David Amis

David Amis, who has made 15 angel investments, previously served as the Managing Director of Venture Capital Report Ltd, which has matched over 300 entrepreneurs with angels.  As an entrepreneur, he has  raised over $10m from more than 100 individual investors.

David Amis has been active in angel investing and entrepreneurship since 1989.  At the age of 23 he founded AVI in Omaha, Nebraska, which consulted with over 25 early stage companies. In 1996 he led the buy-out of Venture Capital Report (UK), the first angel introduction service in the world. From 1996 to 1997, while David served as Managing Director, the company completed 25 angel deals including raising £300k for Coffee Republic which went public in 1999.  

David earned his Bachelor of Science in Entrepreneurship at the University of Southern California (1989). He earned his MBA at Harvard Business School (1994) where he won the Porter/Freund Entrepreneur of the Year Award for his work on seed capital networks.

He is the author of the Capitalyst Angels Handbook and the Capitalyst Entrepreneur Handbook.  With Harvard Professor Howard Stevenson, he co-authored Winning Angels in 2001.  His next book, Winning Entrepreneurs, is due out in the summer of 2002.

As an active angel, David has completed 15 angel investments, including Interelate, LifeHarbor and Ubiquio.

David has been a featured speaker at conferences and workshops in England, Switzerland, Belgium, Scotland, and the United States. He has also appeared on CNN, CNBC, and in the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, and Inc. Magazine.

Howard Stevenson

Howard Stevenson, who has made over 80 angel investments, headed the Entrepreneur Management Unit at Harvard Business School for 18 years.  He is generally a reserve force or silent angel but has participated in virtually every role including that of founder, member of the management team, and board member. Howard has authored numerous books, articles, and cases and is a leading thinker in the areas of entrepreneurship and angel investing.

Some of the companies which Howard has backed include: PlanetAll, ZipDirect, Medivation, Advanced Cell Technology, and Road Rescue.  A typical investment ranges from $25k to $200k and he prefers to stick to pre-money valuations that are below $5m.  Howard says that “sourcing is evaluation” and he has found that his ex-students provide a good source of interesting opportunities.

Howard developed the Entrepreneurial Management course at Harvard Business School. He is Sarofim-Rock Professor of Business Administration – The Sarofim-Rock Chair was established in 1982 to provide a continuing base for research and teaching in the field of entrepreneurship. He has authored, edited or co-authored six books and 43 articles. He has also authored, co-authored or supervised 150 cases at Harvard Business School. His latest popular book is Do Lunch or Be Lunch: The Power of Predictability in Creating Your Future, published by HBS Press.

He was a founder and first President of the Baupost Group, Inc, which manages partnerships investing in liquid securities for wealthy families. When he resigned from active management, Baupost assets had grown to over $400 million. He is now Chairman of the Baupost Fund, a registered investment company. From 1978 to 1982, Professor Stevenson was Vice President of Finance and Administration and a Director of Preco Corporation, a large privately-held manufacturing company. In addition, from 1970 to 1971 he served as Vice President of Simmons Associates, a small investment banking firm specializing in venture financing. He is currently a director of Bessemer Securities Corporation, Camp Dresser & McKee, Landmark Communications, Sheffield Steel, Market Insight, and The Baupost Group, Inc. as well as a trustee for several private trusts and foundations.

Howard received his BS in mathematics, with distinction, from Stanford and his MBA, with high distinction, and DBA degrees from Harvard University.