The Capital Network is a nonprofit organization that provides education and mentoring to help entrepreneurs successfully raise seed capital and beyond. It connects entrepreneurs to angel groups, venture capital firms, accelerators, and other investors. The Capital Network hosts over 40 events per year like workshops, roundtables, and bootcamps to help entrepreneurs with fundraising and networking. It aims to increase entrepreneurs' chances of getting the right investments and connections to help them succeed and grow.

1. The Capital Network is a non-profit (501c3) organization that provides practical,
hands-on education and personalized mentoring to help early stage entrepreneurs
master the entire funding process and successfully raise seed capital & beyond.
We know fundraising is hard so we provide entrepreneurs with:
Want to know more?
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www.thecapitalnetwork.org
The Right Network
We work with Angel Groups, VC Firms,
Accelerators, Community
Organizations, Service Providers and
Seasoned Entrepreneurs to help you
succeed and grow by increasing your
chances of getting the right kind of
investment and connections.
The Right Programming
In collaboration with the investors who
fund our area’s startups, we create 40+
events a year - workshops, roundtables,
1 on 1 mentoring and bootcamps - that
reflect the latest trends and insights in
the fundraising and startup community.

2. Jodi Collier
Managing Director
Launchpad Venture
Group
Sheila Narayan
Managing Director
Golden Seeds
Ian Mashiter
Angel Investor
Launchpad Venture Group
Director of Entrepreneurship
BU Questrom School of
Business
Applying for Angel Funding Part 1:
An Angel’s Perspective
@TCNupdate www.TheCapitalNetwork.org
David Kessler
Angel Investor
Boston Harbor Angels

3. What are Angel Groups?
• Collections of Investors sharing deal flow and
diligence
• Most comprise individual investors, some are
funds
• Some have a specific focus
• Domain – tech, life sciences, food, education, etc.
• Location
• Demographic – women, minorities, etc.
• “Double bottom line”

4. What are we looking for?
• High growth companies in a large market
• Great team
• “Unfair advantage”
• Disruptive business model
• Disruptive technology
• Network effect
• Green-field
• Intellectual property

5. How do I know I am a fit?
• Determined by
• Stage (Seed/Series A)
• Technology (usually only tech companies)
• Growth potential (need revenue plan)
• Amount to be raised (to next milestone)
• Valuation

6. How do we invest?
We prefer equity, but still
use
convertible debt
● Structured as debt, but really
meant to be equity
● Mechanisms to fix issues may
complicate (caps, discount,
governance)
● Others vehicles being
developed: SAFE, KISS not yet
common here in Boston
Investments typically are
equity
• We get a percentage of the
company at a particular share
price
• We hope to “exit” at a share
price which is a (large) multiple
of our original price

7. How do you find us?
Prior Investors
Other
Introductions
Accelerators
Incubators
Networking
venues
Websites
(useful ONLY when
determining ‘fit’ &
finding networking
leads)

8. What’s our process?
1. Prescreening &
Screening
Referral is the key to
entering the process
2. Pitching
10-20 min presentations +
Q&A
3. Due Diligence
Varies between
groups & deal leads
4. Term Sheet
Negotiation
This is setting a market
price NOT a valuation
5. Syndication &
Funding
6. Repeat

9. Angel Groups: Pros & Cons
PROs
● We can bring a lot of money
to an early stage deal
(“we’re connected”- this works in your
favor!)
● We bring a lot of business
experience
● We bring a huge referral
network
● We often bring deep domain
expertise
● We are often more
“balanced” than individual
investors
CONs
• We’re slow, typically 2 - 6
months
• We’re all connected

10. Stories From The Vault
Times we said YES
Times we said NO

11. Source: ACA (Angel Capital Association)
Angel Investor Forum - East Hartford, CT
Boston Harbor Angels - Boston, MA
Boynton Angels - Worcester, MA
Cherrystone Angel Group - Providence, RI
Clean Energy Venture Group - Boston, MA
CommonAngels - Lexington, MA
DAWA - National/Boston
eCoast Angels - Portsmouth, NH
ECS Angels - Bar Harbor, ME
Edible Ventures Group - Boston, MA
Golden Seeds LLC - Boston, MA, New York,
NY and San Francisco, CA
HubAngels - Cambridge, MA
Landmark Angels - Greenwich, CT
Launchpad Venture Group - Wellesley, MA
Maine Angels - Portland, ME
Mass Medical Angels - Brookline, MA
North Country Angels - Burlington, VT
Ocean State Angels - Providence, RI
Pipeline Angels - Boston, MA
River Valley Investors - Springfield, MA
SideCar Angels - Wellesley, MA
TiE Angels - Boston - Boston, MA
Topstone Angels - Darien, CT
UMASS Lowell New Venture Fund - Lowell,
MA
Some Angel Groups In NE

12. Alternatives to Angel Funding
● Bootstrapping
● Friends & Family
● Business Plan / Pitch Competitions
● SALES!
● Crowdfunding
● Debt Financing
● Grants SBIR, SBA (local, federal, industry
specific, etc.)
● Equity Crowdfunding
● Strategic Partners