ACA New England Angels

The following are course descriptions of past ACA New England Angel Education Series workshops that have been previously held:
(Course descriptions of current workshops can be found here)

FALL 2011:

AIP: Angel Investment Process (Oct. 2011). An entrepreneur needs capital. Angel investors would like to invest in situations that have the potential of high returns. This session will concentrate on how these two get together, work together, and then part company. It will begin with screening – finding the one deal in a hundred that appears to be attractive to the angels; an overview of due diligence; a discussion of the terms of a typical angel investment, including valuation; the mechanics of term sheets; drafting the deal documents; and closing. The session will continue with the ongoing process of monitoring the investment, both as an individual investor and as the person designated to be the investor group’s representative on the company’s Board of Directors. It will conclude with a discussion of exits, both good and bad.

Faculty:

Jeffrey Arnold – Boston Harbor Angels
Lucinda Linde – Walnut Venture Associates
Christopher Mirabile – Launchpad Venture Group

DT: Deal Terms (Oct. 2011). This course reviews key concepts of private preferred stock equity investment deals. Each key term that defines an angel’s ownership position will be reviewed. These include those defining the economics of the deal, including pre-money valuation, option pool size, liquidation preferences, anti-dilution and dividends will be examined. In addition, the other key terms affecting investor control, governance, monitoring the investment, maintaining ownership, and management rights will also be reviewed.

This course also reviews key concepts of private preferred stock equity investment deals including pricing & deal economics; investor control & governance; and terms for monitoring & preserving the investment, maintaining & increasing ownership, and liquidation preferences. Norms for term sheets designed to be ‘friendly’ for syndication and for future investments will be covered, as well as ‘safe’ convertible notes. Current trends in angel deals and specifically east coast angel deals will be reviewed.

Faculty:

David Verrill – Hub Angels Investment Group
George Simmons – Cherrystone Angel Group
Jeremy Halpern – Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP

FALL 2010:

C-1: So You Want To Be A Business Angel? (Oct. 2010). New England supports 20 different angel groups representing diverse approaches to finding and investing in early-stage, high-growth companies. This session starts with a brief reviews the principles of angel investing and then opens up the panel discussion led by representatives from four Boston area angel groups who will describe and discuss the differences (and similarities) in their approaches to investing. Concepts reviewed include: expected early stage returns; ‘capital-efficient’ vs. ‘extreme growth’ investment strategies; selecting the best companies; achieving a portfolio effect and achieving rewards from mentoring and giving back. Discussions will also explore finding your fit in an angel group, i.e.: what to look for and how to assess the risk tolerance and return goals as you check out various groups.

Faculty:

David Verrill – Founder/Managing Director, Hub Investment Group
Anita Brearton – Co-Leader, Golden Seeds Boston Forum
Bill Warner – Serial Entrepreneur and Angel Investor
Rick Berenson – Executive Committee, Mass Medical Angels

C-2: The Investment Process (Oct. 2010). An entrepreneur needs capital. Angel investors would like to invest in situations that have the potential of high returns. This session will concentrate on how these two get together, work together, and then part company. It will begin with screening – finding the one deal in a hundred that appears to be attractive to the angels; an overview of due diligence; a discussion of the terms of a typical angel investment, including valuation; the mechanics of term sheets; drafting the deal documents; and closing. The session will continue with the ongoing process of monitoring the investment, both as an individual investor and as the person designated to be the investor group’s representative on the company’s Board of Directors. It will conclude with a discussion of exits, both good and bad.

Faculty:

Hambleton (Ham) Lord – Managing Director, Launchpad Venture Group
Chris Sheehan – Managing Director, CommonAngels
Phil Cooper – Member, Boston Harbor Angels
Lucinda Linde – Member, Walnut Venture Associates

C-3: Performing The Right Amount of Due Diligence (Nov. 2010). Angel investors use a variety of due diligence methods – some more rigorous than others – before making an investment decision. Some angels use intuition. Some focus on the CEO. Others do formal analysis of the market, competition, financials and analyses of expected return scenarios. The purpose of this session is to describe the alternative due diligence models that local angels and angel groups go through prior to making an investment. Experienced angels and angel group managers will give examples of their due diligence, and several due diligence templates will be available for participants as resources. This 60-minute session will include presentation, healthy debate, and discussion so that participants can both learn and share.

