Clarisonic, a signature Alliance of Angels portfolio company, was acquired by L’Oreal at the end of 2011 (http://clarisonic.com/about_us/press_releases/press/claire_release_12_15_11.php). David Giuliani, the CEO of Clarisonic, was an AoA member at the time and brought the deal to the group. Naturally, many AoA members immediately invested; I was among them. Those fortunate enough to be in that first round received a return

My friend, Bill Carleton, posted a very thoughtful blog on Crowdfunding and angel investing: http://www.geekwire.com/2012/angels-crowds Bill has teed up some excellent questions. See my response. While you should definitely read the entire post, here is brief excerpt: Crowding out angels from startup financings? March 3, 2012 at 1:52 pm by William Carleton As early as next week, we may know

NPR ran a great story on Angels and entrepreneurs in Milwaukee. Worth hearing. http://www.npr.org/2012/02/10/146697508/angel-investors-and-startups-mingle-in-milwaukee This is another example of government beginning to understand the impact of the benefits of high-growth startups backed by angels. It is good public policy to encourage angels to help create companies through extension of the zero percent capital gains (Extension of 100% gains exemption on

Dan: “Hi. I’m Dan and I’m and addict.” AA Group: “Hi Dan” Dan: “It’s been one month since I did my last Angel investment.” AA Group: “Way to go Dan.” Dan: “But I’m weak. I know that I’ve failed forty times in the last 6 years. I really need to make another Angel investment soon.” AA Group: “Be strong, Dan”

To outside observers, it sometime seems that investors are very lucky when they get an exit and make a spectacular return. Those of us who invest regularly in startups, and then take an active role, know that there is a great deal more than luck involved. It’s really hard to have a startup survive to get to exit. There is