Alumni helping alumni."We're very much based on alumni helping alumni," said James Marcus This article is about the English actor. For villain of Resident Evil 0, see James Marcus (Resident Evil). For the American actor, see . James Marcus (born 1943) is an English actor. , CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of UniversityAngels.com. "We believe entrepreneurs who have gone to top schools have a better chance of success, so the question was, how can we help these people achieve and succeed in the entrepreneurial world?" Angels and entrepreneurs find each other via a network of about 75 university-specific Web sites. (Forty-five schools are based in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. .) So far, more than 2,000 graduates of top schools have registered as accredited investors Accredited Investor A term used by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under Regulation D to refer to investors who are financially sophisticated and have a reduced need for the protection provided by certain government filings. Also known as "qualified purchaser". with an interest in connecting with worthy entrepreneurs. The company, which was founded in 1999 by four graduates of Harvard Business School Harvard Business School, officially named the Harvard Business School: George F. Baker Foundation, and also known as HBS, is one of the graduate schools of Harvard University. , has facilitated about a dozen deals since its launch in January 2000. UniversityAngels.com has also established a $20 million fund that intends to make follow-on investments in a select group of companies that receive funding through the network. "We received funding from people we never would have contacted in any other way," said Stephen Hassett, CEO and co-founder of iTendant Inc., a small company based in Atlanta that sells software to property management companies. The firm raised $780,000 from several private investors. Hassett declined to say just how much money came through his UniversityAngels.com posting. "They made the introduction and they vouched for us," said Hassett, a 1989 graduate from the University of Virginia. Hassett said he started his career in the information technology industry and then went into corporate finance. The company is banking its future on the fact that about half of all Americans have access to the Internet. ITendant's new software makes it easy for tenants to go online to register complaints and make requests for help to their building managers and superintendents. "We are beta-testing the product now with two property management firms in Atlanta," said Hassett. "We expect to go live in March." He said anyone trying to raise money should log on to the UniversityAngels.com site to see if their alma mater ma·ter n. Chiefly British Mother. [Latin m  ter; see m qualifies for access to the network. "They really did a great job in an extremely tough market," said Hassett. "There were a lot of eager investors and they found some for us." AngelSociety's Scott Peters Scott Peters can refer to:
Demonstrate that there is a substantial market for your product or service. Prove there is a strong demand for your product or service. Prove the economics of your business model; know your customer acquisition costs, expenses and revenue streams. Have a strong, committed management team. Part-time managers scare investors. Jane Applegate is the author of "201 Great Ideas for Your Small Business," and is CEO of SBTV SBTV Small Business Television (network) .com, a multimedia site providing small-business resources. |
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