Hi, I’m David G. Cohen.

You may have heard by now that Governor Ritter is rushing a new tax on software through legislation at an unprecedented rate, with an effective date of March 1, if passed. The bill proposes a new tax on any software purchased or installed in Colorado. Yes, a tax on software. Wait, it’s worse.

It’s unclear that this new tax is even constitutional as none of us will be given the chance to vote on the issue!

We’re making huge progress in making sure Colorado is known as a great place to build software companies. Colorado is now on the map as a friendly place for software companies to build and sell their products. We’re seeing software company M&A activity and employee growth here when most states are not. Now the Governor wants to undermine our efforts without even asking the voters what they think? We all need to react and talk some sense into them, and fast.

Let’s look at some specific impacts that a tax like this would have:

• Comcast estimates an increase in cost of nearly $1.5 million per year to its Colorado operations.
• Qwest estimates an increase in cost of nearly $700,000 per year to its Colorado operations.
• Leading companies like IBM, Qwest, HP and Comcast have major operations in other states. With this new tax, they’d be smart to divert capital and jobs to more business-friendly states like Utah and Wyoming. That means fewer new jobs here.

Governor Ritter: We’re trying to create jobs here by funding innovative companies. We want them to come here. And they’re coming here, because we’re so supportive of them. Please don’t undermine our efforts to make Colorado an amazing place to build software companies. Trust me, they’re going to stop coming here. And that means people like me (and area VCs) are going to invest less here. That is so unbelievably disappointing at a time when we’re making fantastic progress and so many good things are starting to happen.

We don’t have much time. Take these actions TODAY. Not tomorrow – now.

• Call Governor Ritter’s office (303-866-2471) to voice your opposition to HB 1192. (If your call is received by someone who says they don’t know what you are referring to, please tell them it is HB 1192, and that it IS a new tax on software not only to our industry but every single business who uses software or employes people who use software in our state. This bill will cause jobs and professionals to move out of Colorado.)
• Call and email the House Appropriations Committee Members especially Reps. Kathleen Curry and John Kafalas to voice your opposition to HB 1192.
• Post on Rep. John Kafalas’ Facebook page in opposition of HB 1192.
• Tweet from your personal and corporate Twitter accounts in opposition of HB 1192. Ensure all tweets include the hashtag #noCOsoftwaretax.
• Update your Facebook and LinkedIn status’ with one of the sample status updates or your own status update in opposition of HB 1192.
• Post on your personal or professional blog in opposition of HB 1192.
• Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper TODAY in opposition of HB 1192.
• Encourage all of your employees/colleagues to take these same steps.
• Forward this blog post your network about HB 1192 and encourage them to voice their opposition.

Thanks for your help, and to the CSIA (more there) for leading the charge on this. Let’s let our legislators know that this won’t have the intended effect and that’s it’s a stupid idea that will set our innovation economy back significantly.

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I’m loving Plancast. It’s a very powerful social discovery tool. Here’s a quick overview of how I use it.

I put in any events that I’m attending that are “significant” that I think my friends might like to know about. I love how easy it is to put in a future plan. It’s just 3 fields (what, when, where), and takes 3 seconds. People that subscribe to my plans then know about those events and can easily “join me” with a single click. Try it here.

At first I found all the email notifications a little annoying. Every time someone that I follow creates a plan, I get an email. You can turn that off, which I’ve now done. But the key is to grab the iCal feed. It’s hidden in the upper right hand corner. Grab that link, and create a live calendar subscription that refreshes once an hour. Then what you have is pure AWESOME.

plancast ical feed

I usually leave the PlanCast calendar turned off, but this is particularly handy when I have some free time and want to see what’s going on, or when I’m traveling. The only thing that would make this better would be the ability to filter the iCal feed – e.g. only those events in the Bay area in one calendar, and Boulder events in another one.

Plancast is still really new, but it’s showing great potential. It does one thing extremely well, and it does it with real simplicity in terms of the experience.

