Business Angel Financing Seminars

Overview: How to Raise and Invest in Private Equity

The need for understanding practical application of entrepreneurial financing and capitalization strategy principles has never been more relevant than today. In the last 12 months the capital-raising situation has changed dramatically from the halcyon days of the late 90s: VC fund-raising has nose-dived. VCs are holding on to capital so distributions are down, stock market volatility has reduced private company valuations, the IPO market has dried up further impacting VC's prospective rates of return, mergers are up as funding availability decreases, investment banks are laying off staff, corporate backing for start-ups has tumbled, and institutional VCs (e.g., banks with VC portfolios) are writing off hundreds of millions of dollars in losses.

One alternative, angel financing, represents a significant challenge to entrepreneurial companies, investors, and the intermediaries who serve them: It is difficult to find promising ventures; it is difficult to identify private investors–all of whom prize their privacy; and it is difficult to find intermediaries who have the skills and high-net-worth contacts to facilitate the process associated with high-risk, early stage investments.

The goal of Angel Financing is to get deals funded, by providing useful, research-grounded, relevant, practical information to investors, entrepreneurs, and intermediaries.

This area of investment is the "pre-IPO," characterized by private placement transactions–primarily equity in nature. Entrepreneurs must understand the problem, face the challenge, and possess the skills necessary to address the problem. Because their resources, time, and training are limited, entrepreneurs must understand private placement–a process that demands a unique capitalization strategy.

Most important, entrepreneurs must embrace the investor perspective. In this focused and practical event, Angel Financing provides a strategy that works. Hundreds of people have used the principles detailed in the program to raise millions of dollars. The value of the angel investor, after all, can no longer be denied: angel capital is the primary source of capital for early stage deals. However, little is understood about the angel equity market and how deals really get done.

Moreover, the presenter over the last twelve years has built the largest angel database in North America and interviewed thousands of investors about the nature of the pre-IPO investment process. Through the presenter's proprietary research and comprehensive development of a typology of investors, the attendee will not only be better positioned to identify and qualify investors, but will also be better sensitized to prepare the documents and the sales strategy to close the deals.

So who are these angel investors? Where are they located? What are their investment criteria? How do they help beyond capital? What motivates them to invest in deals that 30 percent of the time return nothing? How do they make their portfolio allocation decisions? How does one best approach and sell such unique investors? What is the best way to handle the process of deal structuring and negotiations with them to achieve their investment objectives?

In Angel Financing you will hear the angel investors' stories in their words. The attendee learns in depth about the forces that create this investment opportunity in high-risk investing. Attendees will journey through the investors' hedging strategies, risk assessments, syndications orientation, financial return expectations, deal structuring preferences, monitoring investments, harvesting returns, and realistic exit strategies.

In the U.S., two million investors possess the discretionary net worth necessary to invest in pre-IPO private placements. Why is it that only 400,000 were active investors last year? The reason is that many of these investors–while interested–do not understand the process, do not understand how to find deals, do not know how to determine which deals justify their efforts, and do not know how to develop a hedging strategy.

Whether you are a dreamer, dream maker, or provide services to either, Angel Financing is the ultimate practical must-attend event to add to your professional development this year!

Presenter: Gerald Benjamin, M.S.

Gerald Benjamin, M.S., Senior Managing partner of International Capital Resources (ICR), is recognized by entrepreneurs, investors, and financial intermediaries as one of the nation's leading authorities on the business angel capital market. An innovator, he published the first successful Angel Investor magazine sold in 1999, and spearheaded the venture conference movement in California prior to pursuing research and writing beginning in 1995.He has written three books on Angel Capital. These include Finding Your Wings: How to Locate Private Investors to Fund Your Venture; Angel Financing: How to Find and Invest in Private Equity; and The Angel Investor's Handbook: How to Profit from Early Stage Investing. This seminar, Angel Financing: How to Raise and Invest in Private Equity, has been sponsored and presented by over 50 prominent entrepreneurial and investor organizations in the U.S. Since 1989, he has developed the largest, pre-qualified database of early stage, private equity, or business investors in North America with over 7,500 accredited investors participating. Mr. Benjamin has over 25 years of experience as a corporate consultant. He received his Masters and BA degrees from the University of San Francisco.