Quarter Finals, Due Diligence, New Investors = Amazing!

Great Business Pitches

What an amazing couple of weeks of pitches from 22 amazing companies. The investors loved so many of the entrepreneurs and products that were presented picking just twelve was incredibly difficult. I think that it gets more difficult with every conference. The entrepreneurs presenting are better, the business models are better, and there is more acceptance of feedback and a willingness to learn. After a couple of hours of discussion about which entrepreneurs, ideas, and markets were best suited for the group of investors we finally picked twelve great companies to move to the semifinals. Some have been through the Seattle Angel Conference before and some are new companies.

New Investors

The cool thing about the Seattle Angel Conference is that each conference has roughly half of the investors who have never invested with the conference before. This means the companies who pitched in the past have both advanced their businesses and are pitching to new investors. This is great for the investors and for the entrepreneurs.

Due Diligence on the Semi-Finalists Has Begun

Over the next two weeks we’ll get to know the twelve entrepreneurs better and their businesses. On the 22nd we’ll be picking the six finalists who we’ll get to know more intimately and ultimately make an investment in. It seems like just a few short weeks ago we started this process and we are just over a month away from writing our check! This is great for the investors who are learning to be angel investors and great for the entrepreneurs seeking funding.

-Josh Maher, Lead SACV