I’m excited to announce that Open Angel Forum is back in Boulder on the night of August 4th at 7PM.
The Open Angel Forum (OAF) is dedicated to providing entrepreneurs with free and open access to the angel investors that they need. We are firmly committed to fighting against “pay-to-pitch” schemes.
The first open angel forum in Colorado was back in February of this year, and it was a big hit. You can read the reactions of the companies that presented here, here, here, here, here or here. Several of them attracted new funding from that event.
Open Angel Forum is different and special. Only 20 or so angels are allowed, and each of them must have made at least 4 angel investments in the last 12 months in order to attend. Because of this, the event is very high quality and we don’t waste the entrepreneurs time. Also, the presenting companies are part of the entire social event – we basically just have dinner together and get to know each other. Last time, the event attracted several out of state angel investors, including Dave McClure, Andy Sack, and Jason Calacanis.
This time, I’ve scheduled Open Angel Forum on the eve of Techstars Demo Day, which will be held the next morning. My hope is that with both events back to back, we’ll attract even more out of state investors to attend one or both events. If you’d also like to attend the Techstars demo event the morning of August 5th, drop me a note. The eleven brand new Techstars companies which will be presenting on August 5 are not eligible to present at Open Angel Forum on August 4th – so you’ll need to attend the event the next morning if you want to see those companies.
To apply to attend Open Angel Forum as an angel investor (remember – you must have made at least 4 angel investments in the last year), go here. If you don’t apply, you will not receive an invitation.
The Open Angel Forum is sponsored nationally by SVB Accelerator and Symantec. If you’re a service provider and would like to attend the event and have dinner with the companies and angel investors, you can purchase a sponsor ticket (there are only 5 such seats available in order to keep the event small – that’s part of the magic). You will be supporting our ability to provide free and open access to angel investors for entrepreneurs by doing so.
And, most importantly, If you’d like to apply to have your company present for angel investment at Open Angel Forum Colorado #2 (OAFCO2) on August 4th, please apply here. Earlier applications will receive more consideration. The deadline to apply is July 26, 2010 at 8:00PM mountain time.
I’ve included some FAQs below:
Q. What types of angels/companies should attend/present at OAFCO?
A. The angel makeup so far seems to be about 80% software/IT/web and 20% other stuff. So we’ll likely shoot for 4 companies doing software/IT/web stuff and 1 doing something else. So any type of company should apply, but particularly software/web/IT companies.
Q. I’d like to become an angel investor, but I don’t meet the requirement of having made 3 investments of note in the past 12 months. May I attend?
A. Please apply, and I’ll put you on the waiting list. This is not a networking event or a “learn how to angel invest” event. OAF exists to help entrepreneurs reach very active angels and as such we’ll opt for a smaller crowd of top notch / active angels. If we have a seat or two left, we’ll allow less experienced angels in based on how many deals they’ve done in the past.
Q. I’m just really interested in this, but I’m not an angel and my company isn’t pitching. May I attend?
A. Yes, but you’ll have to buy a sponsor ticket. There are only 5 of these tickets available at the moment.
Q. I’m a service provider locally and I’d like to support what you’re doing. May I attend?
A. Yes, this is exactly why we have sponsor tickets available. The event is free to the angels and free to the entrepreneurs. It’s supported by those who buy tickets.
Q. What’s the format?
A. The entrepreneurs and investors have dinner together, and each company makes a 5 minute presentation and 5-10 minutes of Q&A from the investors follow. Presenters must take at least one sip of beer (or their favorite beverage) during their presentation. It’s informal and fun, and there’s plenty of time for interaction between the companies and investors.
Q. Where will this be held, and when?
A. It will be downtown in Boulder. I’d tell you more, but I don’t know yet. It will be from 7pm-930pm on August 4th.
