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College News
Many businesses have interesting stories behind how they got started. But few entrepreneurs can make the statement that Paul Anderson (ND ’78) can: His venture got help from a group of angels bearing a fish taco. About three years ago, Anderson developed an idea for a new surgical wound-closing device. With three patents pending for DermaClose, he sought funding for his Eden Prairie, Minn.-based venture Wound Care Technologies, through the IrishAngels. The group is comprised of about 190 University of Notre Dame alumni, parents and friends who support the activities of the Gigot Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at the Mendoza College of Business. Anderson received $20,000 from the group’s Fish Taco fund, a collective investment pool set up by members of the IrishAngels. The money helped pay for marketing and other tasks involved in launching the venture. “It certainly was very helpful, and having the IrishAngels was huge,” said Anderson, who eventually raised about $400,000 from the network investors. “The Fish Taco fund gave us credibility.”
For some ventures, the money bridges the gap from the spring McCloskey competition to the IrishAngels Fall Conference where they can attract additional network investments. “It’s there to create the spark,” said Riley, chairman and chief executive officer of Milwaukee-based Rapid Air Systems, of the Fish Taco fund. “So if an entrepreneur has the idea, it’s really walking-around money to get more money.” Members of IrishAngels and others can contribute to Fish Taco, which operates as a limited liability company independent of Notre Dame. But the size of their investment is limited to amounts between $1,000 and $5,000. “We say, no pigs, no whales,” said Abdo, president of Minneapolis-based Anxon Inc. “There is no one who dominates the fund.” The two funds currently operating—Fish Taco 2005 and Fish Taco 2006—each have about 45 investors, with some overlap, and each has reached $100,000. The maximum payout to any one venture is $20,000, and any unused capital is rolled over into the next year’s fund. The investments are straightforward market-based deals, which means the investors acquire company stock or other consideration similar to comparable deals in the market. Currently, seven startups in various phases of launching have received Fish Taco money, including sports management company GameDay and delivery service LicketyShip. GameDay already has repurchased its stock at a 63 percent rate of return to Fish Taco. The ventures are by definition high-risk, but that is not a deterrent to the investors. “We really need to protect the idea of growing entrepreneurs,” said Abdo. “The strength of America is built on the backs of entrepreneurs. If we lose that, we lose the ballgame.” For more information about IrishAngels, contact Dan Buckenmeyer, associate director of the Gigot Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, (574) 631-3042; buckenmeyer.2@nd.edu. For more information about the Fish Taco fund, contact Larry Abdo, (612) 341-9148; larry@anxon.com.
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The fund was created in 2005 with the purpose of supplying seed money for business ventures started by Notre Dame students or alumni, said Larry Abdo, who serves with co-founder John Riley, as managing fund members. As mentors to the Mendoza students and judges during the annual McCloskey Business Plan Competition, they often listened to presentations for very good plans that could become great plans with a little more work. Fish Taco funds allow the entrepreneurs to develop their ventures further with some additional marketing, patent work or other organizational activity. | © 2007 University of Notre
Dame Last Updated: October 23, 2007 |