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Building the Best Seed Syndicates

View from Seed

Aside from the early commitments, the next most important thing to focus on is nailing down your lead investor. I’ve found that the lead investor will end up doing 90% of the work for a startup (or will cause 90% of the pain if you get the decision wrong). Often one of the leads in the mix is a larger, multi-stage fund.

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9 Tips for Raising Startup Funds on AngelList

mashable.com

What is your viral coefficient? Look for Your Lead Investor. First you’ll want to find a lead investor — someone many other investors will recognize and respect. This list of top angel investors is a good start. viral video. Focus on traction. Resist the urge to send out a blast.

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LinkedIn's Series B Pitch to Greylock: Pitch Advice for Entrepreneurs

reidhoffman.org

We are the leader in the professional domain with viral growth. What I knew that many didn’t was that a combination of curiosity and a viral game mechanic would slowly get to a million people, at which point the network becomes valuable. We didn’t try to establish the viral dynamic; we just asserted it.

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Should You Take Money from Investors Who Don't Share Your Values?

This is going to be BIG.

You don’t want to have to go into witness protection just because you couldn’t get your app to go viral.) (Morality aside, I’d say given the inherent riskiness of startups, I’m not sure this would be a great addition to your cap table. If prospective employees didn’t do this kind of research before, they almost certainly will now.

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Red Flags To Avoid When Talking About Competitors

Startup Professionals Musings

This is a variation on the first mover argument, implying a paradigm shift that gives you a tremendous lead. Investors will suspect you have a technology looking for a solution. This advantage is not sustainable. Our product is truly disruptive technology.” Only our team can make this work.” Our patent will protect us.”

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Angel Investing Skill 2 – Domain Knowledge

Both Sides of the Table

Lead investors and follow investors can both win equally but in each case you know why you personally are writing the check. They have real stories about what drives user engagement and viral adoption. I like to be early – usually first or near enough to it. Access to Deal Flow. Domain Knowledge.

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Real Sustainable Competitive Advantages are Rare

Startup Professionals Musings

This is a variation on the first mover argument, implying a paradigm shift that gives you a tremendous lead. Investors will suspect you have a technology looking for a solution. This advantage is not sustainable. Our product is truly disruptive technology.” Only our team can make this work.” Our patent will protect us.”

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