By Dr Smith – the Good Bad and Very Ugly

Most of the time the partnerships which form between founders and angel investors are productive but, in a few cases, I have seen it turn very destructive.

Companies that should have realized success have been held back by investor partnerships that have severely limited their potential or, in some cases, doomed them to failure…

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Budget Puts the Squeeze Business Angels

in this latest emergency Budget the Chancellor has gone out of his way to show that Britain may be weighed down by a mammoth budget deficit to reduce, but it is still open for business. Or is it?

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UK budget provides unexpected boost to entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs can now claim Capital Gains Tax relief on up to £5m worth of business sales in a lifetime – this is up from £2m in March and £1m only 6 months ago.

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If personality is no guide to start-up success – what is?

Business angels will already know this in their gut, but a recent survey of entrepreneurial literature has told us, here at iBusinessAngel, that personality is no guide to success.

Various firms have been developing psychometric tests to identify the personality traits of a successful entrepreneur and it turns out, that there is no agreement on whether any of these work. So what can research tell us?

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Women business angels expected to rise in 2010

A new national programme to attract women into business angel investing has been announced by Finance South East and the British Business Angels Association (BBAA)

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Where Business Angel Investors Fear to Tread

Investors in early stage and start-up businesses are known as angel investors. The tag ‘angel’ coming from their tendency to operate in the margins where venture capitalists, banks and other backers choose not to go.

They also help plug a major funding gap to get such ventures off the ground and they happen to be the kind of investors who are prepared to take a risk, rely on their instincts and invest large sums without too many hard questions asked.

At least this is the accepted view.

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How should Entrepreneurs and Investors cope with a Second Recession?

In the first recession investors wanted business plans that offered new simplified services or goods that make things work better (ie. increase efficiency – such as self-service on the web for better prices) or that reduce costs (such as better conferencing or collaboration on the web allowing businesses to cut corporate travel). However, as opinions [...]

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Venture Capital’s 70% drop creates Business Angel Opportunity

“Venture Capital funds available for start-up and growth businesses has dropped 70% since 2000″, said Anne Glover chief executive of Amadeus Capital Partners at the BBAA Annual Awards Dinner. This means that businesses seeking new capital that are unable to raise bank finance (and who is able at present?) will need to increasingly turn to [...]

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Business Angels need training!

Business Angels need training – that was the overwhelming message coming from the British Business Angels Association annual conference held at the Belfry in early July. Quoting new research from Nesta, Mogwenna Rees-Mogg stated that a ’56% failure rate for Business Angel investing is not good enough’. This means that for every £1 invested by [...]

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British Business Angels meet at the Belfry today

The BBAA (British Business Angels Association) trade body is today organising its annual awards ceremony and conference at the Belfry. The event is sponsored by Advantage West Midlands, the redevelopment agency for the West Midlands. It will include both an opportunity to recognise key contributions made to this growth sector during the year at the annual awards dinner [...]

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Debt vs Equity Investing

The FT neatly describes the difference between Debt and Equity when it argues today, that the tax treatment should be the same for both. Of course, the fact that it is not has led investors to structure their deals to take advantage of the difference. And, flavour of the month is convertible debt. But more of [...]

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iBusinessAngel launching Autumn 2009

Small businesses and start up ventures can no longer access easy investment from banks and therefore need to turn to private individuals – or business angels. These business angels also often bring a degree of industry experience and knowledge that can be invaluable for small or start-up companies. The UK has the highest number of [...]

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