The Angel Next Door

In this episode of The Angel Next Door, Marcia talks with Kim Banham, a partner at Connetic Ventures. Kim and Connetic Ventures have brought a new look to VC firms by using Wendal, an AI platform that allows one to make data-driven decisions that remove all bias from investing. Kim starts off by telling us how she joined Connetic 7 years ago, with a love for funding early stage companies that could not get traditional bank loans, specifically companies building disrupting technology and platforms. The team at Connetic Ventures, based in Covington, KY, realized that they needed to build a technology to change the way VC and funding was occurring and allow them to make smarter, unbiased decisions to be successful in early-stage investments. Now every company that applies for funding through Connetic first goes through Wendal, which they call their ‘junior analyst’. Kim explains how Wendal works, asking every founder the same questions, eliminating any bias of age, race, or gender, and giving each company a star rating to allow the application process to move quickly. Connetic is able to respond to applicants within 7 business days and invest in as little as 2-3 business days after the first call with the founder. To date, they have invested in about 100 companies with 64% of the founders being female or a minority, which is about 10 times higher than the industry norm, without that metric being a specific goal of the firm.  Kim goes on to explain how they use a personality assessment through Wendal called TeamPrint, which tells them how each founder and leadership team member is wired. The platform is able to provide feedback on the potential of how successful the company could be, again without bias. Every founder that applies for funding (about 4500 so far) is provided this feedback so they can make more informed decisions on who to hire, what leadership gaps need to be filled, and in which roles each member of their team would be best suited for the company’s success.  Kim encourages all founders of early-stage companies to apply, reiterating that every company receives the data and feedback from Wendal, despite whether they receive funding.  Finally, Marcia and Kim discuss the importance of time for early-stage companies, as founders often spend a great amount of time fundraising when they should be growing the business. Connetic Ventures and Wendal are working to minimize the time spent on fundraising, eliminating any bias from that process, and allowing access to capital for all founders. Tune in for some great insight on how new technology is changing the way entrepreneurs can receive capital, while providing real data to help them be more successful!Click Here to read Marcia's profile on LinkedInClick here to read Kim Banham's profile on LinkedInClick here to learn more about Connetic VenturesClick here to find out more about the Angel Capital AssociationTake courses to learn how to be an angel investor at Angel University - click here for info!Want to reach the Angel Capital Association? CLICK HEREHave ideas for the show?  Email us at theacaangelnextdoorpodcast@gmail.com

This week on The Angel Next Door, Marcia sits down with fellow angel investor Dawn Batts. After years of experience in investment and pension fund management, Dawn noticed a trend of money moving away from traditional assets such as stocks and bonds and into private equity investments. This change brought her to the world of angel investing and eventually to her co-founding Detroit based angel group Commune Angels.  Dawn starts off by discussing her background and how she discovered the world of angel investing. At the beginning of her journey, she invested in several companies at the ‘friends and family’ stage. After receiving a call from a friend about starting an angel group, Dawn and a few others came together to form Commune Angels with the idea of creating a new type of angel group. Dawn explains how she and the other co-founders were very intentional and diligent in deciding the structure and image of Commune Angels prior to launching in August 2020. The founders looked to create a safe and inclusive environment that focused on members’ experience as well as financials. They thought lower membership fees and lower investment minimums would allow more access to diversification for their members, but they also made sure to be founder friendly.  Marcia and Dawn go on to discuss the importance of education in investing. While Commune Angels has 4 internal education sessions a year, Dawn promotes education outside of the group, primarily through cohorts. In 2021, she led a cohort backed by 1863 Ventures to find emerging investors and curate an experience to introduce them to angel investing and engage in the ecosystem in different ways. Dawn explains how cohort education allows people to build connections and start to build a network that can help build future success and bring more investment opportunities.  Finally, Dawn touches on the Catalyst Angel Program in the Great Lakes region, which she works with to help emerging Black, Latinx and/or female investors learn more about investing and build networks of connections, many through cohort education. She also gives a couple examples of companies that the Commune Angels group has invested in so far. This episode provides some great insight on how the angel investing world can adapt to allow more opportunities for more investors and how education is a crucial part of that change.Click Here to read Marcia's profile on LinkedInClick here to read Dawn Batt's profile on LinkedInLearn more about Commune AngelsClick here to read more about the Catalyst Angel ProgramCheck out AJA LabsLearn more about EspervitaClick here to find out more about the Angel Capital AssociationTake courses to learn how to be an angel investor at Angel University - click here for info!Want to reach the Angel Capital Association? CLICK HEREHave ideas for the show?  Email us at theacaangelnextdoorpodcast@gmail.com

