1Mby1M Udemy Courses with Sramana Mitra: Financing

Raising money to build a startup is a huge challenge. To be able to raise any money at all, you must first understand how investors think. We have developed the following courses catering to entrepreneurs in different stages of their entrepreneurial journey.

Seed Capital From Angel Investors: Michael Gruber, Founder and Managing Director, Cornerstone Angels (Part 1)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold

This is the thirty-ninth interview in our series on financing for entrepreneurs. I am talking Michael Gruber, founder and managing director of Cornerstone Angels, a Chicago-based group of angels that seeks to provide financial capital and mentorship to early-stage companies in the greater Midwest. >>>

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Seed Capital From Angel Investors: Christina Brodbeck, Silicon Valley (Part 1)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold

This is the thirty-eighth interview in our series on financing for entrepreneurs. I am talking to Christina Brodbeck, a Silicon Valley angel investor and the co-founder of a soon-to-be-launched startup called TheIceBreak. Christina was part of the YouTube founding team. She designed YouTube’s first user interface and later was responsible for creating interface that brought YouTube videos to cell phones. She invests primarily in the Bay Area. >>>

Seed Capital From Angel Investors: Mike Hirshland, General Partner, Polaris Ventures (Part 1)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold

This is the thirty-seventh interview in our series on financing for entrepreneurs. I am talking to Mike Hirshland, General Partner at Polaris Ventures. The firm invests in seed, first round, and early stage technology and life science businesses. Headquartered in Boston, it has currently over $3 billion under management and investments in more than 100 companies, primarily in Boston, the San Francisco Bay Area, and New York. >>>

Seed Capital From Angel Investors: Eric Pozzo, Fund Manager, Oregon Angel Fund (Part 1)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold

This is the thirty-sixth interview in our series on financing for entrepreneurs. I am talking to Eric Pozzo, fund manager at the Oregon Angel Fund. It is a professionally managed, investor-driven angel organization that launches a new $3 million fund each spring and invests in companies in Oregon and southwest Washington. >>>

Seed Capital From Angel Investors: Venktesh Shukla, Chair, TiE Angels (Part 1)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold

This is the thirty-fifth interview in our series on financing for entrepreneurs. I am talking to Venktesh Shukla, chair of TiE Angels.

TiE Angels is an angel investment group formed by charter members of TiE Silicon Valley, the flagship chapter of TiE organization globally.

TiE global is a not-for-profit network of entrepreneurs and professionals dedicated to the advancement of entrepreneurship. It is spread across 55 chapters in 13 countries comprising 2,000 experienced entrepreneurs and business executives and 13,000 aspiring entrepreneurs and professionals as members.

TiE originally stood for The Indus Entrepreneurs, reflecting the South Asian background of the individuals who chartered the organization in 1992. Over time, TiE has come to represent Talent, Ideas and Enterprise, or The Innovative Ecosystems, through its activities and influences, lending a number of meanings to its acronym.

TiE Angels is a group of about 50 angel investors with approximate net worth of over $2 billion and investment focus on Northern California at the time of this interview.

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Seed Capital From Angel Investors: Kindra Tatarsky, Director of Operations, Golden Seeds (Part 1)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold

This is the thirty-fourth interview in our series on financing for entrepreneurs. I am talking to Kindra Tatarsky, director of operations at Golden Seeds, a network of angel investors dedicated to investing in early stage companies founded and/or led by women. Golden Seeds has more than 150 accredited investors, with locations in New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and San Francisco. >>>

Seed Capital From Angel Investors: Chenoa Farnsworth, Executive Director, Hawaii Angels (Part 1)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold

This is the thirty-third interview in our series on financing for entrepreneurs. I am talking to Chenoa Farnsworth, executive director of Hawaii Angels, a non-profit organization of about 80 angel investors that has chapters on Maui, Oahu, and the Big Island.

Irina: Hi, Chenoa. Let’s start briefly with your background and how you got to this point in your life.

