Paul G. Silva

FEBRUARY 11, 2025

Breaking the “Impossible” at VVM When I was at Valley Venture Mentors, we set this BHAG: “In ten years, catalyze entrepreneurs to change the economy of Western Massachusetts by generating $1 billion in cumulative revenue and investment.” ” At the time, we were running a startup accelerator for 6 companies.

innovation 130

innovation accelerator angel investing entrepreneurship 130

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 29, 2012

Over the course of the lifetime of a new angel investor, they'll do 70% of all of the angel investments they'll ever make in year one. With a little patience, forethought, and strategy, you can avoid angel burnout. Here are just a few suggestions: 1) Advise first, invest later. 3) Start with funds.

peer-to-peer 309

peer-to-peer angel investing advice entrepreneurs 309

TechCrunch

JANUARY 13, 2022

Marjorie Radlo-Zandi is an entrepreneur, board member, mentor to startups and angel investor who shows early-stage businesses how to build and successfully scale their businesses. From my point of view as an angel investor and former entrepreneur, here are five essential factors I look for when considering my next investment.

angel investing 106

angel investing investing investment venture capital 106

TechCrunch

JANUARY 27, 2023

Chroma , a startup working to build a new type of audiovisual entertainment specifically for mobile devices, is now adding a Twitter co-founder to its board. The two hit it off and began to have monthly calls after Stone’s angel investment. The venture most notably incubated the blogging platform Medium.

board 110

board founder startup incubation 110

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

JUNE 10, 2019

I have worked in three venture capital firms over the last thirty-three years and am intimately familiar with the performance of the fifteen (ish) venture funds raised and invested by these three firms. And The Gotham Gal started angel investing around the same time, often writing the first check into startups.

angel investing 223

angel investing venture capital board investing 223

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 5, 2011

Advisors, investors and board members come in all shapes and sizes. I'm a strong believer in having a board, even at a seed stage, to report to and set strategy with. The most successful companies have strong boards and so as a good housekeeping practice, why not start acting like a great company as early as possible.

board 278

board advice consulting angel investing 278

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 16, 2015

I was working for the GM pension fund, an institutional LP, as an analyst, doing a research project on consumer private equity and venture capital investing. Jerry was a great guy and his love of retail investing kind of stuck with me. Leading an investment into an ice cream chain, however, that's another beast.

venture capital 362

venture capital ventures capital consumer retail 362

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 14, 2019

The Fantasy Cash Flow Model When I was an analyst at the General Motors pension fund, investing in VC funds, I had to build a model of how I thought they would perform. It started out with initial investment size, pricing, and outcome behavior for each deal and then it made a prediction around the distribution of outcomes.

ventures 257

ventures angel investing board advice 257

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 25, 2010

. “Yes&# was given to me by one of my favorite angel investor / seed VC’s to work with – John Greathouse of Rincon Venture Partners and author of the blog InfoChachkie that you should check out because it is filled with great info from a guy who has been a very successful operator. It is how angel rounds come together.&#.

strategy 293

strategy venture capital SaaS investing 293

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 19, 2009

You’re trying to get you contacts to get you that introduction to Ron Conway to sprinkle his legitimacy on your company through an angel investment. You want that key marketing resource from Google but he’s on a fat salary that you can’t match. All of these things are nearly impossible for most entrepreneurs.

entrepreneurs 288

entrepreneurs advice leadership angel investing 288

Angel Capital Association

OCTOBER 2, 2023

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 10/01/2023 10/01/2023 - The Angel Capital Association (ACA), the world’s largest association of angel investors, has announced that Columbus, Ohio will host its 2024 Summit of Angel Investing. Visit angelcapitalassociation.org. Contact: Director of Marketing, Dannielle Stewart.

angel investing 52

angel investing investment investing angel capital 52

StartupNation

SEPTEMBER 3, 2021

On today’s Business Beat, Jeff speaks with Marsha Dawood, chair of the Angel Capital Association Board of Directors, regarding the advantages of angel funding to finance and launch a business. Marsha, we believe at the Business Beat that angel funding is the most important type of funding for the earliest stages.

angel investing 70

angel investing investment investing mentorship 70

Angel Capital Association

MAY 6, 2021

By: Sarah Dickey, ACA Membership Director Boston-Area Angels Hambleton Lord and Christopher Mirabile Receive Hans Severiens Award for Individual Impact in Advancing the Field of Angel Investing. Ham and Christopher met in the busy Boston angel investing community where they both started and operated angel networks.

angel investing 45

angel investing investing investment peer-to-peer 45

This is going to be BIG.