In this quick episode of The Angel Next Door, Marcia talks about today’s accredited investor definition, how that definition limits who can invest, and how change can get more capital into the hands of underrepresented founders. She reviews the current requirements to be an accredited investor which is mainly based on wealth and income and how the Angel Capital Association plays a role in bringing awareness of the impact of changes to the definition to our legislators.  Recently, the House Financial Services committee held a hearing on “Sophistication or Discrimination? How the Accredited Investor Definition Unfairly Limits Investment Access for the Non-Wealthy and the Need for Reform.” Marcia details how Eli Velasquez, fellow ACA board member and previous guest on the podcast, testified at the hearing, telling his experiences in the investing world. Eli discusses how he had built an impressive 20+ year resume that provided him the opportunities to evaluate thousands of investment deals, but not participate in the deals because he was not an accredited investor. He witnessed a young inexperienced investor leverage his family trust fund to become accredited and make deals, despite himself being only $20,000 from the income threshold to become accredited and having a wealth of experience.  Eli explains in his testimony that he missed out on a generation’s worth of opportunities because of the definition of an accredited investor, before he was finally able to write his first check in 2020. Marcia goes on to provide examples of changes that could be made to expand the definition of the accredited investor. These changes could lead to positive impacts on who can invest and, with that, which founders receive the capital they need to grow their businesses. Listen in for a truly impactful story. Click Here to read Marcia's profile on LinkedInClick here to read about and watch the Financial Services hearingClick here to read Eli Velasquez's profile on LinkedIn  Click here to find out more about the Angel Capital AssociationTake courses to learn how to be an angel investor at Angel University - click here for info!Want to reach the Angel Capital Association? CLICK HEREHave ideas for the show?  Email us at theacaangelnextdoorpodcast@gmail.com

For this week’s episode, Marcia returns to discuss impact investing and Donor Advised Funds (DAFs) with guest Jenny Lane. Jenny has a background in equity crowdfunding and nonprofit fundraising with a passion for community development, and now, as the CEO of the Ohio Impact Fund, she is working on putting DAF dollars to work investing in early-stage companies.  Jenny starts off by telling listeners how she became aware of private investing about 5 years ago. She worked for a company that built the first equity crowdfunding campaign before there were platforms like StartEngine to make it easier. She tells us how she did a lot of work for breweries and restaurants and touches on how those types of businesses perform well with equity crowdfunding.  Although working in equity crowdfunding allowed Jenny to have an impact on who received funding, she wanted to have an even bigger say and be able to uplift underrepresented founders and business models. She explains how she was introduced to someone who runs multiple impact funds and how DAFs can be used to provide capital to startups and generate returns that can be used for charitable purposes or future investments.  Jenny now runs the Ohio Impact Fund, with a focus on putting capital into startups that solve social, economic or environmental issues through their product or service. The fund has already invested about $1 million in 10 different companies, and provides us with a few examples of companies they have invested in.  Marcia and Jenny go on to discuss more about how investments into startups through the money in DAFs can be used to elevate for-profit companies while also making the world a better place. Jenny tells listeners because there are no laws stating how or when DAFs need to give out money, many funds continue to grow as the donated dollars sit dormant. Ohio’s 6 largest cities have over $1.7 billion sitting in community foundation DAFs. Jenny is working hard to connect national organizations that know how to move this capital legally and safely to the managers of the large foundations/DAFs.  Marcia and Jenny end the episode by touching on how Ohio is looking to help startups grow through programs like SSBCI (State Small Business Credit Initiative) and JobsOhio, and how the driving force is collaboration over competition. This episode is packed with great information on how DAFs can help both private startups and community development through charitable returns. Listen in to learn more!Click Here to read Marcia's profile on LinkedInClick here to read Jenny Lane's profile on LinkedInClick here to learn more about the Ohio Impact FundClick here to learn more about SSBCIClick here to learn more about JobsOhioClick here to find out more about the Angel Capital AssociationTake courses to learn how to be an angel investor at Angel University - click here for info!Want to reach the Angel Capital Association? CLICK HEREHave ideas for the show?  Email us at theacaangelnextdoorpodcast@gmail.com

