Maverick Angels launches AngelLink, a “virtual investment network”

February 3, 2009 | Anthony Ha | Comments | |

Maverick Angels is a Los Angeles-based network of angel investors — but it’s opening its doors to potential members around the country with AngelLink, its new “virtual investment network,” which allows members to watch and discuss startup pitches online.

At first, I thought AngelLink sounded similar to Angelsoft, the popular dealflow management software for angels, but it’s actually a very different product. Whereas Angelsoft provides technology to more than 450 angel groups and venture funds, AngelLink is all about allowing investors anywhere to access a single group. Maverick Angels founder John Dilts says his group is the first to go virtual in this way, but it’s an approach that makes sense. If that’s true, I’d expect at least a few angel groups to follow suit — participating through a website has drawbacks compared to meeting in-person, but there’s also an advantage to removing a group’s geographic constraints.

Dilts says the defining characteristic of AngelLink will be quality — of the investors who are already part of Maverick Angels, of the new members they’ll allow to join (you have to be accredited by the Securities and Exchange Commission, by the way), and of the entrepreneurs who pitch. He doesn’t provide too many details about Maverick’s investments and returns, in part because all deals are made individually, but he says the group includes “seasoned executives” from Nestle, Citibank, Washington Mutual, and Broadcom, and that his personal best return was 20 times the investment.

You can read socalTech’s interview with Dilts here.

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About the Author, Anthony Ha

Anthony is VentureBeat's assistant editor, as well as its reporter on enterprise technology, cloud computing, and tech policy. Before joining VentureBeat in 2008, Anthony worked at the Hollister Free Lance, where he won awards from the California Newspaper Publishers Association for breaking news coverage and writing. He attended Stanford University and now lives in San Francisco. Reach him at anthony@venturebeat.com. You can also follow Anthony on Twitter.

  • BTW, 'accredited' is a voluntary criteria wherein an investor is supposed to have $2 million in net worth or have earned over $250k/ year for the past three years (I think these numbers are still correct). The SEC dies not verify these claims, they are there to discourage people from investing their life savings if they don't these kind of assets or income.
  • I just looked through the Maverick Angels site and found that they charge companies seeking funding $995.00 if they reach a certain point in the process. I have never heard of an angels group charging a company to enter the vetting process.
  • Martin: this always smells extremely fishy. This means they cannot charge investors because they actually do not have any.
  • Here's the response from John Dilts. sent via Maverick Angels' PR:

    "We do charge a fee only for those companies chosen in pre-screening who proceed to present to our Members, not in the application stage. Because we employ full time staff, we need to cover our administration fees to run the group properly and to be able to give the entrepreneurs the feedback and coaching up front before they present as well as throughout our entire process. Also, the fee includes the cost of attending a day-long Boot Camp for Entrepreneurs which presenters find to be invaluable. The Boot Camp used to be optional, but we found that too many companies made poor presentations: they did not position their opportunities properly for angel capital, let alone communicate their offering in a way that was complete or compelling in the time given for the pitch. Lastly, we find that companies that are more serious about raising angel capital understand that our Members' time is valuable and the resources and relationships they offer via our uniquely collaborative process are crucial to their success.

    "The fee also covers the cost of the extra effort and expense of videotaping the entrepreneurs and posting their offering on AngelLink along with their materials. We provide our presenters with exclusive access to their virtual presentation which they can provide to other target investors for 30 days so long as those investors have 'Accredited Investor' status as defined under the SEC rules. This serves as an extremely valuable marketing tool for entrepreneurs seeking to pitch other investors, especially those who reside far away."
  • That does sound odd. I've emailed Maverick to see if they can comment on this
  • elliottdahan
    What is needed is a public/private partnership Fund that works with, supports and compensates the Seed Infrastructure (i9ncubators, tech transfers and economic development agencies).

    What is needed is an environment that creates Community and Collaboration between Entrepreneurs, Investors and Customers.

    What is not needed is another online site that charges Seed/Startups to present.

    Please review - http://www.slideshare.net/ElliottDahan/start-fu....

    I look forward to yur comments and feedback

    Elliott Dahan
    elliott(at)thegrowthgroup.com
  • It is not unsual for for-profit angel groups to charge fees to presenters; most do. I have twice taken deals to the Mavericks and received investment. The group, indeed, has members who are active investors.
  • This isn't "fishy". It's customary for for-profit angel groups to charge entrepreneurs. I've twice taken deals to the Mavericks and recieved investment. The group, indeed, has active angel members.