By Clyde Noel

An idea is only as good as the capital available for its implementation. The last thing you want to hear when your company has a great idea, and an opportunity to gain market share, is there’s no money to develop it.

International Angel Investors Institute has its roots in Silicon Valley and was founded in 1999 as a non-profit by Los Altos resident Hal Nissley. The organization’s mission statement is “Mentoring about corporate governance and seed finance.”

Since 1999, chapters have been formed in Toronto, Canada; Tokyo, Japan; Seoul, Korea; and other parts of Asia. Nissley returned last week from Calgary, Canada, where a new chapter was formed.

“Creative financing is the name of the game,” Nissley said. “Since the Internet bubble burst, the IPO market has been slow, but it is now returning with numerous opportunities.”

Because of limited funds, venture capital firms have been forced to choose which companies in their portfolio they’ll continue to fund even though the investment may be sound.

“Our goal is to mentor and act as a partner with people and companies who have good ideas,” Nissley said. “Entrepreneurs need a lot of help with government governance, and that’s an area that is often overlooked with startups.”

International Angel Investors Institute is not a venture capitalist nor an angel investor in the traditional sense. It is a business angel that plays a hands-on role in the early stages of investment. It plays an active role - investing time, business acumen, money and experience - to help young entrepreneurs be successful faster.

Every fall, the organization honors six outstanding seed investors who have helped both investors and entrepreneurs. Last December the awards went to:

Omnibus angel: Deven Verma, Los Altos Hills

Angels’ lawyer: John Goodrich, Portola Valley

Most mentoring angel: Professor Tom Byers, Stanford University

Semiconductor angel: Glen Balzer, Los Altos Hills

Software angel: Andy Bechtolsheim, Portola Valley

Biotech and medicine angel: Dr. Len Sokoloff, Los Altos Hills

Angel investors are generally wealthy people with management expertise or retired businessmen and businesswomen. Venture capitalists may be special investors who invest even before there is a real product or organized company.

Angels differ from traditional venture capitalists. While the latter typically invest relatively large sums, angels contribute more modest amounts to businesses very near the beginning of the startup cycle.

Nissley said from the date of incorporation, startups should plan on having one to three outside directors sharing responsibilities on the board.

Outside directors can help with audit and finance, executive compensation, employee stock participation, purchase agreement and stock options.

Depending on the size of the startup, intellectual property and corporate development should be included, along with mergers and acquisitions as part of an exit strategy.

For more information, logon to www.angelinvestors.org.