Here’s a treasure trove of tips for entrepreneurs seeking private equity capital. This is a great place to start if you’re just gearing up to raise money, or if you want to strengthen your pitch to potential investors.

A special thanks to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and to Nate Silverman of Silverman Consulting for providing content for the documents below.

AIN GuideBook

Alaska InvestNet's GuideBook for Angel Investors and Entrepreneurs
Thank you for taking time to explore our book! As you flip through the pages, you’ll find an explanatory termsheet, presentation tips, sample capitalization tables and a variety of other resources for angel investors and entrepreneurs.

cap tables explained.xls
This file compliments the section on Cap Tables in the GuideBook.

cap tables explained.pdf
If you do not have Microsoft Excel you can still view this file in a PDF format. You will not have the interactive functionality of an Excel Spreadsheet.

Documents

Various Business Structures & Classes of Ownership
Congratulations on thinking about going into business for yourself. That’s the first of many steps. The next step is to visualize what your company will be, what it will do, and how you will benefit. Part of that decision dictates how you will form your company in the eyes of the law and tax authorities.

Debt vs. Equity vs. Grants
The reality is that for start up companies, all money is not the same. How you get, what you can do with, and what it costs to receive money from investors is different than money from debt or grants or even revenue from customers.

Company Valuation
A recent survey of managing partners of venture capital firms asked, “What is the most common mistake entrepreneurs make as they try to raise money?” Part of the most common response was, “Not understanding how to properly determine the value of their company.”

Glossary of Investing Terms
If you've ever wondered what "Convertible Securities" or "Full Ratchet Antidilutions" are then this glossary will be an invaluable asset for you.

Presentation Tips
Keep it simple. PowerPoint has many features and options that are unnecessary. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. Don’t use builds, let alone fancy animation, to introduce new lines or graphics. Using them makes it harder to navigate quickly and inevitably slows things down. Use one click per slide and have the whole slide appear. Effective speakers can still build the suspense without...

10 Tips
Do as much as you can before talking to investors and begin fund-raising early. You don’t want to say, “I only need $10,000 within the next three weeks to file patent.” Why not? First, while it may seem like a lot of money to many of us, ten thousand dollars is really not that much money to an ambitious entrepreneur. You should be able to raise that yourself or through...

Business Basics
Whether you’re talking to investors, banks or granting organizations, you will need a well-written business plan that is clear, concise and compelling. Everyone who has money to offer a company likely receives more quality proposals than they could possibly fund. So it’s important to know what the various kinds of funders are looking for and steer their decision in your favor.

AIN Term Sheet Template 1
Here's an example termsheet with accompanying explanations.

AIN Term Sheet Template 2
This example termsheet has notes explaining which terms are investor-favorable and which are company-favorable.

Cap Tables Explained
Capitalization tables (“cap tables”) are used to record and track ownership in a company. If you are a sole proprietor, then it is not necessary to use a cap table – you own 100% of the company. But, if you will raise money from investors and thus share ownership in the company, cap tables are not only helpful, but necessary as you begin discussions with possible investors and, hopefully, pay out dividends from profitable operations and/or divvy up the windfall after you sell the company. If you do take the company public, you also need to be able to show who owns how many shares…so they can sell them on the open exchange (NASDAQ or the NYSE).

Cap Tables Explained: Excel File
This excel file compliments the Cap Table Explanation.

Anchorage Journal of Commerce Wealthbuilders

Understanding Alaskan Angel Investors
In an effort to better understand the characteristics and behaviors of Alaskan angel investors, Alaska InvestNet recently conducted a survey of this small but growing group of folks who take calculated investment risks on up-and-coming ventures. 17 local accredited* investors responded to the survey, each with significant net worth and with interest or experience in early-stage private equity transactions. Below is a summary of some of the key findings...

Starting an Angel Organization
Susan Preston, Entrepreneur-in-Residence with the Kauffman Foundation and founder of Seraph Capital, an all-women's angel investment forum, recently visited Anchorage to discuss national trends in angel investing and to find out if Alaska has what it takes to launch a full-fledged angel network. The workshop, titled The Power of Angel Investing: Starting an Angel Organization, is part of a series of educational seminars put together by the Kauffman Foundation in their effort to enhance entrepreneurship in the U.S. Twentyfive Alaskans attended the event, including angel investors, economic development professionals and a variety of entrepreneurs...

The Power of Angel Investing
The importance in American history and economics of private investments in risky ventures can hardly be overplayed. From the colonial entrepreneurs who crashed ashore what is now New England to the investor-backed expansion of the West, from the rise of the automobile to the internet revolution, risk capital and innovation are two ingredients that in tandem have helped define our country...

Want Investors to Take a Swing? Practice Your Pitch!
So, you’ve got a goose that lays golden eggs, eh? If only you had a couple bucks for chickenfeed, this bird would make us all rich, you say? As an entrepreneur approaching private investors, you’d better come equipped with more than just a fairy tale. Today’s angels have short attentions, sharp pencils and rarely give a second chance. A key to being successful in raising early-stage financing for your start-up lies in knowing your market. Not just your product market or your service market, but the market of investors who might give you a chance to pitch your company to them...

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