On this episode of The Angel Next Door, Marcia introduces listeners to Alisha Griffey, the founder of Daintree Capital. After spending years as an operations leader in the startup world, Alisha grew frustrated with the traditional funding process. She noticed that very few companies run by women or people of color receive the funding they need. That’s when, about 3 years ago, Alisha moved to the investor side of the equation to see if she could do something to address that problem.  Marcia and Alisha start off this episode discussing why Alisha decided to become an investor and start Daintree Capital. Alisha then tells our listeners how she noticed several problems that affected what types of founders receive investments and how many different business models were often overlooked by traditional investors.  Daintree and its female leadership team focuses on investing in underrepresented founders to address these issues. Alisha tells us how Daintree uses working capital loans as an investment instrument because it allows them to help a more diverse set of business models. Many companies only need a relatively small investment for things like inventory funding, opening new locations, or advertising, but traditional investors tend to overlook these investments. Daintree Capital has provided 58 loans to date with a 0% default rate.  Marcia and Alisha go on to discuss Donor Advised Funds (DAF) and how these funds can be used for investing in these often overlooked companies through providing loans. Alisha tells us how she learned how DAFs can be used to invest in early stage companies before they enter the raising capital death trap and how she launched 2 charitable DAFs, including an impact fund that serves as a balance sheet to make loans to underrepresented founders. Alisha also tells our listeners how the funds sitting in DAFs cannot generate personal returns to the donors but can be put to use as loans through impact funds, generating interest that can then be put back into the DAF, donated to a 501(c)3 non profit, or used as future loans.  Finally, Alisha explains that over $150 billion is sitting in DAFs and that these funds can be used to make loans to help both private companies in need of capital and nonprofit organizations at the same time. Daintree Capital is working to use this method to help underrepresented founders get the funding they need to grow. Listen in for some fantastic insight on an uncommon method of investments!Click Here to read Marcia's profile on LinkedInClick here to read Alisha Griffey's profile on LinkedInClick here to learn more about Daintree Capital  Click here to find out more about the Angel Capital AssociationTake courses to learn how to be an angel investor at Angel University - click here for info!Want to reach the Angel Capital Association? CLICK HEREHave ideas for the show?  Email us at theacaangelnextdoorpodcast@gmail.com

On this week’s episode of The Angel Next Door, listeners get a taste of what it takes to build a brand and raise capital as Marcia sits down with angel investor-turned-entrepreneur Jake Whitman. After a successful career with Procter & Gamble and working for SoFi in the SF Bay Area, Jake decided to head to Cincinnati with the objective of buying a company. There he joined Queen City Angels as an angel investor but then decided to enter the entrepreneurial world and start Really Good Boxed Wine.  Jake is a wine enthusiast and after trying a few different disappointing boxed wines with his wife, he knew there was an opportunity to make a splash in the industry and create a truly premium boxed wine experience, which provides a 50% reduction in carbon footprint versus bottled wine. He contacted a woman he knew that owned a vineyard and started to build a brand and a plan. Jake explains how he recognized early on that raising capital would be a necessary step to build the brand he wanted. He was able to raise $310k through a friends and family round and spent a year testing and developing the brand and product to prepare for subsequent rounds.  Jake describes how he was very intentional in testing small before launching nationwide. The first launch was local to the Cincinnati area with the product selling out in 5 days, leading to a wider launch that sold out in 4 days throughout about 23 states. Jake explains how this allowed them to know if the business would be successful while generating real data to continue to build the brand. After sending out surveys and receiving feedback, Jake realized they needed to completely rebrand prior to launching nationwide in order to provide the premium experience he aimed for.Marcia and Jake go on to discuss how during the next seed round, Jake approached fundraising with a hybrid plan of gaining investments from both accredited investors and equity crowdfunding. Launching a campaign through SeedInvest, Jake was very calculated in using a structured and scheduled plan and approached crowdfunding with a marketing campaign mindset.  He chronicles how they selected which platform to use, how long the campaign would last, and how they used a specific calendar of announcements and communications to capitalize on investor interest. They implemented an early investor perk for those that invested prior to the halfway point of the campaign and distributed a discount code to interested investors so they could try the product prior to investing (also increasing sales of the product).  Listen in, as Marcia and Jake give listeners a ton of great insight into a story of an idea turning into a successful company, and what had to happen to get there. Click Here to read Marcia's profile on LinkedInClick here to read Jake Whitman's profile on LinkedInClick here to check out Really Good Boxed Wine (Use Promo code ANGEL, for 15% off your first order)  Click here to learn more about Queen City AngelsClick here to see 4 bottles of wine vs. a box of Really Good Boxed WineClick here to find out more about the Angel Capital AssociationTake courses to learn how to be an angel investor at Angel University - click here for info!Want to reach the Angel Capital Association? CLICK HEREHave ideas for the show?  Email us at theacaangelnextdoorpodcast@gmail.com

