Angel investors come from varied backgrounds and make investments for many different reasons. You can "meet" a sampling of VentureSouth members via their episodes on the Venture In The South podcast. Here in no particular (but reverse) order:
Julie Hussey: Episode 72. Julie describes herself as an average American until she inherited wealth on the passing of her father. She discusses how she formulated and executed an investment plan that included angel investing, walking us through each step of her experience, education, and strategy for impact investing.
Prashant Prabhu: Episode 44. Prashant retired from Michelin after a 35-year corporate career that covered R&D, a corporate incubator, and international business in Europe, India, and Singapore. He articulates his investing as "21st-century philanthropy" - putting the societal and technological benefits of early-stage investing first, and seeing the financial benefits following. We explore how this approach influences his investing activity and what angel investing activities he enjoys most.
Gary Shiffman: Episode 38. Explore how an economist and security expert approaches angel investing, and especially how evaluating the people running companies.
Malay Shah: Episode 35. Malay has been angel investing in the southeast for nearly 25 years. We explore how the "capital markets" have changed - and how angel investing has not changed - over those years.
Matt Bailey: Episode 32. Matt provides his greatest contributions to angel investing by serving on early-stage company boards. He shares his experiences mentoring CEOs, serving as a sounding board, providing ideas and connections, and keeping boards operating cohesively during challenging times.
Tim Griffin: Episode 8. VentureSouth Asheville member Tim Griffin recounts his entry into angel investing, having been in corporate marketing roles for premier transportation companies.
Steve Lanzl: Episode 7. Subprime Steve talks about his experience in angel investing, entrepreneurial activity, floorplan financing for independent car dealerships, and more.
Julie Iarossi: Episode 4. Julie is a key member of VentureSouth, serves on the board of a VentureSouth portfolio company, and has been instrumental in the formation of VentureSouth Jacksonville.
And of course you hear from VentureSouth member David Grisell on many of the episodes - especially his origin story on Episode 15.