This is the high def video of my keynote at the Capital Connects! Southeastern Regional Angel Capital Association Meeting in Greensboro, North Carolina – October 1, 2009
Highlights of the ‘Exit Early – Exit Often’ video:
- Why I think this will be called a “golden era” for entrepreneurs and angel investors.
- Successful investing requires two things: buying right and exiting well.
- The median price for private company M&A transactions is under $20 million.
- Today, the corporate buyers are competitors to the traditional Venture Capital funds.
- Traditional Venture Capital could shrink to half, or even a quarter, of its current size.
- 92% of M&A exits don’t work for these traditional VC funds – but they all work well for Angels and entrepreneurs.
- So Angels and Entrepreneurs have a choice – an exit in 3 to 5 years without VCs or 10 to 14 years with VC investment.
- Angels alone are “as likely as the VC backed firms to have successful liquidity events”.
- Checklist to determine whether an individual company should be financed with Angels only or VCs.
- It depends on how much money the company will need, how long before the exit and the likely exit value.
- It’s possible to sell a company much earlier than most people believe – all you really need to do is prove the model.
- Developing the optimum exit strategy is one of those things that requires experience. Angels, directors and coaches can help.
The video is online in 720p high def here.
