investing

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Episode 82-Educating and inspiring Angel Investors through OSEA Angels in Orange County with Xandra Laskowski

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Terri talks to Xandra Laskowski about her own angel investing journey which has led to her desire to inspire and educate more female investors through OSEA Angels in Orange County.

Who is Xandra Laskowski?

Xandra Laskowski is a startup consultant with over 25 years of entrepreneurial experience with large multinational tech companies as well as startups as founder, investor, advisor and board member. She has held positions as Worldwide Commodity Manager and National Major Accounts Managerial roles before moving into the angel investment and startup worlds.   She founded OSEA Angel Investors in 2017, a women focused angel investment group based at the UC Irvine Cove, UCI Applied Innovation.  OSEA Angel Investors is a partner angel group with Tech Coast Angels and Angel Syndication Network.

Show Highlights

·      Xandra shares her journey into investing beginning in 2012 including some of her favorite investments and how they are faring.

·      Xandra talks about her investment philosophy which has evolved since she started investing.  She makes sure they are in revenue and that she is strategically aligned to be able to provide support before she writes her first, small check. 

·      Xandra’s leverages her professional experience and network in addition to her experience managing her family’s asset as an angel investor. 

·      She created Osea Angels to help other women in her community learn about investing in startups and get access to deals to make those investments. She is bringing education, inspiration, and connections to her members for startup opportunities. 

·      Xandra saw a need to support small businesses in Orange County that need access to resources to build and grow their businesses and she partnered up with someone to provide these services. 

·      Xandra most felt like the pilot in her own life when she took over her family’s finances to better manage her family’s wealth.    

Terri’s Key Takeaway

It’s time for women who are building the female founder / female investor ecosystem begin to benefit financially. 

References in the Podcast

·      Hera Venture Summit: https://www.heraventuresummit.com/

·      Osea Angels: https://www.oseaangelinvestors.com/Page/Home

·      Liquid Biosciences: http://www.liquidbiosciences.com/

·      Tech Coast Angels: https://www.techcoastangels.com/

·      UC Irvine Cove: http://innovation.uci.edu/the-cove/

·      First Republic Bank: https://www.firstrepublic.com/

·      Changing Tides: https://thinkresultsmarketing.com/books/changing-tides/

·      AngelList:  https://angel.co/

·      Jane VC:  https://www.janevc.com/

Contact

Xandra can be reached by email at xandra@oseaangelinvestors.com.

You can follow Terri on Twitter at @terrihansonmead or go to her website at www.terrihansonmead.com or on Medium:  https://medium.com/@terrihansonmead. 

Feel free to email Terri at PilotingYourLife@gmail.com.

To continue the conversation, go to Twitter at @PilotingLife and use hashtag #PilotingYourLife.

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Episode 81-Finding Tailored Funding strategies for Female Founders and Business Owners with Jenny Kassan

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Terri talks to Jenny Kassan about alternative funding mechanisms for female founders and small business owners and how she works with them to provide tailored fundraising strategies.

Terri talks to Jenny Kassan about alternative funding mechanisms for female founders and small business owners and how she works with them to provide tailored fundraising strategies. 

Who is Jenny Kassan?  

Jenny Kassan has over two decades of experience as an attorney and advisor for mission-driven enterprises and is a certified coach.  She has helped her clients raise millions of dollars from values-aligned investors.  She is the author of Raise Capital on Your Own Terms: How to Fund Your Business without Selling Your Soul (Berrett-Koehler, October 2017). 

She served on the SEC Advisory Committee on Small and Emerging Companies and submitted the petition to the SEC that led to the passage of the 2012 JOBS Act. 

Before becoming a securities lawyer, Jenny worked for eleven years at a nonprofit community development corporation in Oakland, where she served as staff attorney and managed community economic development projects including the formation and management of several social ventures designed to employ and create business ownership opportunities for low-income community residents. 

Jenny is a fellow at Democracy Collaborative and the co-founder of the Force for Good Fund, is the President of Community Ventures, and co-founded the Sustainable Economies Law Center.  She was a director of Berrett-Koehler Publishers and is a member of the Content Advisory Panel of Conscious Company Magazine and serves on the advisory boards of Lioness Magazine and Investibule. 

