The post Angel Investors Spotlight: An Inside Look at Hudson Valley Startup Fund’s Investment Process & Advice for Founders appeared first on The Gust Blog. Investors' Insights advice angel investors entrepreneursHudson Valley Startup Fund brings together a network of the region’s successful business and community leaders to give back, supporting the launch of the next Hudson Valley visionaries. MORE
In the business world, angel investors are sometimes equated with actual angels, sent to help us fund what could not otherwise be funded. These guardian angels of innovation are responsible for bringing many new ideas to life. A2A—Analyst to Angel. MORE
If your startup is looking for an Angel investor, it makes sense to present your plan to flocks of Angels, and assume that at least one will swoop down and scoop you up. The challenge is to find the right Angel for you, and for your situation. MORE
An angel investor who also has experience in the start-up world has a much greater understanding of how businesses work, what fears and concerns the start-up owner or owners have and much more. 3 Great Examples of Entrepreneurs Turned Investors. MORE
Kevin Smith of SEEDCHANGE shared his insights with us on what it takes to hook angel investors. In some ways, getting your startup funded has parallels with The Amazing Race. It can seem like a long, winding, obstacle-strewn course. MORE
Whether an entrepreneur is raising a smaller (pre-)seed round entirely from individuals or she has a seed-stage or larger VC firm involved in (leading) the seed syndicate, it’s somewhere between necessary and optimal to have multiple individual angel investors involved. First and foremost, angels can provide capital. That’s especially true for angels. Again, that’s especially true for angels. MORE
But taking a look at some operating US-based companies that currently come to mind when thinking about the space ( Kickstarter , Indiegogo , AngelList , Gust , CircleUp), some of the known angels who have invested in them include: Jack Dorsey. Industry Experts angel investors AngelList CircleUp crowdfunding Gust kickstarter startups MORE
If your startup is looking for an angel investor, does it makes sense to present your plan to flocks of angels, and assume that at least one will swoop down and scoop you up? Maybe friends and family will give you money with no plan, but angel investors expect a real plan. MORE
A while back, I outlined “ Most Startups Get No Professional Investor Cash ” for startups, listing angel investors as alternative #6. I still get a lot of questions on these mysterious and often invisible investors, so here is another attempt to bring them out of the ether. MORE
Nearly all seed rounds we are a part of include angel investors. In almost all of these cases, these smaller investors were included into a syndicate because they “added value” either through domain or functional expertise or through their network. MORE
Although that’s probably not the right question to be asking (because the right investor is one who is investing in you as a businessperson, not you as a minorityperson), some firms and groups specializing in this sector are NMAN, the National Minority Angel Network ( [link] m/ ), MAIN, the Minority Angel Investor Network ( [link] investor… ), and Jalia Ventures( [link] ventures.com/ ). MORE
I began studying angel investing returns about 10 years ago as a result of a problem I couldn’t resolve: The investing world seemed certain that angel investors were rubes. Are angel investors just unwitting philanthropists or legitimate entrepreneurial investors? MORE
We at NextView Ventures invest exclusively in a startup’s seed-stage round , meaning that many if not most of our deals are made alongside individual angel investors. These angels, however, come in many different shapes and sizes. The Super Angel. The Domain Angel. MORE
If your startup is looking for an angel investor, does it makes sense to present your plan to flocks of angels, and assume that at least one will swoop down and scoop you up? Maybe friends and family will give you money with no plan, but angel investors expect a real plan. MORE
Every new startup I know dreams of being funded early by one of the 318,000 active Angel investors in the USA alone. Most of these investors are members of Angel groups that have a rigorous filtering and screening process, to select the top 3% and most fundable proposals. MORE
Angel investors are still the lifeblood of early-stage startups, despite the surge of activity in crowdfunding and an increasing early interest from venture capitalists. These are all accredited investors who risk their own money. angel investor early-stage entrepreneur startup MORE
There are quite a few senior executives of large companies who are angel investors. The only legal issue is that they need, like anyone else, to be an accredited investor. Invested Interests angel investors fortune 500 executives private company public company MORE
But that wasn’t angel investing (although it had some similarities). Nine months ago I made my first independent angel investment. I made that mistake with an angel investor once (who invested in Standout Jobs) and it’s one I’ll never repeat. Angel investing is fun. Some parts of angel investing aren’t fun, namely reading legal documents and wiring money. I’ve also been affected by investors saying no. MORE
