size, minimum return required and acceptable time to exit.
• If a VC follows on it will add about ten years to the exit.

Part 3 - Click here.

Exit Strategies for Angel Investors Video - Part 3:

• Fascinating new data from the bankrupt law firm Brobeck,
• Shows that "outcomes are inferior when angels and VCs co-invest".
• Angels alone are "as likely as the VC backed firms to have successful liquidity events".
• The optimum strategy is ‘Angels or VCs but not both’.
• Checklist to determine whether an individual company should be financed with Angels only or VCs.

Part 4 Q&A - Click here.

Exit Strategies for Angel Investors Video - Q&A - Part 4:

• Secondary markets - how can angels and entrepreneurs get liquidity prior to an M&A transaction?
• Question about whether entrepreneurs need Venture Capital investors for their relationships with the M&A buyers?
• Why do you keep saying ‘traditional’ Venture Capital - is there a new type of venture capital coming?

Part 5 Q&A - Click here.

Exit Strategies for Angel Investors Video - Q&A - Part 5:

• Venture Capital investors are always saying they add more value - is that true?
• When the IPO market returns will there be pressure to go back to the ‘old’ model?
• How is investing in tech different from investing in cleantech or life sciences?
• How are Canadian entrepreneurs and companies different from American ones?