New Resource for Entrepreneurs looking for Angel Investors

A new web site that was unveiled that will enable entrepreneurs looking for early stage investment to connect to angel investor networks online. For the first time, entrepreneurs are able to browse over 400 angel investment groups and early-stage venture capital funds at www.angelsoft.net, and apply for financing using a single common application. These investment groups, representing over 11,000 accredited investors, form the world's largest network of startup equity capital. This marks a historic milestone in the early-stage investment industry.
Indeed,it has often been very difficult for entrepreneurs to be even find angel investors. Now, using the industry's Group Finder website, entrepreneurs can easily find groups near them, view the groups' public profile, and apply directly to any of them using a common application.
"Balancing entrepreneurs' need for access with investors' need for privacy has always been a challenge," said David S. Rose, one of the leading angel investors in the United States and founder of Angelsoft, the company that operates the industry's shared platform.
Angel investors are high net-worth individuals who typically invest between $25,000 and $100,000 into early-stage companies. Over the past decade they have joined together into hundreds of regional and national groups. These groups, along with traditional venture funds, are the primary source of early-stage funding accounting for billions of investment dollars.
Each month over 2,000 entrepreneurs apply for funding through an Angelsoft-powered application. Over 400 angel groups and venture capital funds, and 11,000 investors, rely on Angelsoft as their exclusive means of deal flow intake and management.
SOURCE: Angelsoft LLC

LinkedIn scores $53 million in Venture Capital

LinkedIn Corp., which operates a social business networking site, said Wednesday that it has raised $53 million in a round of venture-capital financing. putting it in competition with the likes of Facebook and MySpace.The financing round values LinkedIn, which caters primarily to business and professional users, at about $1 billion.

The networking site had about 8.7 million users in April. This compares with 58.8 million unique visitors at MySpace and 22.5 million at Facebook. MySpace was acquired for $580 million in July 2005 by News Corp,publisher of The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires.

Late last year, Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) invested $246 million for a 1.6% stake in Facebook that implied a total value of about $15 billion for that company.

While its traffic is far below the two social-networking leaders, LinkedIn is seeing strong growth. April traffic was up more than 360% from the same period last year, compared with a 56% gain at Facebook and only 3% in gains at MySpace, according to Nielsen data.

Bain led the recent funding round, with participation from existing investors including Sequoia Capital, Greylock Partners, and Bessemer Venture Partners.

Is your business ready for a disaster such as pandemic flu?

How should a business plan for a disaster such as pandemic flu? An article published in the Washington Post last week pointed out that less than one-third of businesses have any type of plan. Former US Secretary of Health, Tommy Thompson points out why companies can't ignore this vital issue. I'm convinced, but as a small business owner, what resources are available to help start the planning process.? An informal poll: How many business owners out there would say they have a diasater plan ready and accessible??
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/01/AR2006050101608.html

Reasons Why Venture Capitalists DON'T Invest in Companies

Of course, there are many compelling reasons to invest in a company. But there are just as many reasons NOT to invest in a company. Sometimes it's the investment that you don't make that is the smartest decision. Doriot kept a list of reasons for not investing. Typically, ARD invested in just 1% of the companies that came through its office. After all, venture capitalists are quite the experts at Just Saying No to entrepreneurs.
Among the reasons not to invest:

No proprietary products or abilities.
Product not yet developed -- feasibility can not be determined.
Low profit -- highly valued at too many times earnings.
Lack of growth potential -- competitive nature of business.
Unfavorable reaction from potential clients or distributors.
Recent association of principals with competing company--- may imply a poor ethical situation.
Georges Doriot is known as the pioneer of Venture Capital. In 1946, Doriot became president of the first public venture capital firm: Boston-based American Research and Development Corporation (ARD). ARD financed and nurtured more than 100 start-ups, over a 25 year span. Several of these start-ups became successful companies brought advances in technology and business. ARD's biggest hit was minicomputer maker Digital Equipment Corp. ARD made an initial investment of $70,000,and 15 years later,it was worth more than $400 million.

Meebo and Ning among Web 2.0 startups awarded Venture Capital

What do startups Ning, Meebo and Slide have in common? They have all been awarded large sums of venture capital funding. Ning,is a platform for creating social networks and has raised $60 million at a $500 million valuation. In July, 2007, Ning raised $44 million USD in venture capital, led by Legg Mason. Ning is located in downtown Palo Alto, California. Slide which creates widgets has raised $50 million at a $550 million valuation. Meebo has now joined their that elite group of Web 2.o stratups.
Ning investor and co-founder Marc Andreessen has explained his company’s Series D round as a way “to make sure we have plenty of firepower to survive the oncoming nuclear winter.” You may recognise Marc Andreessen as one of the founders of Netscape.
Other bellwether social media startups including music discovery site Imeem, and widget factory RockYou, are also rumored to be on the fund-raising trail.

With M&A seemingly drying up, many Web 2.0 startups are scrambling for another round of venture capital money so they can survive — most won’t. In the last few months, VCs and other private equity players have become reluctant to pour more cash into all but the most wildly successful Web 2.0 companies.
Stay tuned to see which of these companies become wildly popular (and successful) and which evaporate to web purgatory.
ps visit our very own Ning group On Entrepreners http://www.opennetworkers.info/group/onEntrepreneurs

Why do start-ups fail??

If you've ever started your own business and bootstrapped it, then you can can probably related to this post.

Question: Why do most start-ups fail?

Answer:

5. The owner runs out of money

4. The owner's friends run out of money

3. The owner's spouse and children run out of money

2. The owner's employees run out of money

and the Number One reason why start-ups fail....

1. The owner runs out of family, friends and employees

Can you relate??? Hopefully, this gave you a reason to laugh out loud today.

Guy Kawaski to Speak at Entrepreneur Conference

I am looking forward to a conference I'll be attending tomorrow night, 4/9/08 for entrepreneurs and business leaders in Orlando. The keynote speaker will be Guy Kawaski, founder of Garage Technology Ventures . If you know Venture Capital, you know Guy Kawaski. Guy is author of Art of the Start.
Guy Kawasaki will be joined by local community leaders such as Jerry Ross, Director of the Disney Entrepreneur Center of course my team from Innovative Marketing Solutions. The event is sponsored by Network Solutions to help educate Orlando-based small business owners and entrepreneurs about what they need to know to succeed in today’s business environment.

During this two-hour networking event, Kawasaki will share advice and personal experiences about starting and growing a successful small business. Local entrepreneurs will have a chance to meet Kawasaki, ask questions and learn from his successes.