On this week’s episode, Marcia Dawood dives into the real data behind outcomes and exits with John Harbison. In addition to being an ACA Board Member with Marcia, John is a member and Chairman Emeritus of Tech Coast Angels, one of the largest angel investment groups in the country, where he has invested in 60 companies.  John tells us how he started out launching startups for security tech company Raytheon, bringing 2 companies to liquidity events within a year and a third to $800 million in revenue in 7-8 years. He describes how he took that experience to angel investing and joined TCA in 2003.  TCA was formed in 1997 and has invested over $260 million into over 500 companies. John discusses how the over 400 members of TCA bring a wide array of expertise to investments, how crucial having that expertise is to helping startups grow, and how collective learning is monumental in making successful investment decisions.  John and Marcia discuss the data John analyzes as part of the ACA data analytics committee and how real data will show investors how to make smarter investments that gain higher returns. ACA publishes a yearly Angel Funders Report and monthly Angel Insight Publications that show measurable data on investments made by many angel groups throughout the country, including TCA. With this data, investors can now make more educated decisions on investments through factually tested hypotheses rather than opinion.  They also look at what the data says about the best time to invest in a company, the difference between investing through convertible notes versus priced equity, and how important early growth and valuation increases during investment rounds are to an early investor’s return. John gives listeners some examples of his own investments and how they were affected by these significant factors.  John and Marcia close the episode with some discussion on TCA’s largest exit, exiting with a 360x return, and how patience plays a large role in the success of an investment, with TCA’s largest exit taking 15 years.  This episode is packed with great information backed by real data that can help any investor make smarter decisions. After listening to the episode, check out the links to find out more information. Click Here to read Marcia's profile on LinkedInClick Here to read John Harbison' profile on LinkedInClick here to learn more about Tech Coast AngelsClick here to read the Angel Funders ReportClick here to learn more about the Angel Insight PublicationsClick here to sign up for Angel Insight Monthly mailing listClick here to find out more about the Angel Capital AssociationTake courses to learn how to be an angel investor at Angel University - click here for info!Want to reach the Angel Capital Association? CLICK HEREHave ideas for the show?  Email us at theacaangelnextdoorpodcast@gmail.com

In this episode, Marcia sits down with Dr. Lyndsey Harper, a physician/OB-GYN who founded Rosy, a subscription-based women’s health app that delivers direct-to-consumer education and community in the women’s sexual health world, while providing anonymity to the user.  Lyndsey discusses her background as a private practice OB-GYN, where she noticed a commonality in patient’s sexual health problems and their shame and embarrassment in discussing those issues. 43% of women experience sexual problems, while only 17% of providers regularly ask about a patient’s sexual health. Lyndsey decided to start Rosy to connect the dots between these women’s problems, education and community, and providers.  Marcia and Lyndsey talk about the importance of building the right team for your startup early on and having a minimum viable product to gain customers as well as interest from investors. Lyndsey explains how she found a developer to build the first iteration of the Rosy app in exchange for equity prior to approaching investors and how she navigated the difficulty of fundraising by building a network of angel connections to find the right investors.  Lyndsey also tells us about how crucial it is to have a structured plan with deadlines and goals when raising capital so that subsequent rounds of funding can be at higher valuations due to proven progress. She discusses with Marcia the future of Rosy, and how she hopes to broaden the scope of women’s sexual health, create academic partnerships with providers, and use what they learn to improve screening rights for things like breast and cervical cancer.  You won’t want to miss hearing the wisdom of this accomplished doctor turned entrepreneur and the obstacles she has navigated!  Enjoy the show!Click Here to read Marcia's profile on LinkedInClick here to read Dr. Lyndsey Harper's profile on LinkedInClick here to redeem a FREE 1-Month Rosy Silver Membership or use code “ACAROSY”Click here to learn more about RosyClick here to learn more about Mindshift Capital  Click here to find out more about the Angel Capital AssociationTake courses to learn how to be an angel investor at Angel University - click here for info!Want to reach the Angel Capital Association? CLICK HEREHave ideas for the show?  Email us at theacaangelnextdoorpodcast@gmail.com