Raising funding from Angel Investors can feel like a catch-22. It’s easy to figure out who the active angel investors are but it’s hard to find the right time to pitch them. Not all investors are the same. Angel Investors are investing their own money?—?they MORE
Angel investors and venture capitalists don’t make equity investments in non-profits. The simple reason is that it’s impossible to make money for investors when the goal of the company is to not make money. MORE
The reality is that results in angel investing tend to bifurcate: “Professional” angel investors, who are investing calmly, steadily, relatively-rationally, over a long period of time and with a strong knowledge of both investment math and early stage realities, tend to not only make money, but do quite well: the average return for a comprehensive, well-managed angel portfolio is between 25% and 30% IRR. MORE
Too many entrepreneurs tell me they are looking for an investor, and can’t differentiate between venture capital (VC) investors versus accredited Angel investors. Angel investors wish for the same return, but may accept a 5X deal. MORE
Angel investors can teach you a lot about money, whether or not you’re seeking funding from them. I’ve seen this over and over in my dealings as a member of a local angel investment group. What we do at the Willamette Angel Conference is the rule, not the exception. MORE
I’m on an Acela train between Boston and New York (listening to Boston’s More Than A Feeling – how recursive) on my way to the TechStars Boston 2010 Investor / Demo day. I wasn’t able to make it to Boston yesterday for the Angel Boot Camp as I was running around NYC with the CEO of a company I invested in last week introducing him to a bunch of potential customers and partners. It sounds like Angel Boot Camp rocked. Run in a pack: The best angels run in packs. MORE
Entrepreneurs who require funding for their startup have long counted on self-accredited high net worth individuals (“angels”) to fill their needs, after friends and family, and before they qualify for institutional investments (“VCs”). Rose, according to his recent book, “ Angel Investing.” MORE
But many have no insight or connections to the ethereal angel investment community, which actually funds more startups then all other venture sources combined (over $25 billion annually). Angels are typically current or former entrepreneurs who want to bring more than money to your startup. MORE
A few angel investors have slipped or fallen from their lofty perch, so entrepreneurs must take great care to validate the character and reputation of every prospective investor. Litigious angels. The litigious investor will look for almost any excuse to take you to court. MORE
When you pitch a startup to angel investors, you want to get questions. Don’t expect that when you’re pitching real angels. Right or wrong, most angel investors consider themselves busy, full of insight, and worth listening to as much as they are worth talking to. MORE
ABC Shark Tank Angels via Elite Daily. Every new startup I know dreams of being funded early by one of the 318,000 active Angel investors in the USA alone. Don’t expect the pomp and celebrity of the Angels on Shark Tank , but they do ask a lot of the right questions. MORE
I’m posting this here for two audiences: angel investors and founders (including would-be and wanna-be founders) of startups. . I was one of four judges, all of us members of local angel investment groups working with the gust.com platform. MORE
“I’ve had a few conversations recently about how individual seed investors are getting kind of tapped out – for a variety of reasons, but in general it’s not that easy to find people who are still actively investing. If you are an active angel, I’d love to hear what you think. But generally the pool of angel investors is increasing and the prolific ones who have a strategy ( such as the angel strategy I advocate ) seem to be keeping a steady pace. MORE
I see now emerging a new wave of investors, popularly known as “super-Angels,” micro-VCs, or “super-seed” investors. Due to the struggling economy as well, traditional individual Angel investors haven’t been able to fill the gap. MORE
The biggest change is the one that ALL serious angel investors eventually arrive at: no matter how smart or experienced you are, there are simply too many exogenous factors affecting outcomes for you to be able to pick only winners. Invested Interests angel investors investing startups VCs MORE
But as a general rule of thumb, the investors in each round of financing will get somewhere between 15% and 35% of the equity in the company, and the total amount raised in each round should be enough to get the company to a significant increase in value. For an overview of the amounts raised at different stages from different sources, see the answers to What is the range of capital you can expect from an Angel vs VC? MORE
Securing adequate financing for any new venture nowadays is an exceptionally difficult proposition, which is why angel investors are considered so valuable to the startup ecosystem. In general, angel investors tend to group entrepreneurs into two distinct categories. MORE
One of the most common questions we get is: What are the biggest challenges and rewards of angel investing? High net worth individuals become angel investors for a number of reasons, but the opportunity to work with entrepreneurs and provide guidance to founders is typically high on the list. MORE
