Brian Alvey: Open Angel Forum in L.A.

In December I was lucky to be in town when Jason's daughter was born. That evening I was in their hospital room holding her and got to see her again later that week. I didn't make it to his wedding in Hawaii, but that was bigger by far.

Last week I was again lucky to be in town for another Jason Calacanis event, his Open Angel Forum. The five presenting companies were interesting and one was compelling enough that I'd want to invest in it and advise the team. One thing I liked about all of them is that they weren't all from the SoCal region. Investors follow people and markets, not geography.

The best part for me was having dinner with a smart group of investors. Some of them I already knew like Matt Coffin, Gordon Gould, Shawn Gold and Ron Conway. Some I followed on Twitter but hadn't met in person like Chris Sacca and Mark Suster. Some weren't on my radar at all, but are now like TechStars founder David Cohen, Shervin Pishevar and NY angel Jay Levy. Although Jarl Mohn was there and many people have told me I should meet him, there was so much going on I didn't get the chance. Next time!

Mark Suster did a much better recap of the OAF event, who attended it and what differentiates it from events where entrepreneurs pay to present to angels.

I definitely won't miss the NYC versions of these events.

Comments (6)

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scott edward walker 61 days ago

Hey Brian - It was a pleasure meeting you at the OAF; enjoyed chatting. Take care, Scott
Brian Alvey 61 days ago

Scott -- great meeting you too!
Ryan (curious entrepreneur) 61 days ago

Brian,
I'm curious about your closing statement about events in New York. What do you mean by that? Are they that bad now, or were they bad in the past?
Brian Alvey 61 days ago

Funny that you *can* read my last line as "I for one won't miss having to suffer through those rotten NYC events."
But the way it was intended was "I certainly wouldn't miss the chance to attend an awesome NYC version of this event which so far has only ever been held once in Los Angeles."
Hope that helps! ;-)
Ryan (curious entrepreneur) 61 days ago

Thanks for the clarification Brian ;) I can't wait for the NYC version either.
Eric (CEO & Co-Founder TigerTag) 60 days ago

OAF LA was a great success and I enjoyed meeting with you and a bunch of other super angels. Wrote a short post of our experience as startup attending the OAF on our blog. http://blog.tigertag.com/post/341210618/tigertag-at-the-o...

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