In this episode we discuss some important tax codes that most investors and entrepreneurs don’t know about and could save millions!  Marcia Dawood interviews former Chair of the Angel Capital Association, Tony Shipley. Marcia and Tony worked together as ACA board members for over 7 years! Tony is also Chairman and Co-founder of Queen City Angels, Cincinnati’s first group of experienced, accredited investors committed to accelerating the growth of early-stage businesses. Their primary investment areas are Information Technology and Life Science.Tony tells our listeners all about how he got started in the angel investing world and what led him to co-founding QCA with the hopes to provide growth to his community. Since the organization was founded in 2000 they’ve grown from 5 to 180 members, invested in more than 110 different companies, and invested approximately one hundred million dollars. He also shares how diversification was a very important factor in moving from network to fund model and growing the organization to what it is today.  Marcia also asks Tony about the 2 most memorable exits he has been part of (one of which was 9 figures!) and how his group was able to use Section 1202 of the Internal Revenue Code (aka IRC) to take advantage of the Qualified Small Business Stock (aka QSBS) provision that eliminated federal tax on the exit transaction.  They also discuss code 1045 and why these codes encourage investors to recycle QSBS returns from one deal to another QSBS company to obtain further tax savings. A new-er term is also revealed to our listeners, “dry powder,” which is the money investors set aside to make follow-on investments once a company starts to grow.  The initial investment is important but sometimes those follow on rounds make the difference as to which companies make it and which ones don’t.Lastly, Tony and Marcia discuss the importance the ACA has on public policy, how active they are with lobbying for tax codes and the work being done to preserve the definition of “accredited investor.”  This episode is packed with great tips and inspiring stories for both entrepreneurs and current/future investors! Listen to the full episode with Marcia and Tony here!Click Here to read Marcia's profile on LinkedInClick Here to read Tony Shipley’s profile on LinkedInClick Here to learn more about Queen City AngelsClick here to learn more about how ACA is active with Public Policy’sClick here to learn more about ACA’s Grassroots ToolkitClick here to find out more about the Angel Capital AssociationTake courses to learn how to be an angel investor at Angel University - click here for info!Want to reach the Angel Capital Association? CLICK HEREHave ideas for the show?  Email us at theacaangelnextdoorpodcast@gmail.com

The Angel Next Door is back with all new episodes!!  We will start off with demystifying equity crowdfunding.  Marcia Dawood sits down with Howard Marks, CEO and cofounder of the crowdfunding platform StartEngine.  StartEngine is an equity crowdfunding platform that recently acquired SeedInvest, bringing the total amount raised between the platforms to over $1 billion. Howard discusses how he started as an entrepreneur with his roommate at the University of Michigan, and purchased a controlling stake in the video game company Activision and turned it into the industry leading company it is today, leading to a purchase offer from Microsoft of $68 billion.  Howard tells the listeners how StartEngine was initially launched in 2010 as an accelerator for entrepreneurs in LA, but he quickly realized capitalizing these very early companies was the problem he really needed to solve.  He explains how the JOBS Act of 2012 paved the way for a revolution in the way start ups could raise money, and how it changed the way StartEngine was going to help entrepreneurs.  Howard also shares with Marcia the background of how the rules and regulations for investing had limited who could invest in private startups to a very small group of people. The new regulations motivated him to launch StartEngine as a crowdfunding platform in 2015, which now operates as a funding portal, broker-dealer, and transfer agent, while providing liquidity options for investors, providing endless opportunities for regular investors outside of just the 4700 companies traded on the NYSE.  Finally, Howard explains what it takes to be successful when raising capital through crowdfunding. He and Marcia discuss the future of StartEngine and crowdfunding and new alternative investment opportunities in things like art, comic books, wine, and real estate (allowing new ways to diversify an investment portfolios) and touch on the debate on whether consumers should have the ability to risk their money on these types of investments.  Tune into this episode to get some great background on equity crowdfunding and learn how startups can be successful in gaining capital through these platforms! Click here to read Marcia's profile on LinkedInClick here to read Howard Marks' profile on LinkedInClick here to learn more about ActivisionClick here to learn more about StartEngineClick here to learn more about SeedInvestLink to Howard's blog pageClick here to find out more about the Angel Capital AssociationTake courses to learn how to be an angel investor at Angel University - click here for info!Want to reach the Angel Capital Association? CLICK HEREHave ideas for the show?  Email us at theacaangelnextdoorpodcast@gmail.com