Early Investing Podcast

Greg Cangialosi, after selling his E-mail marketing firm, Blue Sky Factory, Greg co-founded Betamore to create a new hub for startup companies in Baltimore and also co-founded the Baltimore Angel Investment Group. Now, as CEO Of Mission Tix he is in the process of rebooting the 13 year old ticket selling platform.

Start Engine is a Los Angeles based Business Accelerator providing startup companies with resources, including funding and mentorship. In addition they are poised to launch an equity crowdfunding platform based on the provisions of the JOBS Act Title III. As of this date we are all still waiting for the SEC to release the actual Title III regulations and no one has been more interested in seeing this happen than our guest Ron Miller.  We discuss what StartEngine is doing and what will happen in the future and I goad Ron into telling us what is wrong with the Title III regulations as they exist in draft form. You can add your comments on the delay by the SEC in enacting these regulations by visiting http://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/ruling-comments

Anirban Basu is probably the highest profile economist in the Mid Atlantic region. He speaks frequently on Business and Economic Development and is also featured on the Daily Economic Forecast on WYPR, the NPR News station in Baltimore. His company, the Sage Policy Group has clients in 31 states and 5 foreign countries and Anirban is not shy about what he thinks government needs to do in order to encourage and foster real economic growth in the region, and Maryland in particular, while the discussion and examples are local, the insights are nearly universal.  

George Davis is a partner in Gamma3, a venture catalyst firm based in Baltimore, MD. They are focused on creating companies based on the high level research being done in the Baltimore-Washington region at the Johns Hopkins University, The University of Maryland and the Applied Physics Laboratory. Hundreds of millions of Federal dollars fund this research and the Gamma3 mission is to help these visionary scientists create viable companies that will be based in the region and help to keep the brainpower, talent and jobs in Maryland.  George is also CEO of Gemstone Biotherapeutics, one of Gamma3’s portfolio companies. Earlier in his career, George was the President and Chief Operating Officer at Aether Technology when that pioneering wireless enterprise firm went public in 1999 and then did a secondary offering that raised over a billion dollars just prior to the dot com crash in 2000. 

Crowdfund Beat is the most comprehensive site for crowdfunding research and information as well as breaking news. Sydney Armani and his team take an academic approach to crowdfunding and startup entrepreneurship. If you want the facts and figures check out crowdfundbeat.com In addition to the US site they are also localized in several other countries including the UK, Germany and Japan and will be launching Crowdfund Beat China later this year.  Sydney is a frequent speaker at conferences worldwide and they also produce several conferences a year of their own. They also stream these events live and archive them on the site. 

Jay Samit – Veteran digital disrupter with experience at top entertainment companies including Sony, EMI and Universal as well as cutting edge Tech firms Oovoo and Social Vibe. Now as Chairman of Realty Mogul he is leading the revolution in Real Estate funding. He tells us how, you too, can be an owner of the Hard Rock Hotel in Palm Springs.

Peter Shankman – Founder of Help a Reporter Out (HARO) which revolutionized the way reporters find sources. He is the author of 3 books (so far) including Nice Companies Finish First: Why Cutthroat Management is over and Collaboration is In. He discusses why it is important to invest in what he calls “Nice Companies”. He also shares the classic story of how he funded the launch of his first company and tells us about his latest venture Shankminds.

David S, Rose – Founder of Gust.com the leader in connecting startups with investors, and the author of  Angel Investing The Gust guide to Making Money and Having Fun Investing in Startups. The only third generation angel investor I have ever met, David is founder of the New York Angels, one of the largest and most active Angel Investing Groups in the world. 

Andy Gordon – Investment Director here at Early Investing talks about his life in business and his vision for helping our readers profit from the brave new world of early stage equity investing.