When: Submissions are due April 23, 2010

What:  Process to submit your company to ATIF for its quarterly meeting of investors

Where: Companies can submit online: http://angelsoft.net/angel-group/atif

To be qualified for consideration, submitting ventures must be based in Arizona, a technology company that’s either in start-up phase or early stage, and seeking investments of up to $500,000. All companies are required to provide a business plan, financial plan, executive summary and an investor presentation.

The ATIF Selection Committee will evaluate all submissions during the month of January in preparation for the May Investor Meeting. Applicants will be notified by May 5, 2010, of the results of the Selection Committee, and finalists will present to ATIF members on Friday, May 21.  Prior to the investor meeting, finalists will work closely with an ATIF due diligence team in preparation for their presentation.

Early stage technology ventures that are interested in the ATIF submission process can learn more at http://atif-az.org/entrepreneurs.

About ATIF

The Arizona Technology Investor Forum (ATIF) is an active community of accredited investors who invest in early-stage technology companies based in Arizona. ATIF was founded in 2007 and has quickly become an important resource for new technology ventures that are the future of our local economy. Since May 2007, ATIF members have invested over $2.3 million in Arizona-based technology ventures that have presented at ATIF meetings.

The Desert Angels is once again hosting the Southwest Regional Angel Summit in Tucson, Arizona.  The Summit will take place on March 21-22, 2010.  Angels from around Arizona, as well as Southern California, Nevada, and New Mexico, have agreed to participate in our 3rd annual summit.

Please join fellow angel investors from across the Southwest to discuss key angel issues, including deal syndication, term sheets, developing a regional deal database, and receive updates on the state of follow-on VC funding.

March 21-22, 2010
Lodge on the Desert
306 N Alvernon Way
Tucson, AZ 85711

Register Today at: http://www.tfaforms.com/142362

Special group rate of $129/night available for Summit participants. Visit www.lodgeonthedesert.com and use Group Code ANGEL to reserve your room at the special rate.

Golf Tournament
Sunday, March 21st
Skyline Country Club
$66 fee

If you have any questions, please contact me directly. Thank you.

Bob Morrison
Director, Desert Angels
bob@desertangels.org
(520) 490-8137

“Anyone who has recently spent anytime fundraising for a consumer Internet start-up in Silicon Valley quickly comes to an inescapable conclusion: there is effectively no Venture Capital available to Consumer Internet startups.

“How could that be?” you say. After all didn’t Twitter just raise 100 large @ $1BN post? Didn’t Facebook raise $200M @ $10BN pre? Yes indeed they did, but rather than confirming the health of Consumer Internet Venture Capital, these deals merely provide prime examples of how screwed up the space is.

Too Many Deals Needing Too Little Money
To be sure, there is plenty of investment capital available for Consumer Internet companies that have demonstrated significant market traction in terms of traffic or revenues, but there’s almost none available for what (up until recently) would be considered the sweet spot of true VCs: Seed or Series A startups. Alas, the “days of a bright entrepreneur thinking up a great idea, putting together a business plan, and then having a Sand Hill VC take a leap of faith to fund the business are effectively over, probably for good.”

Burnham goes on to describe some of the trends affecting VC investments in consumer Internet ventures.  With launch costs falling and VC funds increasing in size, the traditional VC model must move to bigger investments in more proven companies. Combine that with the random nature of success in the space, and it’s no wonder VC’s have pulled back from seed investments.

“Implications of the Great Abdication
There is nothing inherently wrong with what the VCs are doing. They are arguably acting very rationally given the market trends they are faced with and more than a few will probably generate good returns with this strategy. However, their behavior does have several long term implications for the Consumer Internet space including:

