“I thought it would be a good way to contribute into something I felt very strongly about,” McDaniel said.
The proposed program, Flyer Angels, would allow UD entrepreneurship majors to partner with a Dayton-area angel investor organization to evaluate business plans and recommend investments in start-up companies, according to university officials. It is expected to launch in 2010.
“Our objective is to make this a student-focused enterprise where students are involved in helping do due diligence on potential start-up companies that we might be able to invest in using this gift from Ron McDaniel,” said Dean McFarlin, chair of UD’s management and marketing department.
Through the angel investment program, students will learn about entrepreneurship “through the eyes of people who are in the business of funding start-ups,” McFarlin said.
UD’s entrepreneurship program in 2008 was ranked as the fourth best in the nation by the Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine. This fall, a record 190 undergraduate students will major in entrepreneurship at UD.
“I would like to see that program become much more successful than it is already,” McDaniel said.
Angel investors provide money for a business start-up in exchange for some ownership rights, according to McFarlin. Typically, they invest less money than venture capital firms, which tend to fund small, established businesses.
The Flyer Angels program could aid economic development in the region through the commercialization of technology and job creation, McFarlin said.
“We want to do what we can to not only improve our program but also help the community and area entrepreneurs, and provide a great education for the students,” McFarlin said.
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