Last Thursday, October 27, 2011, ATI hosted the fifth session of the Entrepreneurs’ Workshop. Sponsored jointly with the Rice Alliance and the Central Texas Angel Network, the Workshop is a tremendous resource for aspiring entrepreneurs. During weekly meetings taught by successful investors, experienced executives, and experts on startup companies, students in the class learn the processes involved in starting a new venture. The Workshop culminates with an opportunity to deliver an elevator pitch to investors.
Previous meetings have covered the basics of writing a business plan, validating the market, building a successful team, and protecting intellectual property. This last week the Central Texas Angel Network’s founder and chairman Jamie Rhodes talked about funding options.
His key points:
- Angel funding can be critical for startups. For every company started by VC, there are 25 started by angels.
- Venture capital funding becomes a preferred option when a company needs to raise more than $2 million.
- It can be tougher to find deals in the $2 million – $4 million range – Angels generally want to invest less than $2 million, while VCs (especially if they manage a large fund) can want to put more than $4 million to work.
For our sixth session, Thursday, November 3, 2011, Blair Garrou, Managing Director of DFJ Mercury, will talk about effectively communicating a funding deal.
Teel Liddell is a recent graduate of UT, where she studied English and Biology and participated in the Plan II liberal arts program. Over the summer Teel worked in the Health Inequalities Unit at the UK Department of Health in London. Now returned to Austin, she interns at ATI, helping with grant proposals, managing the ATI/Rice Alliance/CTAN Entrepreneur’s Workshop, and providing research assistance. Teel plans to attend medical school in the fall of 2012.
Tags: angel funding, blair garrou, central texas angel network, dfj mercury, entrepreneurs workshop, Jamie Rhodes, rice alliance, teel liddell, venture capitalists