Jenny earned her J.D. from Yale Law School and a master’s degree in City and Regional Planning from the University of California at Berkeley.     

Show Highlights 

  • Jenny talks about her journey into working with startups and businesses on tailored fundraising strategies and the importance of Title III of the JOBS Act.   

  • Jenny talks about how her frustration with fundraising options and meeting Michelle Thimesch led to the recent launch of CrowdFund Main Street to take advantage of Title III of the JOBS Act.   

  • Terri and Jenny talk about how crowdfunding can fit into a startup’s fundraising strategy and how the definition of success for a startup is not based on funding rounds. 

  • Jenny is now focusing on the investor side and educating a lot of Americans on investing opportunities through her new organization called Angels of Main Street.   

  • Terri talks about how important it is for some us to see the direct impact of their investments and/or time.     

  • Jenny talks about how she works with her clients to structure their financing strategies in alignment with their goals, values, and short/long term strategies.  She also talks about the various options available to founders.  

  • Jenny felt most like the pilot in her own life when she went out on her own with her own firm.  She now has the business of dreams.   

 

Terri’s Key Takeaway 

Taking the first step is important to opening up new opportunity paths.   

 

References in the Podcast 

Contact 

Jenny can be reached through her website http://www.jennykassan.com/ 

You can follow Terri on Twitter at @terrihansonmead or go to her website at www.terrihansonmead.com or on Medium:  https://medium.com/@terrihansonmead.  

Feel free to email Terri at PilotingYourLife@gmail.com. 

To continue the conversation, go to Twitter at @PilotingLife and use hashtag #PilotingYourLife. 

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Episode 80-Supporting an Ecosystem for Women of Color to be Startup Founders and Investors by leveraging Angel Investing

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Terri talks to Tawana Murphy Burnett about how joining and getting active with Pipeline Angels has led to her becoming an active leader in the startup ecosystem for women of color.   

Who is Tawana Murphy Burnett?  

Tawana Murphy Burnett, former consultant turned startup employee and entrepreneur, is now a global marketing leader at Facebook helping the top 30 Global Advertisers like Estée Lauder and Johnson & Johnson become the best mobile marketers. Prior to Facebook, Tawana led brand and product teams at Intuit, LeapFrog, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson, leading P&L, Brand Growth, integrated marketing strategies and new product innovation for brands like Listerine, Advil, and ChapStick.  

Since 2017 Tawana has become an active investor in women and women of color owned businesses primarily through Portfolia and as a Member and Due Diligence Lead with Pipeline Angels. She has served on numerous Diversity and Inclusion councils, most recently joining Digital Undivided as an Advisory Board Member for StartUp Newark. 

 

Show Highlights 

  • Tawana talks about being inspired to get involved in angel investing because of what Terri shared with her about her desire to get more capital into the hands of female founders when they met in the Lufthansa lounge in Frankfurt. 

  • Tawana joined Pipeline Angels and shares her experience learning about angel investing, leading a deal, and getting more involved to invest in more women of color.   

  • Tawana has made 9 investments since she started less than two years ago.  She talks about being excited about the community building piece, hosting more events, and getting involved with Digital Undivided in Atlanta and Startup Newark.   

  • Terri talks about leveraging AngelList as a ‘poor woman’s VC’ to be able to bring deals together and give women who are leading these deals some sort of compensation for the work associated with this.  She also talks about the importance of building the ecosystem but also finding ways for women to get compensated for all the work we are doing for free.   

  • If Tawana could wave a magic wand, she would improve the public education system in the US and make sure it is financially supported.   

Terri’s Key Takeaway 

Be open to conversations with people; be open to new ideas; be open to education.   

References in the Podcast 

Contact 

Tawana can be reached through LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tawanaburnett/ 

You can follow Terri on Twitter at @terrihansonmead or go to her website at www.terrihansonmead.com or on Medium:  https://medium.com/@terrihansonmead.  

Feel free to email Terri at PilotingYourLife@gmail.com. 

To continue the conversation, go to Twitter at @PilotingLife and use hashtag #PilotingYourLife. .