John Huston the current President of Angel Capital Association outlines outlines the ten possible outcomes of Angel Investment. Listen to the entire list on the Podcast.

     1.“Grand Slam Homerun” -- Exceeds a 10X in five years (>58% IRR)

     2.“A Lucrative Exit” -- <58% IRR, but at least a 1 – 10X return

     3.The “Harry Houdini” -- Escaped with a 1X return; No loss

     4.“Lost a Little” -- Didn’t lose it all (<1X but not a 0X)

     5.“My Grandkids’ Company” -- Company is successful but there’s no exit in sight. Maybe it will occur after my grandchildren inherit the portfolio?

     6.The “Zombie” -- A walking dead venture which will never become a great company, nor will it die so I can declare the loss.

     7.“Deductible Loss” -- It died without a tail and I got to declare the loss (or sold my shares for $1.00 to record the loss)

     8.“Funeral Expenses” -- Not only did I lose all my original investment, I had to also cover the costs of winding down the venture, plus pay accountants to provide the final accounting needed so I could take my tax deduction.

     9.“The Worst Gets Worse” -- “The loss that keeps on losing” due to ongoing litigation expenses even after the company has no value.

     10.“Angel Hell” -- In addition to losing all my investment plus a considerable amount of my time, media coverage, tarnished my reputation, plus damaged my relationship with co-investors.