APRIL 1, 2013

VCs, I believe that the purpose of venture investment is to serve entrepreneurs. Many of us, however, seem to regard investing as some kind of dodge or hustle. That is why some entrepreneurs have turned towards an alternative to getting investment from us. Many of us, fellow VCs, are a poor investors. Call it fate, call it luck.

angel investing 277

angel investing financing finance entrepreneurs 277

Angel Capital Association

MARCH 25, 2024

The ACA and angel investing community are thrilled to welcome Dr. Charu Ramanathan as a keynote speaker to the Summit of Angel Investing in Columbus, OH. Dr. Ramanathan is the Founding Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer of Black Star Fund , an early-stage venture capital fund.

angel investing 52

angel investing investment investing health 52

TechCrunch

JUNE 7, 2021

How to win consulting, board and deal roles with PE and VC funds. If you want outside capital, VCs will chase after you to invest. At my prior firm, ff Venture Capital, we invested in a company co-founded by Nate Jenkins , who had a successful exit, but not quite enough to buy a private plane. Contributor. Share on Twitter.

founder 126

founder consulting angel investing venture capital 126

Gust

NOVEMBER 29, 2011

Recently, entrepreneurs in many countries have been soliciting investment through “crowd funding” websites designed specifically for fundraising purposes. Those US residents who do not meet accredited standards have been precluded from investing in startup companies. This is a rather controversial change in the SEC regulations.

entrepreneurs 154

entrepreneurs angel investing venture capital investing 154

propel(x)

FEBRUARY 4, 2022

When angel investing in startups, it is important to know who the owners in the company are and what they own. For example, let us say a startup created 10m Authorized Shares and issued 8m of those shares, holding back 2m shares for future investment. You can find more information here on how to start angel investing.

investment 91

investment investing capital angel investing 91

Angel Capital Association

MAY 18, 2020

By: Sarah Dickey, ACA Membership Director Groundbreaking economist, author, investor, and entrepreneur is honored with the Angel Capital Association’s Hans Severiens Award While performing the research that culminated in her book, The Next Wave: Financing and Investing Strategies for Growth-Oriented Women Entrepreneurs , Alicia Robb, Ph.D.,

investing 76

investing investment angel investing peer-to-peer 76

Angel Capital Association

JUNE 22, 2020

By: Emily Angold, ACA Marketing Manager Three new board members were elected at the ACA Annual Members’ Meeting during ACA 2020 – The Summit of Angel Investing held virtually May 12-14, 2020. The Board of Directors is currently made up of 15 members and four Chairs Emeritus.

angel investing 40

angel investing board investment investing 40

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

It’s why my investment philosophy is called, “ the entrepreneur thesis.&#. The magic that is Silicon Valley is that every tech entrepreneur who has made a bit of money chooses to “recycle&# it by investing back into the startup community. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). I plowed it back into 9 deals.

communities 317

communities VC innovation entrepreneurs 317

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 15, 2010

We spoke about the changes to an “accredited investor&# proposed by Chris Dodd – This would be bad for angel investing. Following Microsoft’s addressable advertising trials with NBC in June 2009, many suspect that Google’s investment may have some defensive motivations, as well. We spoke briefly about why.

VC 285

VC financing finance capital 285

Gust

OCTOBER 17, 2011

Based on my experience, and the book “ Attracting Capital from Angels ” by Brian Hill and Dee Powers, here are some key clauses that any investors expect on the first term sheet for the investment you need: Set the price. The price is the percent of ownership given to the investor, calculated as “investment/post-money valuation.”

financing 158

financing finance board entrepreneurs 158

TechCrunch

MARCH 13, 2023

Marjorie Radlo-Zandi Contributor Share on Twitter Marjorie Radlo-Zandi is an entrepreneur, board member, mentor to startups and angel investor who shows early-stage businesses how to build and successfully scale their businesses. So since they have less money overall, their motivation to invest in risky assets takes a hit.

