I get asked all the time for Utah-based referrals to a lawyer, a financial projections specialist, what books to read, a tax guy, etc.  I have finally decided with this new blog to create a page where I can send people.  The page is called For Entrepreneurs and is one of the tabs above.  The URL is http://www.johnrichards.me/for-entrepreneurs.html.  Check it out and tell me what you think.  If you are a service provider who would like to be listed there, let me know.  You'll need to b someone to whom I have referred entrepreneurs in the past and where it has worked out well.

This is fun.  I have received many questions already.  I have answered many of them already via email.  If any warrant public discourse, I will share them if the questioner approves it.

And thanks to all the well wishes from so many who have sent in messages or comments on my first blog post earlier this month.

One good idea some have shared is for me to publish my preferred list of Utah-based service providers in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.  I may post a page on that, sort of a "yellow pages" according to me.  I get asked this information all the time, so why not send them to a useful page?  Stay tuned on that one.

Now that I have shared some of my transformation over the past year or two (albeit perhaps a little late to the party), I thought I would share some of the practical manifestations of the aforementioned discussed paradigm shift.

I am going to use the angel investing group to which I belong and for which I was elected Managing Partner for 2011 - UtahAngels.

Manifestation #1: AngelList (angel.co)

Some of the partners and associates of UtahAngels are active in AngelList, which is, quoting VentureHacks, a "curated list of super high-quality angel investors."  The deals on AngelList are very strong.  Currently, several of us are conducting due diligence on deals found through AngelList.

I thought it would be helpful to do a review of 2010 and year-to-date in 2011.

The following is a list of influences on my entrepreneurial and venture investing that caused what I would call a tectonic shift in my thinking:

No, we don't need another blog.  However, I have thought about blogging for some time.  I thought I would give it a try.  I am fairly active in the venture ecosystem of Utah and with the following associations I felt I might have something to contribute:

• Brigham Young University (Provo, Utah) teacher of entrepreneurship and venture finance
  
• Associate Director of the Rollins Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology at BYU
  
• Co-Founder and Co-Managing Partner of BoomStartup
• Founder of the Utah Student 25

I hope that this blog becomes a way for me to more effectively communicate with those I associate with and help in the ecosystem.  I also hope that folks won't be too critical if I misstep a time or two.

Thanks for visiting my blog.