I’m excited to announce that Open Angel Forum is back in Boulder on the night of August 3rd at 6PM.
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.
This is the fourth open angel forum in Boulder and it’s been a big hit from the start. In every case, several of the presenting companies attracted new funding.
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. In the past, OAFCO has always attracted great out of state angel investors such as Dave McClure, Andy Sack, Jay Levy, Kal Vepuri, Howard Lindzon, David Tisch, and Jason Calacanis.
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. If you’ve attended a past OAFCO event and know me well, feel free to just email me if that’s easier.
The Open Angel Forum is sponsored nationally by SVB Accelerator and Joyent. If you’re a service provider or aspiring angel investor and would like to attend the event and have dinner with the companies and angel investors, you can purchase a sponsor ticket to join us for dinner (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 #4 (#OAFCO4) on August 3rd, please apply here. Earlier applications will receive more consideration. The deadline to apply is July 22, 2011 at 11:59:59PM mountain time.
Techstars Demo Day is the next Day, August 4th, so if you’re coming in from out of town you can get more bang for your buck. Open Angel Forum will *not* feature any Techstars companies from the current class, since they’ll be presenting the next morning just down the street.
I want to thank Rob Delwo and Tim Falls in advance – they help make this event possible and put in real effort.
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 4 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. You can always buy a sponsor ticket if there are any left (see next question).
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 and our sponsors.
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 at Techstars at 6pm on August 3rd.
Q. I applied to present. When will I find out if we’re presenting?
A. Not until about July 31.
