Angel investing expert to give distinguished lecture
John May, the managing partner of New Vantage Group of Vienna, Va., will give a talk on Thursday, April 8, 9:30-10:30 a.m., as the featured speaker in the BB&T Distinguished Lecture Series on Capitalism, hosted by the Pamplin College of Business.
The talk, “Valuation of Early-Stage Ventures,” will be held at the Inn at Virginia Tech’s Latham Ballroom. It is free and open to the public, no tickets required. Free parking is available at the Inn at Virginia Tech.
An expert on “angel” investors, wealthy individuals who provide funds for business start-ups, May co-authored a 2001 book, Every Business Needs an Angel, and co-edited a 2003 book, State of the Art: An Executive Briefing on Cutting-Edge Practices in American Angel Investing. Co-chair of the World Business Angels Association and chair-emeritus of the Angel Capital Association, he serves as a lead instructor for the latter’s “Power of Angel Investing” seminars.
May’s firm, which creates and manages early-stage venture funds for angel investors, administers four regional angel groups with more than 300 individual members and has three joint ventures with sister organizations. May has, over the last 20 years, advised or served as a general partner of five early-stage venture capital funds, including the U.K.-based Seraphim Capital. He is a Batten Fellow at the University of Virginia’s Darden Business School.
Featuring two speakers each year, the BB&T Distinguished Lecture Series on Capitalism discusses current issues in business management and government policy, in addition to topics related to capitalism. The lecture series is part of a Pamplin College teaching program to explore the foundations of capitalism and freedom. The program was established in 2007 in the college’s finance department with a $1 million gift from BB&T Charitable Foundation.
The undergraduate and graduate courses in the program examine alternative economic systems, including socialism and communism, and compare them with the economic solutions offered by free markets. For more information about the program, please contact finance professor and program director Douglas Patterson via e-mail or at (540) 231-5737.
Recent BB&T lectures on campus were given by Nobel Laureate James M. Buchanan and Vahan Janjigian, a Pamplin alumnus and Forbes newsletter editor who authored a book on Warren Buffet.
