Judith Madill

The Role of Angels in Technology SMEs: A Link to Venture Capital

The presence of angels among early-stage financiers of new technology-based firms should improve chances of eventual venture capital financing. Reasons to expect that firms with private investment would have easier access to venture capital are discussed. This study presents findings that support this expectation. A total of 57% of the firms that had received private investor financing had also received financing from institutional venture capitalists; only 10% of firms that had not received angel financing obtained venture capital. Angel investor financing was a significant explanatory variable (among others) of differences between venture capital recipients and firms that had not received venture capital. It would appear that angels help firms to become more ready for future stages of investment by, among other contributions, being closely involved with the firms in which they invest. They usually provide advice and networking opportunities. They also serve on Boards of Directors and Advisors, and provide hands-on assistance and business intelligence. Angels also fulfill an important accreditation role. Overall, this study provides empirical support for the expectation that involvement of angels can substantially increase the attractiveness of firms to institutional venture capitalists.

Informal Investment in Canada: Financing Small Business Growth

Abstract This paper reports an empirical study of Canadian informal “angel” investors. A key contribution is the development of a portrait of the decision making of these angels as well as a framework which was successful in structuring this decision making. Angels are well educated and experienced as investors. They tend to hold other full time jobs. They invest in new growth-oriented businesses, usually at the earliest stages of business development. They report a shortage of investment-ready businesses in which the principals are willing to partner with experienced investor-mentors. Investors learn about opportunities mostly from business associates. Evaluation tends to be informal, although some investors have extensive sets of due diligence materials. The key dimensions of investable business opportunities are the market potential of the business, the capability of the principals to commercialize the service or product, and the opportunity for investors to make substantive non-financial contributions to the firm.

Determinants of SME owners’ satisfaction with their banking relationships: a Canadian study

The primary goal of this empirical research study is to identify key drivers of SME satisfaction related to a variety of aspects of the bank/SME relationship. The research uses data from 3,190 interviews with key informants – identified as the person who is most responsible for financial and banking decisions – in Canadian SMEs. Research focused on how SME overall satisfaction is affected by the account manager’s management of the bank/SME relationship, the branch staff’s management of the bank/SME relationship and the bank’s policies and procedures regarding bank/SME relationships. All three drivers were significantly and strongly related to SME satisfaction with the bank with which they had their primary relationship.

Investment Decision Making by Business Angels

This Handbook provides an excellent overview of our knowledge on the various facets of managerial venture capital research. The book opens with a thorough survey of venture capital as a research field; conceptual, theoretical and geographic aspects are explored, and its pioneers revisited. The focus then shifts to the specific environs of venture capital.

Women Entrepreneurs: Debt Financing and Banking Relationships

Abstract Women-owned businesses are integral to accomplishing national and regional goals of economic welfare and job creation. Since a key concern for women entrepreneurs continues to be access to capital, this paper reported on research designed to investigate women entrepreneurs and their access to debt financing from commercial lenders. The research utilized the Surveys of Financing of Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises administered across Canada during the fall of 2001 and 2002. The research showed that the gender of the SME ownership team does not affect either loan turndown rates or rates of loan application. The research does show a significant gender difference in the length of lender-borrower relationships. Even when controlling for age of the firm, the study showed that male SME owners have significantly longer relationships with lenders—suggesting that male entrepreneurs may benefit more from relationships with their lenders than do female entrepreneurs.

Networks and linkages among firms and organizations in the Ottawa-region technology cluster

This paper reports on a study of the networking and linkage practices of technology and non-technology firms within the Ottawa cluster. The work seeks to understand how and why particular patterns of networks and linkages evolve and it examines empirically the usage and value of networks and linkages. Previous work argues that technology firms need to be relatively more adept at developing external relationships in order to be successful than do non-technology based companies. This work, however, finds that technology firms exhibit fewer linkages than non-technology based companies do within the Ottawa cluster. The research suggests that the vitality of the Ottawa cluster could be further enhanced through the promotion of additional networking and linkages among regional firms. A key implication for management practice is that CEOs of technology-based firms should work towards establishing and maintaining additional valued relationships.

Ending Universality: The Case of Child Benefits

The paper evaluates the 1993 child tax benefit reforms using the Social Policy Simulation Model and Database (SPSD/M) developed by Statistics Canada. The paper argues that few of the benefits of the reform went to the poorest families. Instead, because of the interaction of the tax and benefit system, the greatest net beneficiaries were lower-middle income families in the

From Public Education to Social Marketing: The Evolution of the Canadian Heritage Anti-Racism Social Marketing Program

40,000 to

The World Anti-Doping Agency: The Role of Social Marketing

50,000 income range. The paper also evaluates the effectiveness of the earned income supplement in increasing incentives to participate in the labour market. It argues that, because of tax back provisions, the earned income supplement results, on average, in an increase in marginal tax rates for Canadian families. Moreover, even when the earned income supplement decreases marginal tax rates, it will have only the most minimal effects on labour force participation.

A Tale of One City: The Ottawa Technology Cluster

SUMMARY Social marketing plays a critical role in a multitude of government programs, yet little research has examined how social marketing programs commence and develop over time. Utilizing a case-study methodology, this article documents the evolution of a large-scale social marketing program–the March 21 Canadian Heritage anti-racism campaign. The research reveals that this program did not begin as a social marketing program, but rather as a public-education campaign. Over the years it took on many, but not all, of the characteristics of a social marketing program. Further research expanding the scope of this study and examining whether this evolutionary pattern is common for government and not-for-profit social marketing programs at other levels, in other sectors, jurisdictions, and countries is recommended. The results are thought to be of interest to those concerned with both the theory and practice of developing strategies for the marketing of social marketing.