When I wrote my post titled An Angel Investor Group Move That Makes Me Vomit I expected to write my little rant and be done with it. A month or so later Jason Calacanis picked up the mantle and started a Jihad against the idea of angel groups charging entrepreneurs to pitch to them.
The result is the Open Angel Forum. I participated in the second event last week in Boulder. I thought it was spectacular and the twitter stream from #OAFCO reflected this sentiment. About 20 active (at least four investments in the past year) early stage investors (angels and seed stage VCs) attended. Six entrepreneurs presented their companies in short seven minute pitches. Five sponsors underwrote the food and drink at the event. There was plenty of networking before and after. That was it – small, intimate, and highly relevant to all.
Most of the presenters wrote blog posts about the event which will give you a great feel for what they experienced.
- Odojo – My Experience presenting at The Open Angel Forum
- FaceFile – Open Angel Forum Colorado
- Grogger – OAF: Things Getting Better for Entrepreneurs
- TeamSnap – TeamSnap presents at Open Angel Forum
- Kijubi – Kijubi @ Open Angel Forum in Boulder Colorado
The events continue with Open Angel Forum San Francisco on March 4th and Open Angel Forum New York City on April 8th. If you are an entrepreneur or an angel investor in either city, check them out.