Developing an Angel Network in Montana

Litan says the provisions "are both unnecessary and unhelpful at a time when policymakers should be looking for ways to make it easier to finance new businesses, especially the potentially high-growth, job-creating companies capable of attracting outside investors."

Senator Dodd proposes adjusting for inflation the income and net worth requirements for a person to be considered an "accredited investor" by the Securities & Exchange Commission. This benign-sounding change would dramatically reduce the number of accredited informal investors financing companies in the U.S. today.

Not surprisingly, the National Venture Capital Association and the Angel Capital Association oppose Dodd’s proposed changes – arguing that they would drain the angel investor pool at a time when seed-stage capital is already at a premium.

"We experienced our strongest year ever in terms of dollars flowing to entrepreneurs, even in the midst of a severe downturn," Alliance chairman, Dan Rosen, said in the release.

In fact, couples investing may be the trend, as Liz Marchi, fund coordinator for the Frontier Angel Fund in Whitefish, MT., and coordinator of the Montana Angel Network, suggests.

"We encourage couples to be involved together in the process and have found that creates a good culture of inquisitiveness," notes Marchi., though she touts the talent individual women bring to her group.

Ensure that angel investors are well-represented on state economic development advisory
boards, along with entrepreneurs, universities, and other industry representatives.

We don’t want these young companies to leave because they can’t find capital."

So what’s the state of the playing field and what can entrepreneurs expect from investors in the coming year?

When you invest in private companies, Scott Shane says you shouldn’t rely on what the majority thinks

The meetings are open to Accredited Investors interested in investing in area companies. Companies scheduled to present on January 19th include Rivertop Renewables http://www.rivertop.com/ and Satic http://www.saticsaver.com/.