In the nineteenth episode of Angel Impact we celebrate our very first exit, talk about the return we have recouped, and describe our model of investor distribution and management compensation.  Angel Impact is the official investment podcast of the Wisconsin River Business Angels (WRBA)  To join the Wisconsin River Business Angels so you can provide capital and mentoring to more great companies visit our website at www.midwest wealthventures.com and our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/WRBAngels

The fifteenth episode of Angel Impact explores one of Jeff's favorite expressions and refers to a common problem experienced by entrepreneurs who are scaling their businesses and how angel investors can help to solve it.

Angel Impact is the official investment podcast of the Wisconsin River Business Angels (WRBA)  To join the Wisconsin River Business Angels so you can provide capital and mentoring to more great companies visit our website at www.midwest wealthventures.com and our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/WRBAngels

The fourteenth episode of Angel Impact is the second in a two part series about the impact of angel investing.

In this episode you will learn about:

1. The profile of a typical angel investor

2. What Jeff loves about angel investing

3. Why angel investing is a quadruple win that serves investors, entrepreneurs, economies, and customers

4. A few of the organizations and pitch events Jeff and Leon work with to find good investments

5. Some of the companies that started with angel investment capital and are now household names 

6. Some of the fantastic innovative companies that are growing in the marketplace with angel capital right now

Angel Impact is the official investment podcast of the Wisconsin River Business Angels (WRBA)  To join the Wisconsin River Business Angels so you can provide capital and mentoring to more great companies visit our website at www.midwest wealthventures.com and our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/WRBAngels

The thirteenth episode of Angel Impact is the first in a two part series about the impact of angel investing.

In this episode you will learn about:

1. Why angel investing is “full contact” investing

2. How angel investors bring not only capital, but lessons from their own experience at the school of hard knocks

3. What the show Shark Tank has done well and what we wish it would do even better

4. Private market vs. public market investing and equity

5. Angel investing vs. venture capital

6. Why angel investing absorbs risk from venture capital and therefore yields higher returns

7. Why angel investing is often considered risky, but is actually “de-risked”

8. Why angel investing in a group is considerably less risky than doing so individually

9. Why coachability is the first thing we look for in our due diligence

Angel Impact is the official investment podcast of the Wisconsin River Business Angels (WRBA)  To join the Wisconsin River Business Angels so you can provide capital and mentoring to more great companies visit our website at www.midwest wealthventures.com and our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/WRBAngels

The twelfth episode of Angel Impact is about the most important quality we look for in entrepreneurs we are considering for investment: coachability.

In this episode you will learn about:

1. Why the entrepreneur’s level of coachability is the very first component of the WRBA’s due diligence process

2. The three character traits Jeff and Leon look for in an entrepreneur they are considering for angel investment

3. Why the entrepreneur’s level of coachability must be determined  BEFORE performing the opportunity analysis (OA)

4. Some of the ways we feel out coachability in entrepreneurs we are considering for investment

5. Why it’s important to be the dumbest person in the room

6. The 2 areas Leon looks for to determine the coachability of an entrepreneur

7. A story from Jeff and Leon’s past that illustrates the practical fruits of coachability

8. Why angel investment money is “smart” money

9. Why the angel investing process is ALL about spotting and quantifying opportunities in investment companies

10. Why it’s harmful for entrepreneurs to “eat the whole elephant”

11. The one thing that coachability comes down to for entrepreneurs

12. Why it’s actually easier for entrepreneurs to approach angel investors acknowledging that they don’t know everything instead of acting like they do

13. One thing Jeff hasn’t yet seen in all his years working with entrepreneurs

14. Other strategic relationships it is important for entrepreneurs to develop in order to achieve success with their companies  

Angel Impact is the official investment podcast of the Wisconsin River Business Angels (WRBA)  To join the Wisconsin River Business Angels so you can provide capital and mentoring to more great companies visit our website at www.midwest wealthventures.com and our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/WRBAngels

The eleventh episode of Angel Impact is about Value and Use, summed up entirely by the question “How Much Should I Charge?”   This episode includes a special Angel Outtake - enjoy a brief, playful glimpse behind the scenes of the Angel Impact Podcast

In this episode you will learn about:

1. The one question that focuses almost all of our due diligence process

2. Why most answers to that question don’t actually have any real bearing on the actual value of the product or service

3. How angel investors like the WRBA answer that question

4. The 4 simple questions we ask to industry consultants to help us value opportunities

5. Some of the ways we avoid wasting time and money through trial and error during our evaluation process

6. Why the Japanese don’t like vinegar - Two fascinating stories from Leon’s international business career that illustrate the power of considering often overlooked cultural and emotive factors in calculating the value of product lines

7. Jeff’s thoughts on why entrepreneurs need to be able to take their bunch of balloons into a room full of porcupines

8. Why our questions focus 100% on the CUSTOMER and not the entrepreneur’s product or service

9. How we account for both ECONOMIC and EMOTIVE value for every product and service in our due diligence process

10. The first 2 questions Jeff asks his students in entrepreneurship classes and how that relates to building fast-growth, scalable, angel-eligible businesses

Angel Impact is the official investment podcast of the Wisconsin River Business Angels (WRBA)  To join the Wisconsin River Business Angels so you can provide capital and mentoring to more great companies visit our website at www.midwest wealthventures.com and our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/WRBAngels

The tenth episode of Angel Impact is the second part of a series about the Opportunity Analysis (OA) that features prominently in the WRBA's extensive and industry-leading due diligence process.  This episode, perhaps more than any other before now, captures the essence of the WRBA.  

