Harvard Business School Alumni Angels Assn.'s ‘Angel Investing 101' at Stamford Innovation Center

Feb. 14, 2013 - PRLog -- STAMFORD, CT -- Leading angel investors, venture capitalists and startup CEOs will participate in a panel on “Angel Investing 101 – Best Practices” at the Stamford Innovation Center on February 28.  The event, hosted by Harvard Business School Alumni Angels Association of Greater New York (HBSAANY) with the HBS Club of Connecticut, will be moderated by Katina Stefanova of Bridgewater Associates.  The program will include a panel discussion on the best practices of angel investing and offer a guide through potential pitfalls.  Panelists include:

·      Susan Balloch, managing director, Golden Seeds (http://www.goldenseeds.com); formerly executive director and principal, The Blackstone Group
·      Karen Bantuveris, founder and chief executive officer, VolunteerSpot (http://www.volunteerspot.com), startup backed by ff Venture Capital and a group of angels
·      Bob Dahl, HBS Alumni Angel, formerly head of Global Healthcare for the Carlyle Group
·      David Teten (http://teten.com), partner, ff Venture Capital (http://ffvc.com), and chairman, HBS Alumni Angels of Greater New York (http://hbsalumniangels.com/NY)

“Our mission is to provide an educational forum for Harvard alumni and others who are interested in researching and investing in early stage companies on an individual basis,” said Diana Dowling, a Greenwich, CT, resident who is acting executive director of HBSAANY and an event organizer.  “The Stamford Innovation Center is doing a great job of providing a platform for the local startup and startup investment community.  It is an ideal location for events like ours.”

“We are honored to be able to present this distinguished panel of Harvard Business School Alumni Angels to our community of entrepreneurs, investors and industry experts,” said Barry Schwimmer, founder and managing partner of the Stamford Innovation Center.  “While many may consider angel investing to be the riskiest type of investment, developing a portfolio of early stage companies can be a rewarding and profitable fundamental component of individual investment strategies.  Doing so takes patience, analytical rigor and a disciplined approach within the context of a diversified investment model.  The HBS Alumni Angels Association represents some of the most accomplished angel investors.  Their seasoned perspectives and access to capital are invaluable to entrepreneurs and co-investors alike.”

Organized by Ms. Dowling and Margaret Miao, the event will be held at the Stamford Innovation Center (175 Atlantic Street) on Thursday, February 28, with registration beginning at 6:30 pm and the program starting at 7:00 pm.  To register, please click here (http://www.hbsalumniangels.com/store.html?event_id=218).  

About the Panelists
David Teten (http://teten.com) is a partner with ff Venture Capital and founder and chairman of Harvard Business School Alumni Angels of Greater New York.  He is cofounder of the Venture Capital Access Program (http://teten.com/VCAP), which helps women and minority entrepreneurs raise venture capital from members of the HBS Angels network.  Mr. Teten is a board member of Social Fortress and a mentor with Founder Institute in New York and Singapore, Dreamit Ventures, Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator, Lean Startup Machine and Startup Leadership Program.  He has led the first-ever study of best practices of venture capital and private equity funds in originating new deals and the first-ever study of VCs in creating portfolio company value through portfolio operations.  Mr. Teten earned his BA at Yale and an MBA at HBS, both with honors.

Susan Balloch is a managing director of Golden Seeds, an angel fund that invests in early stage companies founded or led by women.  Ms. Balloch’s 20+ year career prior to becoming an angel investor was in financial services both in the private equity world -- fundraising and investor relations, and in investment banking.  She was an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School, where she taught leadership courses.  Ms. Balloch earned a BS degree from Georgetown University and an MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Karen Bantuveris has 15 years of experience as a consultant in customer centric-leadership development, marketing strategy and business process design.  She is the founder and chief executive officer of VolunteerSpot, an online coordination app that facilitates volunteering.  Ms. Bantuveris is a recognized national expert in boosting parent involvement in school and using social media for social good. As the founder and principal of Radiance Learning, she worked with leadership teams at clients that included Silicon Graphics, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Tenet Healthcare and Stanford University.  Ms. Bantuveris holds both a BA and MHA from Tulane University.  

Bob Dahl is currently a private investor, focusing on the healthcare industry.  Previously, he was the co-founder and chief operating officer of Arrowhawk Capital Partners, an investment company, and the vice president of strategic business development and vice chairman of the board of directors of Golden Pond Healthcare.  Mr. Dahl also served as the head of global healthcare for the Carlyle Group, a leading private equity firm, where he was responsible for the firm’s investments in the healthcare field.  Prior to Carlyle, Mr. Dahl served as co-head of healthcare investment banking in North America at Credit Suisse First Boston.  Mr. Dahl received a BA from Middlebury College and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

Katina Stefanova has 15 years of international experience in the financial and technology industries.  For the last eight years, she has worked at Bridgewater Associates in a variety of leadership positions driving corporate strategy and transformation during the company’s rapid expansion from $15 billion to $140 billion in AUM.  Currently, she manages Bridgewater’s back and middle office and corporate and client legal relations.  Prior to that, she was a management committee advisor.  Before joining Bridgewater, Ms. Stefanova was a senior manager at IBM, global business services, specializing in post-merger integration and change management in the financial services and technology industry in Europe, Middle East and Asia.  She received a BA in International Relations from Brigham Young University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.  

About the Stamford Innovation Center
Featuring coworking, dedicated offices, conference facilities and a comprehensive slate of startup-centric classes and events, the Stamford Innovation Center is the ideal place for young enterprises to grow and interact with peers, mentors, investors, industry experts and service providers.  For information on how to join our community, please visit http://www.stamfordicenter.com.