Last night I attended “Meet the Angels!” sponsored by MIT Enterprise Forum of the Northwest. This Venture Lab event was moderated by Rebecca Lovell, Chief Business Officer at Geek Wire. There were panelist from seven local angel investor organizations:

• Alliance of Angels
• Keiretsu Forum
• NW Energy Angels
• Puget Sound Venture Club
• Seraph Capital Forum
• WINGS
• ZINO Society

A description of each of these organizations and their representatives at the forum is included below.

Th...

Speaking of funding, as George Harrison said,"you know it don't come easy."  There's as much competition for venture capital dollars as you'll see in the Super Bowl this weekend.  You make your play and get the chance to go on to the next level or go home empty handed.

Here are some interesting tips from Guy Kawasaki:

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The 10/20/30 Rule by Guy Kawasaki

I just ran into this list of local VCs and angel investors at http://www.vocationvillage.com/seattle-venture-capital/

If you're looking for funding, here are some local investors you should contact.

PricewaterhouseCoopers/National Venture Capital Association released their fourth quarter Money-Tree report on venture capital financing.  Dow Jones Venture-Source also released their report on fourth quarter activity and both studies revealed similar results.

Venture capital funding fell in the fourth quarter from the third quarter and from the fourth quarter 2010.  Both studies also report that VC activity was up in 2011 over 2010.

Local activity showed the same dip in the fou...

The PricewaterhouseCoopers & National Venture Capital Association MoneyTree TM Report for the second quarter was good news for startups looking for money.  $7.5 billion was invested in 966 deals in the second quarter, the highest levels since the second quarter of 2008.  Deals and dollars were up 19% from the first quarter.  First half investments were up 12% over the first half 2010.

Software, biotechnology, medical devices and equipment, IT services and media and enter...

Entrepreneurs and small business owners often miss huge opportunities to make serious returns on their investment of time and money. All too often they have not set their goals and expectations high enough. If you don’t expect to get there, you’re probably not going to.  Shoot for the stars and you might make it to the moon.

There are three levels of entrepreneurship that I identify with goal setting:

• Timid - Replace my prior income as an employee by being self-employed
• Confid...