Open Angel Forum Blog

Applications open for OAF Silicon Valley, April 16th

steepdecline — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 01:58:42 +0000

Right off the heels of the inaugural OAF San Francisco event (which you may have read about here or here or here) we’re stoked to be kicking off OAF Silicon Valley on April 16th with none other than Dave McClure and Shervin Pishevar as the Silicon Valley chapter heads.

As usual, this event will bring together five great startups (apply here), a handful of great angels (apply here), and five seats for sponsoring service providers (available here).

The deadline for startups to apply is this event is April 8th.

OAF NYC takes place on April 8th and is accepting startup applications until March 30th.

OAF SF Angels

steepdecline — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 22:29:59 +0000

We are just a couple days away from kicking off the first OAF SF this Thursday evening. Joining us on the angel side of the table will be:

OAF SF Application Deadline!!!

steepdecline — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 23:29:18 +0000

We’re getting ready to kick off OAF SF and starting to review the applications. If you haven’t already, be sure to apply asap! The deadline is Feb 26th, however, we will be reviewing over the weekend so you could squeak one in under the wire if it’s in by Monday morning (March 1st).

Love for our sponsors

steepdecline — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 21:02:35 +0000

Valentine’s Day just passed, and there are a few people we wanted to send our sweet THANK YOUs to. Below are the kind-hearted service providers who graciously made the whole thing possible by way of purchasing one of the five seats that we reserve at each event.

Los Angeles

Jonathan Atzen at DLA Piper

Scott Walker at Walker Corporate Law Group

Boulder

Dave Drach of Microsoft Emerging Business Team

Matthew Fargo of Cbiz

Doyle Albee of Metzger Associates

Ben Oelsner of Kendall, Koenig & Oelsner

Anke Corbin of Zenzi

Mike Platt at Cooley Godward Kronish LLP

We are very pleased that the interest from and quality of the service providers continues to grow as we add new chapters. Many new cities will be announced soon for those who are interested, and there are a few seats available for the upcoming OAF SF and OAF NYC events.

Helping startups land angel funding (San Francisco, March 4th)

steepdecline — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 21:35:42 +0000

From: Jason Calacanis
Date: Mon, Feb 15, 2010 at 5:32 PM
Subject: Helping startups land angel funding (San Francisco, March 4th)

PLEASE FORWARD TO: startups looking for funding.
Jason’s List Membership: 19,318
Google Buzz profile: www.bit.ly/jasonbuzz
More info: www.openangelforum.com
Signup: www.bit.ly/jasonslist
Supercute: http://bit.ly/brmiWn
=========================================

Friends,

A quick and positive update on the Open Angel Forum (www.openangelforum.com).

As many of you know from reading this newsletter, I’m not a fan of
people having to pay to present at a conference or to angel investors.
Three years Mike Arrington and I partnered on the TechCrunch
conference to stop the “pay to present” virus that the DEMO conference
has been spreading for a decade or so. It’s been a huge success with
over 140 companies launching from the stage including Powerset, Mint,
FitBit and Yammer.
In January I launched the Open Angel Forum to stop the practice of
people paying to pitch angel investors. It’s been a stunning success
thanks to the 11 amazing companies that have presented thus far. I
super proud to announce that we now have four chapters up and running:
Los Angels, Boulder, San Francisco and New York. We will be announcing
one new city every month or so for the next two years, until we reach
the foot print of the very bad Keiretsu Forum (which charges folks to
pitch!). How great would it be to have 10 to 20 chapters running
around the world?!
Quick updates by city including how startups can apply (you don’t have
to be based in the actual city, but you must be willing to come
present at the event):

1. Open Angel Forum Los Angeles took place in January. Matt Coffin and
I are the hosts of the Los Angeles chapter. 20 amazing angels showed
up for five presentations. All of the companies have/are going to
raise money based on this meeting is the rumor. Yes, a 100% hit rate
is possible! The next events will be in April and September. Here is
the recap:

a) Startups can apply for Los Angeles: apply here
b) Buy a service provider ticket: available here
c) questions: la@openangelforum.com

2. Open Angel Forum, Boulder took place in February. David Cohen of
the amazing TechStars.com program and my old friend, and amazing
VC/bloggers, Brad Feld are running the Boulder chapter. The next event
will be in the late sprint and early fall in all likelihood. You can
read about the event at the links below:

a) Startups can apply for Boulder: apply here
b) Buy a service provider ticket: available here
c) questions: bo@openangelforum.com

3. Open Angel Forum San Francisco will take place on March 4th. We’re
thrilled to announce that new angel investors, the brilliant Kevin
Rose of digg fame, and seasoned angel investor Chris Sacca are running
the San Francsico chapter. Related links below:

a) Apply for San Francisco: apply here
b) Buy a service provider ticket: available here
c) questions: sf@openangelforum.com

4. Open Angel Forum New York will take place on April 8. I’ve tapped
Brian Alvey, my partner on Weblogs Inc. and Charlie O’Donnell of First
Round capital, to host the New York chapter. Related links below:
a) Apply for New York City: apply here
b) Buy a service provider ticket: available here
c) questions: ny@openangelforum.com

Applications open for OAF SF, March 4th

steepdecline — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 23:09:54 +0000

Right off the heels of the LA and Boulder events we’re stoked to be kicking off OAF San Francisco March 4th with none other than Kevin Rose and Chris Sacca as the SF chapter heads.