angel investing 96

angel investing investing investment sustainability 96

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 25, 2010

Not that they’re “such a bad idea&# but more that there are inherent problems for entrepreneurs in the process of raising angel money that need to be addressed. Most investors wait to see who else is investing. &# Social Proof&# weighs heavily on investors in making their decisions. But that’s what great angels do.

financing 286

financing finance advice VC 286

Angel Capital Association

NOVEMBER 30, 2023

We have all heard the importance of having one or more of our angel investments noted as a “home run” In terms of a return exit. Generally speaking we can define a home run for an angel investor as a company having a very successful return multiple at the time of their exit, generally with a return multiple of 10.0x

angel investing 52

angel investing investment investing networking 52

David Teten VC

MAY 19, 2017

Diversity in general: Investors of Color Network , Left Tackle Capital , National Association of Investment Companies , NewtoVC , Newton Venture Program , VC Include , Techfundingequity , Vencapital , Diversity.vc (UK focus). Spearhead – $1m to back your angel investing. Investment Banking Institute. Breakinto.VC.

VC 83

VC angel investing venture capital accelerator 83

Angel Capital Association

SEPTEMBER 5, 2023

We all know that investing in early-stage companies is a very risky proposition, and the majority of investments will either fail completely or fail to return the capital invested. Not withstanding the high overall failure rate, a sufficiently diversified portfolio of early-stage investments can yield attractive returns.

angel investing 52

angel investing investment investing health 52

Angel Capital Association

DECEMBER 14, 2023

This is the time of year when we reach out to our angel community seeking nominations for both the Angel Capital Association’s FY 2025 Board of Directors and committee volunteers to help ACA continue to grow and support our work on angel investing.

board 52

board angel investing economic growth economic development 52

Gust

MAY 24, 2012

By contrast, venture capital and angel investments normally take the form of Preferred Stock with rights and preferences set forth in the company’s Certificate of Incorporation and other governance documents. Options and warrants, when issued, are also typically exercisable for shares of Common Stock.

board 159

board incumbents angel investing investment 159

Berkonomics

MARCH 29, 2018

Ever take that advice without question because the person giving it was an investor, a superior in rank, the chairperson of your board? As one illustration among many I can recall, let me tell you the story of the first investment made by a newly organized formal group of angel investors. But I digress.

advice 97

advice real estate board angel investing 97

TechCrunch

JULY 6, 2021

However , some venture firms have taken this up a notch by bringing founders to create a fund and invest together. Since the firm’s first fund launched in 2017, MAGIC has invested in 70 companies at pre-seed and seed stages across these emerging markets. Each founder wanted to invest in other companies during YC’s Demo Day.

founder 130

founder angel investing pitching strategy 130

Angel Capital Association

JANUARY 13, 2022

In fact, ACA members and groups are the most significant source of support for entrepreneurs, investing more than 1 million pro bono hours and $650 million of after-tax financing to more than 3,000 high growth companies annually. 2021 was a year filled with more opportunities for angels to interact and learn.

opportunity 72

opportunity funders peer-to-peer angel investing 72

TechCrunch

JULY 26, 2021

Olumide Soyombo is one of the well-known active angel investors in Nigeria tech startups and Africa at large. Since he began angel investing in 2014, Soyombo has invested in 33 startups, including Stripe-owned Paystack , PiggyVest, and TeamApt. Non-traditional startup founder to an angel investor.

startup 109

startup angel investing real estate capital 109

Gust

NOVEMBER 11, 2011

But that’s not something the kinds of folks who do most angel investing understand. Worse, their concept — a community site that would also have e-commerce components – was still on the drawing board when the investor meetings occurred. One pitched investor whispered “don’t we have better things to do with our time?”).

angel investing 107

angel investing pitching communities board 107

Gust

NOVEMBER 2, 2011

We recently started a series of posts on establishing the pre-money valuation of pre-revenue startup companies for purposes of investment by seed and startup investors. Dave Berkus is a founding member of the Tech Coast Angels in Southern California, a lecturer and educator. He has invested in more than 70 startup ventures.

angel investing 79

angel investing venture capital education investing 79

Gust

NOVEMBER 22, 2011

Investments at this stage are typically called seed investments. Funding of $250,000-$1 million is available from angels, if you have credentials and have done the homework of a good business plan, financial model, and executive presentation. Angels may be less demanding, but typically add less value. Exit stage.

venture capital 171

venture capital investing investment capital 171