In this episode you will learn about:

1. The fact that opportunity analysis is one component the Planned Innovation framework used to evaluate a business in its entirety

2. How opportunity analysis helps to evaluate the effectiveness of strategic objectives so that leadership teams know whether to stay their course or pivot

3. How the opportunity analysis shaped by Planned Innovation helped Leon’s team at Dow-Corning to raise the success rate of new opportunities added to the company from 15% to 95% and how Jeff and Leon apply that same formula for success to the companies in which they invest and maximize strategic decisions

4. Some detailed nuts and bolts about segmenting product markets by level of value

5. How the WRBA consults with the best industry experts for distilled advice to help them evaluate opportunities in any given field as opposed to relying on a  less efficient statistical analysis approach

6. Why opportunity analysis IS the scientific method in action, and applied with extreme objectivity to business development

7. How the WRBA uses Planned Innovation to increase the average success of angel investment ventures and avoid gratuitous expenditure of resources on unnecessary R&D

8. How an opportunity analysis is often the best thing angels can invest in, and why it is the closest we can come to running a simulation in the marketplace before actually building a venture

9. Why opportunity analysis is still a well-kept secret in the world of business and why more entrepreneurs need to know about it

10. What most entrepreneurs don’t understand about the businesses they conceive and how they would benefit from applying the scientific method to their thinking

11. Why entrepreneurs need to be coachable and receptive to advice in order to benefit from the objectivity offered by an opportunity analysis

12. Why the WRBA prefers to use independent, third party consultants to perform their opportunity analysis

13. The very precise way Planned Innovation Opportunity Analysis helps the WRBA to quantify opportunities in order to determine their worthiness for angel investment

14. How truly understanding and applying the results of an Opportunity Analysis helps the WRBA to guide and shape their investment companies in real time to make them even more successful in the marketplace and profitable for investors

15. Why all of this is the very essence of the WRBA’s distinction in the world of angel investment

Angel Impact is the official investment podcast of the Wisconsin River Business Angels (WRBA)  To join the Wisconsin River Business Angels so you can provide capital and mentoring to more great companies visit our website at www.midwest wealthventures.com and our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/WRBAngels

The ninth episode of Angel Impact is the first part of a series about the Opportunity Analysis (OA) that features prominently in the WRBA's extensive and industry-leading due diligence process.

In this episode you will learn about:

1. How the nature of the WRBA’s due diligence process sets it apart within the realm of angel investing

2. A summary of the 4 major components of the WRBA’s due diligence process and why they are performed in a very specific order

3. Why the leadership and opportunity components are actually more important than the product or service

4. Why Jeff’s experience with entrepreneurs is important for the perspective of the WRBA and what entrepreneurs often get wrong in the way they view their companies

5. What angel investors mean when they talk about “strategic marketing” and how it differs from the way that many business owners think about marketing

6. The 3 main stages of the opportunity analysis that seek to discover every possible factor that could cause a company to fail

7. How the components of the opportunity analysis allow angel investors to guide leadership teams in identifying high priority problems in their companies that need to be addressed before others in order to ensure success

8. Why entrepreneurs often approach the high-volume/low-value opportunities first, and how help them identify low-volume/high value opportunities to create generate cash during early stages of business development

9. How the opportunity analysis identifies companies that can potentially scale far beyond their local markets

Angel Impact is the official investment podcast of the Wisconsin River Business Angels (WRBA)  To join the Wisconsin River Business Angels so you can provide capital and mentoring to more great companies visit our website at www.midwest wealthventures.com and our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/WRBAngels

The eighth episode of Angel Impact is part 2 of an overview of angel investing strategy and its appeal.

In this episode you will learn about:

1. How the WRBA guides investors to be involved, productive, and successful

2. What percentage of net worth Jeff and Leon recommend using for angel investing

3. What Leon’s previous angel investing group taught him about a diversified portfolio

4. How investors can actively evaluate the amount of time leaving money in investments to maximize their returns

5. Common interests that angel investors all tend to share  

6. What surprised and delighted Jeff when he got to know the angel investing industry  

7. What investors LOVE about the entrepreneurs they work with

8. How WRBA members work together as a group to collectively support entrepreneurs and maximize their returns

9. How having different perspectives and experiences in an angel investing group helps the due diligence process to be more effective

10. The special quality of being part of an angel group that WRBA members enjoy the most

11. What to do next if you are interested in joining the Wisconsin River Business Angels

Angel Impact is the official investment podcast of the Wisconsin River Business Angels (WRBA)  To join the Wisconsin River Business Angels so you can provide capital and mentoring to more great companies visit our website at www.midwest wealthventures.com and our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/WRBAngels

The seventh episode of Angel Impact is part 1 of an overview of angel investing strategy and its appeal.

In this episode you will learn about:

1. The difference between financing businesses through debt and equity

2. The differences between angel investing, venture capital, and private equity “family offices” and where in the continuum of a financing each of these tend to work

3. About the “dead zone” and why angel investors are able to work there in their unique role along the financing continuum

4. How angel investors can collaborate with other equity investors to help companies succeed

5. How angel investors are empowered to select the projects that most interest them, even when they work in a group

Angel Impact is the official investment podcast of the Wisconsin River Business Angels (WRBA)  To join the Wisconsin River Business Angels so you can provide capital and mentoring to more great companies visit our website at www.midwest wealthventures.com and our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/WRBAngels