CalCEF Angel Fund

Susan Preston, General Partner

Susan Preston is an experienced angel investor and world-recognized expert in angel financing. Ms. Preston is an author of numerous articles, white papers and books on angel financing.

Her most recent book, Angel Financing for Entrepreneurs, Early-stage Funding for Long-Term Success was released by Wiley Publishing in March 2007, and her first book, Angel Investment Groups, Networks and Funds: A Guidebook to Developing the Right Angel Organization for Your Community, a comprehensive guidebook on the establishment and operation of angel investment groups, for which she has received numerous accolades, was published by the Kauffman Foundation in 2004. She was also a contributing author to State of the Art: An Executive Briefing on the Cutting-Edge Practices in American Angel Investing.

She has been and continues to be a national and international speaker on economic development, angel and venture financing. Ms. Preston is one of the founders of the Angel Capital Association, the North American industry association for angel organizations. She was an Entrepreneur-in-Residence with the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation for 6 years and continues to serve as a consultant, specifically focusing on initiatives related to angel investing and angel organizations.

Ms. Preston has held several board positions with public and privately held corporations, and has served on non-profit boards. Ms. Preston has been profiled in Red Herring, Inc. magazine, Smart Money, Worth and other local and national publications; and has contributed to numerous nationally published articles on angel investing. Ms. Preston is the founder and past-president of Seraph Capital Forum, the first all-women's angel investment organization.

She is the architect of the Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs Act, a bi-partisan federal income tax credit bill for private equity investing, which was introduced in the House and Senate in 2006 and has been reintroduced in the current Congressional session.

Ms. Preston received her JD, cum laude, from Seattle University School of Law and her BS, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, in Microbiology and Public Health from Washington State University.

Paul Fox, Partner 

Paul is a partner at the CalCEF Angel Fund.  He is a green-tech veteran, having worked as an engineer, strategy consultant, and CEO of several start-ups.  He combines operational experience in seven countries, early-stage technology marketing and finance, and deep networks in the clean-tech community. 

Paul was the founder of tech2mkt, a technology commercialization firm and venture partner to several investors, governments and R&D institutions.  There he helped launch early stage companies, including Xerocoat, a solar start-up backed by Nth Power and SXVP.  Other projects included water treatment, solar financing, sensor networks, energy storage and green buildings. 

Previously, Paul was founding CEO of SC Power Systems, a grid-scale energy technology company now listed on the AIM as Zenergy Power (ZEN).  Before that, he was VP Operations Development at Flextronics and the CEO of a fuel cell company backed by Flextronics. In other roles, Paul built the first mobile phones made in Hungary; was a strategy consultant at PA Consulting Group during the de-regulation of the electricity and water markets; and was operations manager for one of Australia’s largest construction organizations.

Paul began his career building water and power systems in remote localities, winning kudos from the United Nations and Government of Papua New Guinea. He also invented and deployed a hydro-pneumatic pile driving system for use in wetlands.

Paul has an MBA from Monash University and a Bachelor of Engineering with Honours from the University of New South Wales.

Paul enjoys travelling and spending time with his young family. He plays competitive Judo and holds a black belt in Kung Fu and Tai Chi.

Investment Committee

A five-person Investment Committee makes investment decisions. The Investment Committee includes Susan Preston, two CalCEF representatives and two other Limited Partners or representatives of Limited Partners of the CalCEF Angel Fund. Susan Preston is a permanent member. As the founding Limited Partner, CalCEF also takes one permanent position. Initial investments will require an 80% affirmative vote while follow-on investments will require a unanimous vote. This Investment Committee structure leverages the CalCEF network, the intelligence and experience of CalCEF Angel Fund members and the expertise and discipline of a professional fund manager, while maintaining an abiding focus on value creation and returns.