1. Angel investors are becoming the dominant force in Consumer Internet Venture capital. The vacuum created by the withdrawal of VCs from traditional Seed and Series A opportunities in the Consumer Internet space has been filled by a motley collection of angel investors. It is angel investors, not VCs, that are writing checks based on good ideas, business plans, and “alpha sites”; not VCs. The importance of angel investors is such that it is not unusual these days to see an internet startup publicly announce its round of angel funding, when in the past such events didn’t merit a public mention. Yes, angel investors have always provided seed money, but today they typically provide 100% of what was once considered Series A money as well.
2. VCs are boxing themselves into a pretty tight investment window. VCs retreating to the expansion stage makes a lot of sense in theory, the only problem is that if all of them retreat at the same time, it can make for some screwy market dynamics. I can count on two hands the number of VCs in the last 3 months who have told me something along the lines of “this market is crazy, anything with traction is getting multiple bids at huge valuations without even putting together a powerpoint presentation, while everything else is just roadkill.” The reason this is happening is that you have a ton of VCs sitting on a ton of capital (which they have to deploy) and they all are holding out hope that they will be the one person to realize that a company has started taking off before anyone else does. The reality is that the traction is obvious to everyone (quantcast anyone?) and they all swoop in at the same time. What’s more, because of the dynamics in the consumer internet market, most “hot” companies entering the expansion stage will end up spending very little time there. It seems as though if you blink, a company can go from interesting alpha site to 50 million uniques and at 50 million uniques the companies are demanding what would traditionally be considered late stage valuations. Thus there is a very short window of opportunity to fund “hot” internet startups and way too many VCs with way too much money chasing just a few “hot” deals within this window.
3. Only “small ball” ideas are getting funded. Because VCs generally won’t back Seed or Series A startups, these startups must rely on angels for financing. Now putting together $100K or even $250K in angel financing is doable for most entrepreneurs, but much more than that can be difficult to accomplish. This is leading to kind of natural selection in that only internet companies that require $250K or less to get off the ground are even being started. If you have a really big idea that requires $5M before it can launch, you might as well not bother because your chances of getting funded are close to zero. Now big ideas aren’t necessarily better, just look at WebVan, but the current state of consumer Internet VC is so biased against big ideas that one has to wonder: are there big ideas that are being left on the table simply because VC’s aren’t willing to stomach the upfront risk?“

While Bill is dead on in his analysis, it’s not all gloom and doom for Internet ventures.  Angels continue to invest in these deals, and new investment models are beginning to fill the VC gap.  Incubator/investment programs like Y Combinator and Techstars have achieved success by providing great mentoring and a structured program in addition to a small amount of capital.  The Founders Fund and fbFund REV use a metric driven development model to guide internet startups, thus creating a scalable investment infrastructure.  And more traditional VC funds continue to make a name for themselves in this space (Union Square Ventures, First Round Capital).

So don’t despair, but be aware of the current market conditions.

And the momentum is building.  As VC’s pull back on new investments and banks reduce lending, we are seeing better deals than ever before.  Typical deals now have paying customers, completed products, an experienced team, huge markets and solid growth potential.  As an example, at our quarterly meeting in October, ATIF looked at 4 deals meeting these criteria AND INVESTED IN ALL OF THEM.

So next time you hear someone say, “there’s no capital for startups in Arizona”, politely disagree and let them know about ATIF.

Arizona Technology Investor Forum Becomes Separate Entity from ASU, Names New Director and Announces New Initiatives

(Tempe, Ariz. – Nov. 12, 2009) – The Arizona Technology Investor Forum (ATIF), an angel investment group focused on early stage technology companies, announces the organization has spun off from ASU and is focused on growing its presence and influence in Arizona. As part of the transition, ATIF named Paul Winandy, experienced investor and entrepreneur, as the organizations’ new director. Paul replaces Tom Duening, who founded ATIF in 2007. Duening left the Fulton School of Engineering at ASU to take a new position with the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.

“I’m excited to say that Tom Duening, our members, and key Fulton School faculty have embraced this change as an opportunity to grow ATIF and continue our mission for investors and tech entrepreneurs in Arizona,” said Paul Winandy, director of ATIF. “We look forward to an exciting new year for entrepreneurship and innovation. You can bet ATIF will be at the heart of some of Arizona’s most exciting ventures in 2010 and beyond.”

Paul Winandy has been a leading contributor to four successful startup businesses; two of which were named to the Inc. 500 list and concluded with acquisitions by public firms. Tom Duening remains an emeritus member of the ATIF board of directors. Additionally, the new board consists of some of the most influential investors and businesses people in Arizona including:  Nicholas Aretakis, Arkayne; Ed Hall, Associate Dean in the Fulton School of Engineering; Michael Hool, Hool Law Group; Chuck Jirauch, Quarles & Brady; and Rob Logan, ShaMac Holdings.

Additional exciting changes at ATIF include:

• A new website: www.atif-az.org is the official website of ATIF. The new site contains important information for both entrepreneurs and investors.

• ATIF will now have four Investor Meetings a year (previously three meetings) to allow more startups to present to ATIF members.

• ATIF is now an independent, non-profit organization that still has tie to ASU but operates under it’s own private management.

• ATIF is aiming to partner with all major investor and entrepreneurship organizations to create more opportunity and growth to the states’ business community.

