My guest this week is Julianne Brands, who heads up Research and Analysis at the Oregon Angel Fund. We discuss the workings of the fund, key traits they look for in founders and companies, and more! I hope you’ll enjoy our conversation as much as I did.
Topics Discussed
- The stage when Oregon Angel Fund (OAF) makes an investment in a company
- What that money gets used for
- How OAF is structured to have an informational edge in making its investments
- Three key responsibilities of a CEO: Provide a vision and plan for the company, recruit top talent, and make sure there’s always money in the bank
- Key traits of successful entrepreneurs: Ability to stay flexible, providing plan and vision up until the moment those things need to change. Ability to know what a customer will want or need two years in advance. Humility and transparency.
- Indicators of transparency and honesty
- Humility v confidence. Balancing transparency with the need to build confidence among investors.
- “I would love a way of tracking the investments we missed out on”
- Story of a particularly resourceful entrepreneur
- Portland has some really scrappy companies, able to produce results with minimal outside capital. Starting as services, before spinning out a product.
- “What is the problem that you really want to solve?” You need that purpose, passion, enthusiasm for the problem you’re solving rather than the product you’re building.
- “What type of company do you want to build?” Do you want investors? Partners? Rocket-ship or slow and steady profitable company that grows year over year.
- Investing to build the startup community in Oregon
- Emma McIlroy at Wild Fang, a women’s lifestyle brand. Using brand to raise money for the last abortion clinic in South Dakota. And using that authentic action to strengthen their brand. Representing their customers’ attitudes.
Book Recommendations:
Before working with OAF, read these three:
Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman (for investors)
Brad Feld’s books on Startup Investing, and his Blog
Links to all the books referenced are available in the shownotes. If you want to donate to Wild Fang’s Indie Go-Go Campaign which we mentioned at towards the end, I included a link to that as well. https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/save-the-last-abortion-clinic-in-south-dakota#/
Ratings and reviews! I want them! This week, deepseadylan says, “This show takes you from restaurant owners to falconers on a journey to discover what makes a successful entrepreneur. I’m always amazed at how much I learn about both new subjects and starting a business.” Thanks deepseadylan, and the rest of you, take note! I need to show up higher in the rankings so more people can discover Why they should Try!
Music for this podcast is by Cambrian Explosion, who once travelled back in time to hunt the mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex, but stepped on a butterfly, creating a ripple effect that led to the crazy world we now inhabit. You gotta appreciate though, that the world is pretty good. So thanks, Cambrian Explosion, I’m sure that was the plan all along. You can find their music stomping its way across the internet on Apple iTunes, Spotify, and cepdx.bandcamp.com
Thanks for listening
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 55:53 — 37.0MB)