Gathering of Angels™

The Gathering of Angels was founded in Santa Fe NM in October 1996 by local entrepreneur and active Angel Investor Tarby Bryant as an economic development initiative. Too many New Mexico start-ups and young companies were leaving the state after their launch in the 3 national laboratories-LosAlamos, Sandia and Phillips. A New Mexico entrepreneur might be working at the Lab and decide to patent the technology he or she was working on and fund the start-up venture with personal savings and IRAs, and then would tap out friends and family. When all of these sources of capital were exhausted, the New Mexico startup had to look outside the state as there were no Angel clubs, groups or forums and no venture capital firms with offices in New Mexico. A Silicon Valley Venture Capitalist would target this company; offer an investment lifeline but only on the condition that they relocate to Palo Alto or San Jose. And poof ..... they followed the money to California.

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This repeated scenario of relocation was dramatized in the founding of Microsoft in the late 70s by Bill Gates and Paul Allen who were attracted to Albuquerque because of the Altair computer. They realized it needed an operating system and created MS-DOS, the forerunner for Windows. After running up a legal bill for $50,000 with Montgomery and Andrews protecting the intellectual property around MS-DOS, and unable to pay, and then Gates's father offered a loan of $50,000 but they must leave New Mexico and relocate back to Seattle. They too followed the money, and many Microsoft millionaires were minted in Seattle and not Albuquerque.

 

In the mid-1990s, there were no Venture Capital firms with offices in New Mexico, no Angel groups meeting monthly and the banks as today were not making loans to startups without a 3 year track record and audited financials. Modeled after the successful Band of Angels in Palo Alto, Bryant hosted his first Santa Fe Gathering of Angels at the Eldorado Hotel in "The City Different" and from 1996 to 2000 hosted only New Mexico Companies as presenters. In 2000, he spread the Gathering of Angels across the country from Atlanta, Charlotte, Washington DC, Jacksonville, Austin, Houston, Dallas, and Scottsdale and to 3 cities in California. All GOA meetings were face-to-face with 3-4 young companies making 15 minute pitches for seed capital followed by time for Q&A and then evaluation sheets for feedback, coaching and investment interest noted.

 

Since October 1996, The Gathering of Angels has facilitated over 450+ capital fundings to startup and young entrepreneurial companies from 10k to 12.SM. After 3 years of GOA meetings on the Zoom platform, GOA will return to face-to-face meetings in September 2023 in Chattanooga, TN, as this important journey to provide "Access to Capital" continues.

 

For more information on The Gathering of Angels, contact GOA Founder and CEO Tarby Bryant, MBA

404-606-2193 or tarbycbryant@gmail.com www.gatheringofangels.com