About ATIF
The Arizona Technology Investor Forum (ATIF) is an active community of accredited investors who invest in early-stage technology companies based in Arizona. ATIF was founded in 2007 and has quickly become an important resource for new technology ventures that are the future of our local economy. Since May 2007, ATIF members have invested over $2.3 million in Arizona-based technology ventures that have presented at ATIF meetings.

In August, the founder of ATIF, Tom Duening, left the Fulton School of Engineering at ASU to take a new position with the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. As a result, we needed to elect new leadership, develop a board of directors, and create a new organization structure outside of Arizona State University.

I’m excited to say that Tom Duening, our members, and key Fulton School faculty have embraced this change as an opportunity to grow ATIF and continue our mission for investors and tech entrepreneurs in Arizona. We wish Tom well with his new (and snowy) adventures in Colorado.  Tom remains an emeritus member of the ATIF board of directors and we look forward to seeing him at future ATIF meetings.

Here are just a few of the changes under way:

1) ATIF is now an independent, non-profit organization. We are happy to continue to have close ties to ASU, but we no longer require ASU staff to manage our group and provide administrative support.

2) We now have our own website. Yes, www.atif-az.org is the official website of ATIF. Take a look around and let us know what you think.  We will continue to update the site with more useful information for entrepreneurs and angel investors.

3) We are reaching out to more Arizona universities, entrepreneur organizations, angel investor groups, venture capitalists and others to ensure the best deal flow for ATIF investors.

4) We will have four Investor Meetings a year (previously was three meetings) to allow more startups to present to ATIF members. Three startups present at each meeting – so that’s 12 presenting startups a year.

5) And then there’s me. I’m Paul Winandy, the new director of ATIF.  I am honored to help lead such a dynamic organization of investors and community leaders.  Our mission remains the same … to be the most active and engaged technology investor group in Arizona.  I look forward to helping ATIF achieve that lofty goal.

We have a number of other changes in the works, so keep an eye out for more announcements.

Don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions about ATIF or see any opportunities for us to work together.

Paul Winandy
ATIF Director
paul.winandy@atif-az.org

ATIF, the Arizona Technology Investor Forum, is now accepting submissions from early-stage Arizona technology companies interested in presenting at its October 2, 2009 meeting.  ATIF, an angel investment group connected with the ASU Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering, connects technology ventures in Arizona with active investors. ATIF has invested over $2 million in seven ventures over the past two years.

When: Submissions are due August 17, 2009

What:  Process to submit your company to ATIF for its quarterly meeting of investors

Where: Companies can submit online: http://angelsoft.net/angel-group/atif

“ATIF members are accredited investors, most of whom live in the Valley. They have strong interest not only in investing in worthy technology ventures, but also in seeing their investments create new economic opportunities in the community,” said ATIF director, Dr. Thomas Duening. “To make that happen, many take active roles in the ventures in which they invest. I would encourage any technology venture seeking capital to find out if ATIF is the right organization for them.”

To be qualified for consideration, submitting ventures must be based in Arizona, a technology company that’s either in start-up phase or early stage, and seeking investments of up to $500,000. All companies are required to provide a business plan, financial plan, executive summary and an investor presentation.

The ATIF Selection Committee will evaluate all submissions during the month of September in preparation for the October Investor Meeting. Applicants will be notified by September 14 of the results of the Selection Committee, and finalists will present to ATIF members on Friday, October 2.  Prior to the investor meeting, finalists will work closely with an ATIF due diligence team in preparation for their presentation.

Early stage technology ventures that are interested in the ATIF submission process can learn more at: http://atif.asu.edu/entrepreneurs.php.

About ATIF

ATIF is a non-profit entity associated with ASU’s Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering and its Entrepreneurial Programs Office (EPO). Its mission is to generate a new wave of technology entrepreneurship by providing needed seed or early-stage funding for qualified ventures. Limited to Arizona-based companies, and investments of $50,000 to $500,000, ATIF provides the fuel for early stage ventures to achieve critical milestones and refine business models.

February 20 – ATIF Investor Meeting

March 26 – The Growing Gap Between Emerging Technologies and Ethics

Dr. Brad Allenby: Dean’s Lecture Series

April 29 – Education Forum

May – Education Forum

May 28 – Membership Information Luncheon (Open to Accredited Investors)

June 5 – ATIF Investor Meeting

September – Education Forum

October 2 – ATIF Investor Meeting

December 4 – Member Social Event