Angel investing fills that gap between friends and family funding and venture capital. According to the UNH Center for venture research, total angel investment in 2007 was $26 billion, with more than 57,000 entrepreneurs receiving funding. Recent banking industry turmoil has led to rethinking of investment strategies. Our panel will comment on what has changed for those seeking capital from angels.

Our panel will describe how should the entrepreneur with limited funds raise money from angels; how does the angel select the investments; how should an entrepreneur approach an angel; what does the angel expect in return; what is the role of an angel network?

Our panel of angels will describe how they and/or their network identify, communicate, vet and make decisions on opportunities. They also describe the roles the angels take post investment. A question and answer session will follow with a round table discussion on the current state of angel investing.

Panelists Include:

Chris Sheehan, Managing Director of CommonAngels. Chris Sheehan, Managing Director of CommonAngels since 2005. Within CommonAngels, Chris manages deal flow, due diligence and the investment process. He also guides the group�s strategic direction and works closely with portfolio companies. He is also a managing director of the group�s two $10M venture funds and focuses on IT, internet and digital media. Chris represents CommonAngels as either a director or observer on the boards of Carbonite, Outside The Classroom, Owner IQ, Xconomy and GateRocket. Chris also serves on the board of the Center for Woman and Enterprise.

Previously, Chris founded Newburyport Partners, a consulting firm that works with investors and their portfolio companies. Chris also served as a venture partner at Industry Ventures where he was actively involved in the acquisition and management of venture portfolios. Prior to starting Newburyport Partners, Chris was a Director of Corporate Development for BEA Systems, a leading enterprise software company with over $1B in sales. At BEA, he was a key member of the corporate team responsible for all venture capital investing and M&A activity. He was also part of the executive team for one of the company's product divisions. Prior to BEA, Chris led the private equity practice for the Cambridge based start-up, Stax Inc. Chris also spent six years with the top ranked investment bank in Australia. He started his career as an equity analyst focusing on the oil and gas sector. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Queensland, Australia.

Andrew Hanson, Founder, the Connecticut Angel Guild. Andrew Hanson has been an angel investor since 2000. He founded the Connecticut Angel Guild on behalf of the Connecticut Venture Group. The Connecticut Angel Guild invests across the North East. Mr. Hanson is a member of the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Venture Group (CVG) and chairs the Judging Committee for the Crossroads Venture Fair. He invests in an average of two companies a year, and has invested in multiple rounds in the same company. His current interests are: sustainable energy, health care cost control, and the use of the internet to improve markets and lower distribution costs. He has taken an active role as an angel, and served, from time to time, as Chief Financial Officer. Prior to becoming an angel investor, he was a portfolio manager and investment analysts for a number of firms including a hedge fund, a family office, and a national brokerage firm. He received his MBA from Northwestern University.

Jean Hammond is an active angel investor usually focusing on early stage high tech start-ups. Jean is a co-coordinator of the Boston branch of Golden Seeds (focused on investing in women-managed businesses) and a member of Launchpad and Hub Angels. Jean also serves on the boards of The Technology Capital Network and Thompson Island Outward Bound. Jean also serves on the boards of a number of start-ups. She is the principal of JPH Associates.

Jean is serial entrepreneur with over 20 years experience in the high-tech industry. Her entrepreneurial activities include co-founding and managing Quarry Technologies and AXON Networks. Following 3Com�s acquisition of AXON, Jean was responsible for 3Com's WAN strategy. She earned an M.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management, and a B.S. from Boston University.

William McCullen, Director of Launch Capital LLC . Bill has several years experience as a private investor in companies in the networking, semiconductor, alternative energy, Internet and consumer oriented markets. Prior to LaunchCapital Bill was a sell side equity analyst for Susquehanna Financial Group in Boston covering telecommunications and networking stocks. Prior to Susquehanna, Bill worked in senior product marketing and business development roles at local start-ups WindSpeed Access Systems, Teraphase and Sycamore Networks where Bill was the first product manager and helped the company grow its transport product revenue from 0 to over $100M/quarter in less than two years. Bill began his career at Lucent Technologies where he held a variety of technical and marketing positions. Bill received his BS and MS degrees in Electrical Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management.

Moderator:

Joseph Sabatini, President of the Innovation Network, LLC. The Innovation Network is a consulting group that specializes in assisting new and emerging companies in formation, strategy, commercialization, capital acquisition and cost management. Prior to founding the Innovation Network, he was a Partner and Director in Arthur D. Little's Technology and Innovation Management Practice. He was also the Vice President of Operations of TurboChef Technologies, a leading developer of commercial appliance technology, recently sold to Middleby Corporation. He was instrumental in licensing the company's products to Maytag Corporation. Earlier in his career, he was consultant to clients in the advanced materials, energy and chemical sectors. He began his career in the aerospace and defense industry. He is a member of the Board of Advisors of Reliable Laundry Products and Gulf Data Services (Dubai).