Angel investor and serial entrepreneur Jim Noack will reveal early stage funding alternatives and considerations from both an Angel and Entrepreneur's perspective.  Corporate attorney Robert Seidel will join Jim and discuss early stage structural and financing issues.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /?>

Properly structuring and financing a start up is critical.  It will increase your chances of success and save time, money and frustration as you move your venture forward.

Topics discussed will include:

- Where you can find Angel and other financing for your venture (pre-VC)

- Why all money is not equal

- How the deal gets closed

- Case study (including where they are looking for money and why they chose those sources)
- Structure (State and federal laws, type of entity, stock, tax considerations, CAP table, IP, exit)

Speakers

Jim Noack, President, Spencer Technologies

Jim's 33 year career spans a wide spectrum of Senior Management, entrepreneurial efforts and Angel investing. He began his career in the banking business with nationally known firms including Countrywide Funding, Fannie Mae and Wells Fargo Bank.

In 1987 Jim started his first company, Monument Mortgage. The company was an early adopter of technology. Jim next founded iQualify, a web based company. Together with Fannie Mae, iQulaify developed the first web based loan approval system in1996 and won a Smithsonian Award for that work in1997. Jim continued his entrepreneurial efforts by spinning the technology out of Monument Mortgage and iQulaify. Jim sold both companies to a NASDAQ firm and then founded Xpede.

Xpede was an enterprise solutions provider to major money center banks. The product was an end-to-end solution for all loan products, including promotional material, application taking, loan processing, automated underwriting and collateral assessment, document preparation and boarding into the servicing platform. Xpede was financed by Mayfield Capital, Rosewood Capital, ABN Amro, First Union Capital Partners and Fannie Mae. The company was sold in 2001 to Altel.

Since 1999 Jim has been an active Angel investor. He has made 11 Angel investments in early stage companies, totaling over $5 million, and an additional 5 real estate investments totaling over $9 million. Jim is currently leading an Angel round for a new startup called Otoscopics.

Robert C. Seidel, Attorney, Cairncross & Hempelmann
Bob Seidel is a partner in the Corporate Finance Group at Cairncross & Hempelmann and head of the Business Practice at the firm.  Bob counsels clients on securities issues, public and private offerings, venture financings and other areas of capital formation.  For over 20 years, he has assisted startup corporations with legal and capital structure that prepares them for future growth, private and public financings and major business transactions.  Bob also advises clients on all forms of corporate transactions, including mergers, share exchanges, recapitalizations, consolidations, and stock and asset acquisitions.  He assists clients with shareholders agreements and equity and cash compensation programs, and works closely with the Boards of Directors of several corporations, giving counsel on a wide range of business matters.  Bob has an A.B. from <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /?>
Dartmouth College and a J.D. from University of San Francisco.