Faculty:

Christopher Mirabile – Managing Director, Race Point Capital Group
Norm Meisner – Member, Launchpad Venture Group and Beacon Angels
Mic Williams – Founder, Boston Harbor Angels

C-4: Deal Terms (Nov. 2010). This course reviews key concepts of private preferred stock equity investment deals. Each key term that defines an angel’s ownership position will be reviewed. These include those defining the economics of the deal, including pre-money valuation, option pool size, liquidation preferences, anti-dilution and dividends will be examined. In addition, the other key terms affecting investor control, governance, monitoring the investment, maintaining ownership, and management rights will also be reviewed.
This course also reviews key concepts of private preferred stock equity investment deals including pricing & deal economics; investor control & governance; and terms for monitoring & preserving the investment, maintaining & increasing ownership, and liquidation preferences. Norms for term sheets designed to be ‘friendly’ for syndication and for future investments will be covered, as well as ‘safe’ convertible notes. Current trends in angel deals and specifically east coast angel deals will be reviewed.

Faculty:

Charlie Cameron – Founder & Managing Director, Hub Angels
George Simmons – Partner, Derby Management; Member, Cherrystone Angel Group

C-5: Valuing an Early Stage Company (Dec. 2010). Determining the likely funding requirements of an early stage company can help ensure that a deal is structured properly and that the projected company valuation has a good chance of being attractive to next stage funders. There are numerous ways to calculate valuations – revenue, income, cash flow and even Black-Sholes but in early stage investing is usually based on comparables and desired investor return requirements. Senior angels around the country have built some interesting “valuation methods”. This session will allow time to review these approaches.

Faculty:

Jeremy Halpern – Managing Director, Evolution Advisors LLC
Jean Hammond – Founder, Boston Golden Seeds; Member, Hub Investment Group and Launchpad Venture Group
Christopher Mirabile – Managing Director, Race Point Capital Group

C-6: Early Exits (Dec. 2010). Exits are the least understood part of investing and entrepreneurship. Exit opportunities have changed dramatically in the past few years; today, it’s more likely that a company will be sold without ever having an investment from a venture capitalist (VC). Exits are also happening much earlier than before. The largest number of exit transactions today are in the under $30-million valuation range with these exits often completed when companies are only two or three years from startup. This session looks at the trends for recent exits and the steps the board members and angels can take to set up relationships that will lead to interested potential acquirers. The goal of session is to help entrepreneurs and angel investors have more successful, more frequent and more profitable exits.

Instructor:

Basil Peters – Angel Investor and Early Exit Strategist

SPRING 2010 – BASIC SERIES:

B-1: The Investment Process (Jan. 2010). An entrepreneur needs capital. Angel investors would like to invest in situations that have the potential of high returns. This session will concentrate on how the two get together, work together, and then part company. It will begin with screening – finding the one deal in a hundred that appears to be attractive to the angels; an overview of due diligence; a discussion of the terms of a typical angel investment, including valuation; the mechanics of term sheets; drafting the deal documents; and closing. The session will continue with the ongoing process of monitoring the investment, both as an individual investor and as the person designated to be the investor group’s representative on the company’s Board of Directors. It will conclude with a discussion of exits, both good and bad. The session will include both presentations from the faculty as well as Q&A and discussion.

Faculty:

Hambleton (Ham) Lord – Managing Director, Launchpad Venture Group
James Woodward – Banker; Angel Investor

B-2: Performing the Right Amount of Due Diligence (Jan. 2010). Angel investors use a variety of due diligence methods – some more rigorous than others – before making an investment decision. Some angels use intuition. Some focus on the CEO. Others do formal analysis of the market, competition, financials and analyses of expected return scenarios. The purpose of this session is to describe the alternative due diligence models that local angels and angel groups go through prior to making an investment. Experienced angels and angel group managers will give examples of their due diligence, and several due diligence templates will be available for participants as resources. This 60-minute session will include presentation, healthy debate, and discussion so that participants can both learn and share.

