Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now
Dozens of people in the Indianapolis area have the potential and the interest to become angel investors in the next few years.
Here are some examples:
Howard Bates
founder, Haverstick Consulting Inc.
With angel assistance from former Conseco Inc. executives Rollin Dick and Stephen Hilbert, Bates built Haverstick into a
$100-million-a-year security consulting firm. It was sold to Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the San Diego area,
and now the 56-year-old Bates has left the company and sees a dearth of capital flowing to local startups.
Christopher Clapp
former CEO, Angel Learning Inc.
Clapp reaped a windfall when the education software firm he led, Angel Learning, was sold a year ago for $100 million. He’s
since joined the boards of PolicyStat LLC and BlueLock LLC, and is “selectively evaluating” opportunities to invest
in software and technology.
Mike Cloran
founding partner, Developer Town LLC
Serial entrepreneur Cloran, 41, is mixing software and angel investing in his newest company, Developer Town, which not only
builds custom software for startups, but also organizes outside angel investors to inject infusions into the startups.
Todd Katz
president, Bell-Horn Inc.
Katz started a company with a $500 advance on a credit card and then bought the nation’s oldest orthopedic company,
Bell-Horn, and merged the outfits. The 40-year-old envisions investing in life sciences and orthopedics startups. “There
are a lot of good ideas out there,” he said.
Wade Lange
CEO, ImmuneWorks Inc.
With a past in marketing at Eli Lilly and Co. and managing the Indiana Health Industry Forum trade association, 53-year-old
Lange now may be poised for a payday with ImmuneWorks, which is developing therapies for autoimmune diseases—if human
trials succeed and an exit plan through partner Lung Rx goes through.
Joe Muldoon
CEO, FastDiagnostics
Muldoon, 46, has accumulated a phalanx of experience with entrepreneurial companies through his advisory role at the Indiana
Venture Center, and now through FastDiagnostics, which is developing a kit to test kidneys. About a fourth of the $6 million
FastDiagnostics has raised has come from angels. “I’m absolutely not in a position now,” Muldoon said. He
would be, though, if FastDiagnostics takes off.
Bill Oesterle
CEO, Angie’s List LLC
Oesterle, a former venture capitalist, says there are no exit plans for Angie’s List or a couple of other ventures
in which he is involved, so he doesn’t expect to be an angel investor soon. However, he added that someday, “If
I find an entrepreneur I really like, I’d always be interested in helping out.”
Dr. John Oscherwitz
pathologist, AmeriPath Indiana
Oscherwitz is dipping his toes into angel investing with investments in a Silicon Valley tech firm and a for-profit hospital
in China. If those deals pan out, Oscherwitz intends to recycle profits into other companies, possibly in the Indianapolis
area.
John Qualls
CEO, BlueLock LLC
Qualls, 41, has been mentored by angels, and he wants to give back if he can reap a windfall from BlueLock, a cloud computing
firm. Qualls likes tech. But in recent months he likes other “very, very intriguing” ideas. “The service
industry is lacking some real quality leadership,” he says.
Jim Zaloudek
chief financial officer, T2 Systems Inc.
With an equity stake in the parking software firm, 43-year-old Zaloudek hopes for a windfall to catapult him into angel ranks.
He also anticipates serving as an adviser to budding companies, saying, “Entrepreneurs are just an amazing breed of
people.”•
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.