Jay Sachetti joined Jeff O’Brien, partner at Husch Blackwell and Dyanne Ross-Hanson, president of Exit Planning Strategies talked about the market for mergers and acquisitions, exit planning opportunities for companies that don’t end up for sale and how companies can maximize their eventual sale price during an early October panel at the first Upsize on Tap event at Summit Brewing Co. in St. Paul.
When the state Legislature passed a law requiring employers to provide paid leave and safe time for employees, Justin Bieganek started hearing differing details from friends, colleagues and peers.
INFORMER :: ANGEL INVESTORS
Research says only
25 locals serve as
?gatekeepers? to angels
Only about 25 local people serve as gatekeepers to all the deep-pocketed angel investors in Minnesota, according to new research by Mike Porter, owner of Sopra Voce consulting firm, who has earned a newly minted doctoral degree.
He calls such people ?archangels,? and they fiercely guard access to ?their? investors. But they allow access to those entrepreneurs who demonstrate certain skills, primary among them the ability to find the archangels in the first place.
?The fact that it is hard to find an angel is part of the process,? Porter explains.
?The skills an entrepreneur learns to get to the angels, it?s the first hurdle,? Porter says. ?If you get to me,? the archangel figures, ?You learned the skills you need to be successful.?
Porter spent the past year researching his dissertation topic, and the findings are different from what he thought. ?I expected to find, if you do this, and this, and this, and then this,? you?ll successfully attract angel investment.
He was also surprised to find the low number, about 25 to 30, of what he came to call the gatekeepers.
Porter was allowed the rare opportunity of sitting in meetings of angel investors as they heard presentations by entrepreneurs. ?All of the people I talked with, if they didn?t have a confidence in the team it wasn?t going to happen,? Porter says.
?I heard a lot about, ?Can I work with this person? Will this person learn?? If the entrepeneur said, ?Well, you don?t need to worry about that? ? No. No. No.
?The kiss of death is the entrepreneur who thinks they know everything,? he says. ?If you give the impression that you just want the money, forget it. They?re not looking for someone to be humble, but they want someone to be realistic.?
Porter wants to use his findings to influence public policy in Minnesota to encourage angel investments. He?s also reworking his consulting business, Sopra Voce, to focus on assessing company culture during times of mergers and acquisitions.
Mike Porter: Sopra Voce: 952.881.3426; mc*@********ce.com; www.sopra-voce.com