Faculty:

Jerry Schaufeld – Founder, Cherrystone Angel Group; Prof. of Management, WPI
David Verrill – Founder/Managing Director, Hub Investment Group
Mic Williams – Founder, Boston Harbor Angels

B-3: Valuing an Early Stage Company and Structuring the Deal (Mar. 2010). Determining the likely funding requirements of an early stage company can help ensure that a deal is structured properly and that the projected company valuation has a good chance of being attractive to next stage funders. There are numerous ways to calculate valuations – revenue, income, cash flow and even Black-Scholes but in early stage investing is usually based on comparables and desired investor return requirements. Senior angels around the country have built some interesting “valuation methods”. This session will allow time to review these approaches.

Faculty:

Jean Hammond – Founder, Boston Golden Seeds; Member, Hub Investment Group and Launchpad Venture Group
David Verrill – Founder/Managing Director, Hub Investment Group

B-4: Deal Terms (Mar. 2010). This course reviews key concepts of private preferred stock equity investment deals. Each key term that defines an angel’s ownership position will be reviewed. These include those defining the economics of the deal, including pre-money valuation, option pool size, liquidation preferences, anti-dilution and dividends will be examined. In addition, the other key terms affecting investor control, governance, monitoring the investment, maintaining ownership, and management rights will also be reviewed. Norms for term sheets designed to be ‘friendly’ for Angels will be covered.

Faculty:

Arlene Bender – Partner, Foley Hoag
William Swiggart – Member, Swiggart & Agin, LLC
Chris Sheehan – Managing Director, CommonAngels

B-5: Serving on the Board and Advising (May 2010). Start-ups need help pulling angels who want to help into roles that deliver value to the company. Helping a first-time CEO understand the difference between an occasional advisor, an advisory board member and a board of directors’ member often falls to a trusted angel investor. Reviewing the responsibilities of these differing roles, from an angel perspective, is the goal of this session.

Faculty:

Michael Mark – Member, Walnut Venture Associates
Norm Meisner – Member, Launchpad Venture Group and Beacon Angels

B-6: Exits (May 2010). Many high growth companies get start getting traction and then look around for an exit strategy. This session looks at the trends for recent exits and the steps the board members and angels can take to set up relationships that will lead to interested potential acquirers. The session will also include what to look for when choosing an investment banker and determining the optimal time to sell the business.

Faculty:

Jean Hammond – Founder, Boston Golden Seeds; Member, Hub Investment Group and Launchpad Venture Group
Laura Kevghas – Partner, Mirus Capital Advisors

SPRING 2010 – ADVANCED SERIES:

A-1: Advanced Term Sheets (Jan. 2010). This course reviews key concepts of private preferred stock equity investment deals including pricing & deal economics; investor control & governance; and terms for monitoring & preserving the investment, maintaining & increasing ownership, and liquidation preferences. Norms for term sheets designed to be ‘friendly’ for syndication and for future investments will be covered, as well as ‘safe’ convertible notes. Current trends in angel deals and specifically east coast angel deals will be reviewed.

Faculty:

Jean Hammond – Founder, Boston Golden Seeds; Member, Hub Investment Group and Launchpad Venture Group
George Simmons – Partner, Derby Management; Member, Cherrystone Angel Group
Arlene Bender – Partner, Foley Hoag

A-2: Effective Board Membership in Early Stage Companies (Mar. 2010). Fiduciary responsibility and associated duties are only part of the story in the role of the early stage board member. Helping ensure a great board process and providing substantial advisory support are also part of the magic that can help grow strong companies. The second part of this session will be a panel answering questions about board experiences and the changing role of the board at various stages of company growth.

Faculty:

Hambleton (Ham) Lord – Managing Director, Launchpad Venture Group
Christopher Mirabile – Managing Director, Race Point Capital Group LLC

Guest panelists:

Joe Caruso – Founder, Bantam Group; Member, CommonAngels and eCoast Angels
Jean Hammond – Founder, Boston Golden Seeds; Member, Hub Investment Group and Launchpad Venture Group

A-3: Tax Issues for Angel Investors (May 2010). Angels need to understand the tax issues from their investing. This session covers tax treatments for various types of capital gains. The class includes what is required in documenting a write off. Other subjects covered will be how to handle options, interest payments on notes and LLC tax issues.

Faculty:

Larry Nannis, CPA – Partner, Levine, Katz, Nannis & Solomon, P.C.