T HE P RIMER F OR A NGEL I NVESTMENT I N C ANADA
F OREWORD In the summer of 2003 we printed 2,500 copies of the inaugural Primer for Angel Investment in Canada. Published as a starting point for building awareness of the economic importance of early investing we weren’t quite sure what the demand would be. In the weeks that followed we received requests from entrepreneurs, investors, businessmen, consultants, academics and policymakers from all three levels of government across the country. By the time we reached the Montreal Angel Investor Summit in late October, we were already concerned about having enough copies for the almost 200 attendees.
We had struck a chord. Clearly there was and is an emerging grass roots awareness and realization of the importance of angel investing.
Angel investors have a reputation for being private, independent and even reclusive individuals that shy away from the limelight. They typically want to avoid being on lists, targets of junk mail and the recipients of ill-conceived business plans. The content of this document is comprised almost entirely by the volunteer efforts of angel investors and professionals working in the early capital formation space. Proofing, layout and publishing services have been generously donated by RBC Financial Group. In this extremely busy world people found the time and money to put this together. Why? A robust and active angel investor community is critical to the sustainable success of any economy. As multiple studies have shown, net new economic growth comes from small and medium sized enterprises. Collectively, angels invest more than five times the entire venture capital industry combined. Angels invest in some way or other in more than 60% of business start-ups. Angels address the funding, innovation and management gaps between love money and venture capital. Clearly, as economic stakeholders, we all benefit from the success of angel investors. Canadians’ standard of living can only be improved or maintained through continued prosperity that comes from ongoing productivity improvements. Productivity improves through innovation. Genuine innovation often is the result of the effort of small companies that are initially funded by angels, among others. I am particularly pleased and proud of the accomplishment this document represents. We have no pretensions that the content is comprehensive, exhaustive and conclusive with respect to sharing ideas and making recommendations regarding angel investing in Canada today. The Primer was originally conceived as a vehicle to capture the content of the National Angel Organization’s (NAO) Angel Investor Summit. As angels tend to be a diffuse lot, we hope the Primer will act as a collection area for ideas; a provocative catalyst to build awareness and offer support and encouragement for all of us to build and enrich our own businesses, angel groups and networks.
6
Powered by FlippingBook