Last night I attended a DealMaker Media (whom I love because they always host such great discussions) panel on raising angel money moderated by Dan Gould and with panelists Rob Hayes (First Round Capital, more seed or A round than angel), Scot Sangster (with OrganicStartup and the best spokesperson for Tech Coast Angels that I have met to date), Tom McInerney (TGM) and Jarl Mohn (who invests on his own “account” and whose track record is truly humbling). recently wrote a post on angel financing covering the topic of convertible notes but I realized

Last week, I was on a panel with other investors discussing the “do’s� and “don’ts� of angel and venture capital investing some one from the audience fired a series of intriguing compounded questions � why are the VC’s so illusive?, why don’t they have all their information available? 5- Acknowledge the Differences: Why don’t they disclose how they come up with their valuations? Why are the selection criteria’s so undefined????�

Sid Mohasseb, one of the Tech Coast Angels, just emailed out about a new “entrepreneur happy hour” the group is running in Orange County, which got me thinking about how entrepreneurs should (or shouldn’t) approach angel and venture investors. I’m sure there are many opinions out there, but based on my time working with angels and investors, here’s some of my random advice for would-be entrepreneurs going to the event (or similar ones): 1. Don’t start your conversation telling them the terms of your fundraising effort.

Attendees: If you have review comments I'd be happy to consider them. Name: XING Community Los Angeles Sites: https://www.xing.com/net/la/ , www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=33803 gid=33803 (main), https://www.xing.com/ Self-description: "This forum is dedicated to all Los Angeles inhabitants, visitors of the area and business minded people from all around the world, who would like to explore business opportunities with L.A. This is will be a continually updating post. I'll be creating additional lists for educational, chamber of commerce, etc. Organizational representatives: please contact me directly for updates, etc.

Advice for Steve? What networking events in Los Angeles or Southern California do you go to? We should keep comparing notes on your list and my Networking Events in Los Angeles and Southern California . So what do you think about the concept of Visible Networking? How about you send some questions ahead of time like you proposed but then have the Q/A on IM so they can potentially paste in prepared statements/links, etc. It’s the follow-up questions to the responses It was great to hear from a long, lost colleague the other day. Steve Gilison worked as a market

We brought together Peter Cowen of Groundwork Equity , Mark Suster of GRP Partners , Rick Smith of Crosscut Ventures , and Richard Yen of Saban Ventures -- all of who will be on the judging panel for the Tech Coast Angel's Fast Pitch on February 24th, to give us a their hints and tips about pitching to venture capitalists. Peter Cowen: It is a two minute fast pitch, and it's an amazing opportunity to be in front of several VCs and funds, plus the Tech Coast Angels, an angel group that continues to invest in roughly a deal a month. For this morning's interview, we thought we'd try something different, and put together a virtual panel of venture capitalists to give us a few tips on pitching your company.

Los Angeles-based Mobile-XL , the international mobile information services firm backed by the Tech Coast Angels, said this week that it has linked a deal with Oberthur Technologies to include its XLBrowser Content Platform on Oberthur's line of SIM cards. Mobile-XL provides SMS-based, mobile applications which provide news, information, and other content to lesser served, developing countries with limited or expensive Internet access. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. The firms said that including Mobile-XL's software on its SIM cards will give

Los Angeles-based ZAM , and San Diego-based Sony Online Entertainment announced Wednesday that the two companies have tied on a new online site focused on information from Sony's EverQuest II massively multiplayer online game. According to the two, they have launched a site which will gives users access to EverQuest II's database, including information about game items and more. ZAM--which was formerly known as Allakhazam.com--said it is venture backed by Goldman Sachs and Oak Investment Partners. ...Tags: Tags: sony online entertainment everqued mmog conten

Los Angeles-based GoodFoodNearYou , an online site that allows users to find healthy eating options at restaurants, is expanding its listings of restaurants and menus, the firm said today. GoodFoodNearYou allows users to use their computer, iPhone, or BlackBerry to find the healthiest menu items at local fast food and other restaurants near them, using GPS and other location information from their phones. The site--created by Global Fitness Media--said it is adding "several thousand" restaurant locations to its database. Global Fitness Media is headed by Nick Desai, and was founded

The Founder Institute , the business incubation and mentoring program started by TheFunded's Adeo Ressi , is expanding into the Los Angeles area, and is accepting applications for entrepreneurs for a Spring session, the group said late last week. The Los Angeles effort is being headed by Ken Rutkowski . In an invite to an information The Founder Institute already runs programs in Silicon Valley, Seattle, New York, Washington DC, San Diego and Orange County, as well as Paris and Singapore. The group said Monday it is running an information session at Clearstone Ventures Thursday