Certified Business Angel
ISO-controlled certification for business angels
Excellent business angels should get excellent deals. However, while there are many people calling themselves business angels, not all of them show the same level of professionalism. Startups are looking for smart money. How can they know who to trust? And how can potential co-investors know?
Being a CBA (Certified Business Angel) serves as an internationally recognized signal of quality and seriousness. CBAs will benefit from better deal flow, better negotiating positions, international contacts to equally professional angels and ongoing education services addressing common challenges.
The Certified Business Angel (CBA) is the world’s first independent, international certification of individual business angels (ISO 17024). It is a registered trademark and based on the verification of a candidate’s grasp of the standardized CBA Body of Knowledge (see below).
Candidates who have positively passed a written and an oral exam with one of our independent ISO-certified examination partners will receive the right to hold the CBA. As CBAs, they will be expected to abide by the CBA Code of Ethics. They will also receive membership in the exclusive alumni club.
Details regarding the admission requirements, the process etc. are available on the website of the certification institution.
Body of Knowledge
Overall Approach
- Angel business
- Nature of startups
- Nature of angels
- Relationship between business angels and entrepreneurs
- Types of investments
- Direct investments
- Co-investments
- Club investments
- Investment process
- Timeline and milestones
- Strategic analysis
- Investment criteria
- Development
- Follow-up investments / Deinvestment
Dealflow
- Ecosystem
- Key players
- Networking
- Events
- Clubs
- Sources of knowledge
- Sources of information
- Sources of innovation
- Understanding, finding and following trends
Dealscreening
- Personal investment strategy
- Focus
- Sectors / themes
- Deal size
- Standardized screening process
- Focus
- Key questions
- Fit with investors
- Right team
- Superior proprietary products
- Clear need in a large market
- Requested investment sufficient
- Compelling business opportunity
- Attractive investment opportunity
- Passing
Due Diligence
- Appropriate timing
- Due diligence process
- Roles of different investors
- Business plans
- Focus areas
- Team
- Industry
- Growth potential
- Detailed due diligence
- General background
- People
- Market opportunity (problem)
- Comparing companies and business cases
- Market risk
- Product and technology (solution)
- USP
- Development risk
- IP ownership
- Previous employers
- Analysis and screening methods of intellectual property rights
- Marketing and sales
- Competition
- Types of competition
- Category competition
- Substitute competition
- Budget competition
- Anticipated responses
- Competition risk
- Types of competition
- Financials
- Other legal
- Asking the right questions
- Development of a standard due diligence for early stage investments
Valuation
- Early-stage valuation basics
- Qualitative versus quantitative
- Rate of Return
- Pre-money and post-money
- Multiples
- Deal terms influencing the valuation
- Milestones
- Ratchets
- Liquidation preferences
- Converstibles
- Options
- Loans
- Dilution
- Market fundamentals
- Differences between sectors
- Expectations in ICT, life sciences etc.
- Development stages of sectors
- Effects of later stages
- Effects of specific further rounds
- Effects of general later stage trends on angel rounds
- Pre-revenue valuation methods
- Benchmarking
- Replacement method
- Modified Berkus method
- Rule of thirds
- Standard value
- IPR valuation
- IPR piracy
- IPR erosion
- IPR dilution
- Value later
- Pre-money myth
Additional capital
- Syndication
- Syndication process
- Due diligence for syndication
- Sidecar funds (pre-committed capital pools)
- Size
- Advantages
- Cautions
Negotiation
- Negotiation fundamentals
- Separating people and deal terms
- Focusing on interests rather than positions
- Inventing options for mutual gain
- Using objective criteria and fair procedures
- Negotiation strategy
- Negotiation tactics
- Negotiating specific deal terms
- Deal structure
- Amount of money invested
- Valuation
- Use of proceeds
- Takedowns
- Dividends
- Conversion features
- Stock option plan
- Vesting
- Right of first refusal
- Voting and veto rights
- Redemption
- Liquidation preference
- Anti-dilution
- Redemption
- Board seats
- Information rights
- Closing conditions
- Closing date
- Expenses
Typical documents
- Accredited investor declaration
- Term sheet
- Term sheet usage
- Term sheet content
- Basic information
- Proposed investment details
- Type of security
- Deal terms
- Key terms
- Shareholder agreement
- Subscription agreement
- Stock options agreement
- Voting trust
Helping portfolio companies
- Roles
- Board member
- Networker
- Advisor
- Coach
- Operational
- Background knowledge
- External awareness
- Political factors
- Economic Factors
- Social factors
- Technological factors
- Legal factors
- Environmental factors
- General business
- Business structures
- Business processes
- Functional disciplines
- Management
- Startup teams
- Building
- Reinforcing
- Managing
- External awareness
- Company focus
- Operations
- Agenda
- Drivers
- Strategic fit
- Commercial benefits
Later rounds of investment
- Shifts in expectations
- Dilution
- Angel protection
- Successful follow-ons
- IPOs
- Alternative sources
Exits
- Types of exits
- Dealing with losses
- Understanding
- Respecting
- Letting go
What is the CBA?
- The world’s first certification for individual business angels (ISO 17024)
- Following the official CBA Body of Knowledge
- Awarded by the ISO-accredited incite academy