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Since my original post on the Open Angel Forum, I’ve received the following frequently asked questions:

Q. What is the deadline to apply to present at OAFCO1 on February 3rd, 2010?
A. From my experience with TechStars, I know you need a deadline so you can apply 32 seconds before it. So let’s make it 6:00PM Mountain time, February 1st, 2010. Of course, applying earlier would be helpful and appreciated. Here’s the application form again.

Q. What types of angels/companies should attend/present at OAFCO?
A. The angel makeup so far seems to be about 80% software/IT/web and 20% other stuff. So we’ll likely shoot for 4 companies doing software/IT/web stuff and 1 doing something else. So any type of company should apply, but particularly software/web/IT companies.

Q. I’d like to become an angel investor, but I don’t meet the requirement of having made 3 investments of note in the past 12 months. May I attend?
A. Please ask, and I’ll put you on the waiting list. This is not a networking event or a “learn how to angel invest” event. OAF exists to help entrepreneurs reach very active angels and as such we’ll opt for a smaller crowd of top notch / active angels. If we have a seat or two left, we’ll allow less experienced angels in based on how many deals they’ve done in the past.

Q. I’m just really interested in this, but I’m not an angel and my company isn’t pitching. May I attend?
A. Yes, but you’ll have to buy a ticket. There are only 5 4 (thanks Cooley!) tickets still available at the moment.

Q. I’m a service provider locally and I’d like to support what you’re doing. May I attend?
A. Yes, this is exactly why we have tickets available. The event is free to the angels and free to the entrepreneurs. It’s supported by those who buy tickets.

Q. What’s the format?
A. The entrepreneurs and investors have dinner together, and each company makes a 5 minute presentation and 5-10 minutes of Q&A from the investors follow. Presenters must take at least one sip of beer (or their favorite beverage) during their presentation. It’s informal and fun, and there’s plenty of time for interaction between the companies and investors.

Q. Where will this be held, and when?
A. It will be downtown in Boulder. I’d tell you more, but I don’t know yet. It will be from 6pm-830pm on February 3rd.

Q. How many angels have signed up so far?
A. As of today, 12 angels that meet the “3 investments in the last 12 months” criteria, and several on the wait list. Several of these are coming from out of town. We have room for a few more, so let me know if you’d like to attend.

Hope that helps! Please let me know what other questions you have.

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If you’re a Colorado company looking to hire interns or full time, check out Startup2Student on March 11th, 2010. This was a great event last year, and I expect that Ben Limmer who’s organizing it will make sure it’s even better this year.

The event is held on campus, and it’s an easy way for students to engage with startups. Part of the original mission here was simply to expose students to entrepreneurial companies. I know that this led to several direct hires last year, but perhaps more importantly it built awareness on campus about the lively startup scene in Boulder. And that’s never a bad thing.

If you’re a student looking for work or internship, or a Colorado based software/tech company, head here to learn more.

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By now, I’m sure most of you have read about the ongoing debate about charging entrepreneurs to pitch. I’ve tried to put together a chronology of links about this, but I’m sure I’ve missed some great ones. You had:

• An angel group that makes me vomit – Brad Feld (97 comments)
• Jason Jihad: Keiretsu Forum Must Be Stopped – Jason Calacanis (14 comments)
• Why startups shouldn’t have to pay to pitch angel investors – Jason Calacanis (174 comments)
• It’s ridiculous startups have to pay to pitch – Scobelizer (37 comments)
• Paying to Pitch – Fred Wilson (125 comments)
• An offer to Funding Universe – yours truly (28 comments)
• Why it’s ok to pay to pitch – Andrew Hyde (18 comments)

As with many things, it’s easy to bitch. So when I heard that Jason Calacanis was attempting to actually do something about it, my ears perked up. I started following his new concept, the Open Angel Forum. By email, I somehow got myself invited and I flew to LA yesterday for the inaugural Open Angel Forum. It was held at a beautiful home with one of the angels playing host (thanks Matt!). It was a great event and both the angels and entrepreneurs seemed to really love it.