Chenoa: Prior to this, I had a company that did consulting for startups on strategy. About four years ago, I also started a venture capital fund with a couple partners. We started the angel group in 2002; I was one of the co-founders of that group and then took over the management of it last year. >>>

Seed Capital From Angel Investors: Dave Whorton, Founder, Tugboat Ventures (Part 1)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold

This is the thirty-second interview in our series on financing for entrepreneurs. I am talking to Dave Whorton, the founder of Tugboat Ventures, an organization of investors who see themselves as not “venture capitalists” but rather as “mentor capitalists,” closer in spirit to the approach pioneered by Tom Perkins in the 1970s.  Based in Palo Alto, California, they prefer to invest in companies in the San Francisco Bay Area with a focus on consumer Internet, enterprise software-as-a-service, mobility, and the next generation of online advertising companies. >>>

Seed Capital From Angel Investors: Lewis Hower, Executive Director, University Impact Fund (Part 1)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold

This is the thirty-first interview in our series on financing for entrepreneurs. I am talking to Lewis Hower, executive director of University Impact Fund, which bills itself as the first student-run social impact seed financing organization for entrepreneurs that intends to deliver a return to its investors.

Based in Salt Lake City, the fund plans to use local students to source and analyze deals that address socioeconomic issues, such as clean water, waste management, and alternative energy. The fund size is planned to be at about $10 million to $15 million when fundraising is completed. >>>

Seed Capital From Angel Investors: Dave McClure, Founder, 500 Startups (Part 1)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold

This is the thirtieth interview in our series on financing for entrepreneurs. I am talking to Dave McClure, an angel investor and the founder of 500 Startups, which is a seed fund and startup accelerator based in Mountain View, California.

Irina: Hi Dave, Let’s start briefly with your background.

Dave: I grew up in West Virginia and went to school in Maryland. After I graduated from Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, I came out to the West Coast.

The first two years I was a programmer and database developer. And after two years realized I couldn’t work for anybody else, so I started my own consulting company. I ran a small consulting group from 1994 to 1998. That was about 20 people. >>>

Seed Capital From Angel Investors: Ira Weiss, Hyde Park Angels (Part 1)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold

This is the twenty-ninth interview in our series on financing for entrepreneurs. I am talking to Ira Weiss, who is the faculty director at University of Chicago Booth School of Business (Chicago Booth) and co-manager of Hyde Park Angels,  an angel network that is affiliated with the university and invests in seed and early-stage companies, primarily in the Midwest. >>>

Seed Capital From Angel Investors: Elizabeth Marchi, Frontier Angel Fund (Part 1)

By guest author Irina Patterson

This is the twenty-eighth interview in our series on financing for entrepreneurs. I am talking to Elizabeth Marchi, fund coordinator at Frontier Angel Fund LLC. It’s a member managed pooled fund – that is, they review deals together and then vote to invest their pooled capital. Their investments range from $100,000 to $200,000 and they invest in companies based in Montana and the inland Pacific Northwest. >>>

Seed Capital from Angel Investors: Dick Reeves, Executive Director, Huntsville Angel Network (Part 1)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold.

This is the twenty-seventh interview in our series on financing for entrepreneurs. I am talking to Dick Reeves, executive director of Huntsville Angel Network that services entrepreneurs in and around Huntsville, Alabama, where it’s based.

Irina: Hi, Dick. Why don’t we start with you telling me a little bit about your background and how you became an angel investor?

Dick: Well, I am a serial entrepreneur, a technical entrepreneur. I’ve done a number of businesses in our town over the past 35 years and raised angel capital from individual, random angels for three of those businesses. >>>

Seed Capital from Angel Investors: Raymond Chan, Tech Coast Angels (Part 1)

By guest author Irina Patterson

This is the twenty-sixth interview in our series on financing for entrepreneurs. I am talking to Raymond Chan, a member of Tech Coast Angels. TCA has over 260  members and provides funding and guidance to early-stage, high-growth companies in Southern California.

Irina: Hi, Ray. Let’s start with your personal background.

Ray: I have been an angel investor for the past twenty-some years. I’ve been investing into startups — mostly in communications and consumer Internet. I joined Tech Coast Angels about three and a half years ago. Since then I have been involved with a group and made several investments over the past few years, and on top of that I’m on the board of directors of TCA. I’m also in charge of the marketing and PR, and all of our entrepreneur programs for the organization. >>>

Seed Capital From Angel Investors: George Zachary, General Partner, Charles River Ventures (Part 1)

By guest author Irina Patterson

This is the twenty-fifth interview in our series on financing for entrepreneurs. I am talking to George Zachary, general partner of Charles River Ventures, one of the nation’s oldest early-stage venture capital firms.

CRV invests in the data communications and software & services sectors and provides entrepreneurs with access to a combination of financial backing, start-up operations expertise, and strategic business services. Over the past ten years, CRV’s funds have been ranked among the industry’s top performers. George’s personal focus is consumer Internet. He is based in Menlo Park, California. >>>