As usual, this event will each bring together five great startups (apply here), a handful of great angels (apply here), and five seats for sponsoring service providers (available here).

Applications open for OAF NYC, April 8th

steepdecline — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 09:00:24 +0000

Right off the heels of the LA and Boulder events we’re stoked to be kicking off OAF New York April 8th with Brian Alvey and Charlie O’Donnell as the NYC chapter heads.

As usual, this event will each bring together five great startups (apply here), a handful of great angels (apply here), and five seats for sponsoring service providers (available here).

OAFCO had a blast in Boulder

steepdecline — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 23:39:27 +0000

As you may have heard here, here, here, here, here or here we had a great gathering of angels and startups recently in Boulder, Colorado. This was the second OAF event, and much like the LA event, there was no shortage of interest in opening additional chapters. We will be announcing new chapters shortly and stay tuned for details on OAF SF and NYC.

OAF Launches new chapter in Boulder Colorado

steepdecline — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 07:39:20 +0000

As you may have heard… Here, here, here, or maybe here … the inaugural OAF in Los Angeles on Jan 14th went very very well indeed. So much so that we have several new chapters to announce, starting with OAF Boulder Colorado which kicks off Feb 2nd!

We’re very pleased to announce that leading the Boulder chapter will be none other than Brad Feld and David Cohen.

If you or someone you know is interested in applying, please simply fill out the form here — OAF Boulder Presenter Application Form

As before, we will be selecting five presenters to pitch, FREE OF CHARGE!!! No application fee, no presentation fee, no hidden coaching fees, NADA, ZIPPO. Never have, never will.

If you would like to attend as a service provider there are 5 seats available here — Service Provider Tickets (SOLD OUT!)

If you would like to attend OAF Boulder as an angel investor please contact Brad or David directly via their blogs.

OAF Update: More Events, Local Chapters and OAF Mission Statement

Jason — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 00:22:09 +0000

First Event: We’ve had over 50 qualified entries for five slots at the first Open Angel Forum in Los Angeles on January 14th. We have over 15 qualified angel investors coming. The event is filled, there are not more seats available. If you would like to apply for the April event please fill out the form here.

Local Chapters: We’ve had interest from about a dozen cities to host a quarterly “Open Angel Forum” and we’re totally blown away. I’m in the process of writing a charter that will be the basis of the local chapters and how we operate as a national–and some day perhaps international–organization.

Format:

The format of Open Angel Forum is simple:

1. At 7PM 15-20 angel get together for an amazing steak dinner.

2. From 8PM to 9:30PM five companies present their ideas for 10 minutes each with a little Q&A.

3. After the event the five startups receive a list of angels who express their interest level in their startup: a) Setup a followup meeting, b) Keep me posted but not a fit right now, c) Not a fit.

I’ve come up with a mission statement, what do you think?

Open Angel Forum: To help entrepreneurs and angel investors change the world together.

The basic operating principles are:

1. Startups are not charged to present, but rather selected based on merit by a committee of angels (and myself).

2. Angel investors are not charged to attend.

3. Five service providers can attend the event for $1,500 each.

4. Only uber-qualified angels are allowed–power angels as we call them. We define this as three investments in known companies in the past year. If the person is not a “power angel,” but still and angel, they are on the wait list (i.e. if you had two investments in three years we would out you second to someone with five in one year–makes sense to me).

5. Not entrepreneurs or press at the event for obvious reasons.

6. All presentations are under “friend-D-A” (but not NDA for obvious reasons). Angels are expected to keep presentations confidential.

7. If you’re a “combo angel investor and service provider” (think: lawyer who sometimes invests, recruiter who takes equity, etc), then we qualify you as a service provider.

8. The service provider revenue should cover the steak dinner, and fine wine, but if it does not the angel investors split the bill.

9. All ticket sales, and sponsorship sales when we have them, will run through the national, for profit organization. The national organization will take 20% of all ticket sales and sponsorship, giving 80% to the local chapter. So, if the local chapter wants to sell five service provider tickets and two sponsorship for a total of $8,000 for each event, they would keep $6,000 and kick $2,000 back to the national organization.

10. Local chapters will host two to four events per year.

11. Chapter heads will be personally selected by me.

12. Killer startups from one chapter will, if they choose, be able to pitch to other chapters. So, for example, if the super cool startups www.Blippy.com had presented in San Francisco and simply crushed it, we would have them possibly present in London, New York, Boston, Colorado and Los Angeles.

13. All final decisions will be entrusted to the chapter heads who we have selected because of their high level of integrity and trust with me.

14. These rules are subject to common sense and will be altered, expanded, disregarded and contradicted based on the sole discretion of the fine folks who are hosting the forum. We will always be fair and true to the mission of OAF: To help entrepreneurs and angels investors change the world.

Any feedback?