Jason describes the Open Angel Forum this way: “The Open Angel Forum (OAF) is dedicated to providing entrepreneurs with free and open access to the angel investors that they need. We are firmly committed to fighting against “pay-to-pitch” schemes.” You can read the full mission and rules here.

While it’s hugely important that OAF is free to entrepreneurs, there are a few other things that strongly attracted me to the format of the Open Angel Forum. First, each chapter was to be organized by a well-connected angel investor and was to be limited to about 15-20 angels in attendance. Every one of those angels had to qualify as someone who has made at least four angel investments “of note” in the last 12 months. Because of this, the turnout in LA was truly stellar. It wasn’t just locals – many others had flown in like I had. Ron Conway, Chris Sacca, Shervin Pishevar and many more joined an awesome local crew including Mark Suster, Matt Coffin, and many more. Jason did a good job of sticking to his guns, turning down a bunch of late requests by angels to attend. Because of that, it was a manageable but top notch crowd of about 20 very active angels. Frankly, I was pretty blown away and honored to even be there.

Next, rather than some artificial process for selecting companies to pitch, the local OAF chapter just collaborates to invite companies that they’re seriously considering funding. Essentially, all the presenting companies are sponsored by one of the angels in attendance. This stops the angel group meeting from being the typical “watch and snicker” event which is not helpful to anyone. Rather, every single one of the companies presenting is a legitimate investment opportunity. Certainly, I think there’s a place for “unknown” companies to present at angel groups, but I’ve always said that if you can’t impress just one member of the group, perhaps you really shouldn’t be there. Pitching to a room full of strangers is also generally not helpful. In fact, this is one of the core things we teach at TechStars about the fundraising process.

But then came a moment at the Open Angel Forum last night where I knew this was a fantastic event that had to be replicated. I think it was the founder of Backupify, who, right in the middle of his pitch took a swig from his beer. I remember thinking to myself “I’ve never seen THAT at an angel event before.” Trivial right? I don’t think so – this was the first angel event that I’ve ever attended where the entrepreneurs who were presenting actually seemed comfortable. Relaxed even. I think it was a tribute to the atmosphere. Sipping your beer while presenting sort of became an instant tradition at OAF.

I’m proud to announce that Jason has asked me to run the Colorado chapter of Open Angel Forum. I instantly jumped at the chance to try this in Colorado, and I fully intend to transplant the “sip of beer” tradition here. I’m announcing today that the first Open Angel Forum Colorado (OAFCO) event will be held on February 3rd in Boulder. Jason Calacanis will be attending in order to help us kick it off right, and I’ve also talked him into talking about the Open Angel Forum and why startups should avoid paying to pitch at the February 2nd New Tech Meetup.

At the first OAFCO event on the evening of February 3rd, we expect a similar format: 10-15 angels and 5 companies. If you’d like to attend as an angel investor, please let me know. Likewise, if you’d like to present your company at the first OAFCO event, please fill out this form. Note that presenting companies and angels don’t have to be from Colorado. Like the LA event, I’m hopeful that we’ll have great angels and companies from all over the country at the first Colorado meeting. If it’s interesting to you, come join me, Jason Calacanis, Brad Feld, and many more investors at this special first OAFCO meeting in Colorado. There are also tickets available for service providers – as Jason explains on the Open Angel Forum web site – this is how the event is supported. Only five tickets are available, so if you’d like to attend and help sponsor the event, head here before they’re gone.

I’m excited to try this new format out here in Colorado. There are a bunch of other chapters being started in cities all over the country, but I won’t steal their thunder. Suffice it to say that each chapter is being run by some great local investors. So again, I feel honored to be given the baton for Colorado.

I’d welcome your thoughts in the comments!

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