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‘Encouraging’ trend continues in US angel investment

The angel investor market in 2013 continued the “encouraging” trend it started in 2010 in investment dollars and in the number of investments, according to the 2013 Angel Market Analysis released by the Center for Venture Research at the University of New Hampshire. According to the analysis, angels increased their investments in the seed and startup stage, with 45 percent of 2013 angel investments in the seed and start-up stage,...

New SEC Rules Could Kill Angel Investing, Hurt Startups, and Hinder Job Growth

Final rules ending the ban on general solicitation for companies seeking investment from accredited investors eliminates the ability of angels to self-certify their status, and will result in many angels refusing to participate in this type of investing, according to the Angel Capital Association (ACA). "With thousands fewer angels participating in this market, startups will have far less access to capital, the millions of jobs they ...

Facebook Participates In StartUp America Initiative

President Barrack Obama and Facebook, plus numerous other companies, have formed the StartUp America Partnership to stimulate economic growth by fostering technology entrepreneurs.

The initiative was announced this morning via a livestream on Facebook, and you can watch a recording of it here. Chaired by AOL founder Steve Case, the partnership will be privately funded but bring together players from both the public and private sec...

How to Pitch a VC: 11 Insider Secrets

Having been on both sides of the table—many times as an entrepreneur and now as a venture capitalist—I've been witness to hundreds of pitches. I've been inspired and bored; dazzled and disgusted. There are many articles focusing on how to craft your slide deck, but few that really give you the inside scoop on how to behave in your big meeting. I can tell you from 20 years of experience, if you follow these guidelines you will signi...

5 Rules of Thumb for Startup Financial Projections

Most entrepreneurs struggle with financial projections, not wanting to commit to numbers they can't deliver, and having no clue what investors might consider reasonable. However, making no projections, or non-credible projections will get your startup marked as unfundable. I recommend a simple set of guidelines, which work for at least 80 percent of the business plans I see. In reality, you need to make these projections first as goa...

10 Free PDF Business Plan Templates

Business plan templates come in all forms, shapes and sizes. The beauty of PDF business plan templates, however, is that users can create their own business plans while having a guide or reference point readily available in front of them. Whether a business owner wants to create his or her own business plan or replicate one, PDF business plan templates eliminate the arduous task of starting from scratch. Below are 10 PDF business plan t...

Business Angels: The Solution On Where to Find Funding

Where can you find business angels and what do they offer? In answering this question we must know what a business angel is. They are simply people who provide businesses, usually those starting,enough money to move up to the next level.

Their professions range from retirees and doctors to business owners and executives, one may just even be your neighbor. There are over a million such investors annually in the US pumping capit...

Are Super Angel Investors Right for You?

Super angels raise funds like venture capitalists but invest early like angels and in sums between the two, on average from $250,000 to $500,000.

So if typical angel funding isn’t quite enough for your startup, and venture capital seems eons away, super angels might be a good in-between option.

What to Expect

In a world where VC money is the holy grail (and equally as hard to find as the holy grail), super angels are...

What US Angel Investors Want Now

What's hot with angel investors? U.S. angel investment trends are shifting. The mobile sector is getting ever more attention and the health-care sector is losing dollars, according to the second annual Halo Report, released today from the advocacy organization Angel Resource Institute, entrepreneur-focused Silicon Valley Bank, and the National Science Foundation‐backed data research firm CB Insights. Data from 783 deals totaling $1...

Getting the Most From Social Media Interns

Social media is often touted as a simple, free way for small businesses to brand themselves. But it can definitely take a full-time employee to man the Web and all its social media tools for your business. Cari Sommer, co-founder of Urban Interns, said hiring a social media intern or freelancer is the perfect way for small business owners to be cost-effective and still utilize all that social media has to offer, without adding stress to...

4 Key Marketing Strategies from the Startup World

Chicagoland is home to several global powerhouses like Walgreens, Abbott, McDonalds, Kraft, and Wrigley. Simultaneously, Chicago’s exploding tech scene has been garnering a lot of attention in the media. Taking note of this, the Business Marketing Association invited me and fellow Chicago entrepreneurs to talk about marketing lessons from the startup world that apply to all marketers. Kevin Willer, president and CEO of the Chic...

10 Top Content Marketing Tips for Your Startup

These days every new entrepreneur understands that an innovative product or service is necessary, but not sufficient, to start a business. You have to build a web presence with marketing content to get visibility above the 50 million other new websites created every year, and attract the customers you need. But most entrepreneurs don’t know where to start. Of course, there is a plethora of “experts” emerging out there, who are ...

Can an entrepreneur start a business in a downturn?

Bangalore: "Starting a business during a recession! Are you crazy?" You may have to face this kind of question if you want to start up a new company in an economic downturn, as many people think starting a business during a recession is a mistake. On the face of it, it does sound utter insane, but there are opportunities to be exploited. If you look at the economic downturns throughout history, you'll find that most recessions after the...

Surviving the Downturn: 5 Tips for Small Businesses

Although many listeners felt encouraged by the feel-good factor of Obama’s DNC speech, it did little to provide any solid direction on what to do with the current crisis around jobs in the US. With government economic experts still struggling to fix the economy both in the US and in the Eurozone, the hunt for employment has never been harder in the currently depressed job market. The answer lies in individual entrepreneurship. Alth...

7 Entrepreneur Actions to Balance Family vs Startup

I know some entrepreneurs with successful businesses, and others who seem to have a great relationship with their family, but I can’t think of many who have both. Some people would argue that these two successes are mutually exclusive, but I’m not convinced. Individually, they both take focus, commitment, and a variety of skills, all the strengths of a good entrepreneur. Assuming a person wants both a family and a business, the c...