If your startup is looking for an Angel investor, does it makes sense to present your plan to flocks of Angels, and assume that at least one will swoop down and scoop you up? Maybe friends and family will give you money with no plan, but Angel investors expect a real plan. MORE
So how do angel investors fall on this question? My bias, as an angel investor: other things being equal, yes. Looking beyond my specific bias, thinking of people I’ve worked with in my groups and in different investor venues, I think it’s fair to talk about some general rules that will apply to most situations: most investors, looking at most potential deals. Angel investors are all individuals. MORE
If your startup is looking for an angel investor, it makes sense to present your plan to flocks of angels, and assume that at least one will swoop down and scoop you up. The challenge is to find the right angel for you, and for your situation. USA Angel Investment Network. MORE
If you are an angel investor, the only way to do it is to take things very seriously. If you take angel investing seriously, you should aim to develop a portfolio of at least 30-40 investments over 5-10 years of active investing. If you can’t psychologically take the complete failure of at least one company (let alone 20 or more), then you shouldn’t be angel investing in the first place. Invested Interests angel investor fail investment startup MORE
I’ll be speaking at an Impact Angel Group event on February 12th. With a few other angel investors, I’ll be talking to other angel investors, along with prospective angel investors, about the role of impact investing the community, as well as in our own portfolios. MORE
Angel investors come from a variety of ages, backgrounds, and professions. I’m not your average angel. I’m not active in an angel group. I live in a small town surrounded by farms and I made my first angel investment at 29 because my dad said it was a good idea. MORE
When I started my angel investing over a decade ago, there was no such thing as a site to handle the surprisingly-challenging process of keeping track of all the information regarding all the companies with which I was working. Gust News angel investor Gust startup deals MORE
Angel Investor Related Topics Gust
OCTOBER 21, 2015
One of the most common questions we get is: What are the biggest challenges and rewards of angel investing? High net worth individuals become angel investors for a number of reasons, but the opportunity to work with entrepreneurs and provide guidance to founders is typically high on the list.
Startup Professionals Musings
MARCH 11, 2016
Angel investors are still the lifeblood of early-stage startups, despite the surge of activity in crowdfunding and an increasing early interest from venture capitalists. These are all accredited investors who risk their own money. angel investor early-stage entrepreneur startup
Startup Professionals Musings
AUGUST 2, 2014
Too many entrepreneurs tell me they are looking for an investor, and can’t differentiate between venture capital (VC) investors versus accredited Angel investors. Angel investors wish for the same return, but may accept a 5X deal.
Startup Professionals Musings
JUNE 5, 2015
Entrepreneurs who require funding for their startup have long counted on self-accredited high net worth individuals (“angels”) to fill their needs, after friends and family, and before they qualify for institutional investments (“VCs”). Rose, according to his recent book, “ Angel Investing.”
Austin Startup
JULY 29, 2018
Raising funding from Angel Investors can feel like a catch-22. It’s easy to figure out who the active angel investors are but it’s hard to find the right time to pitch them. Not all investors are the same. Angel Investors are investing their own money?—?they
View from Seed
AUGUST 13, 2014
We at NextView Ventures invest exclusively in a startup’s seed-stage round , meaning that many if not most of our deals are made alongside individual angel investors. These angels, however, come in many different shapes and sizes. The Super Angel. The Domain Angel.
Up and Running
APRIL 7, 2015
When you pitch a startup to angel investors, you want to get questions. Don’t expect that when you’re pitching real angels. Right or wrong, most angel investors consider themselves busy, full of insight, and worth listening to as much as they are worth talking to.
Gust
DECEMBER 16, 2012
ABC Shark Tank Angels via Elite Daily. Every new startup I know dreams of being funded early by one of the 318,000 active Angel investors in the USA alone. Don’t expect the pomp and celebrity of the Angels on Shark Tank , but they do ask a lot of the right questions.
Startup Professionals Musings
JANUARY 20, 2013
If your startup is looking for an Angel investor, it makes sense to present your plan to flocks of Angels, and assume that at least one will swoop down and scoop you up. The challenge is to find the right Angel for you, and for your situation.
Gust
AUGUST 16, 2012
The reality is that results in angel investing tend to bifurcate: “Professional” angel investors, who are investing calmly, steadily, relatively-rationally, over a long period of time and with a strong knowledge of both investment math and early stage realities, tend to not only make money, but do quite well: the average return for a comprehensive, well-managed angel portfolio is between 25% and 30% IRR.
Gust
OCTOBER 17, 2012
I began studying angel investing returns about 10 years ago as a result of a problem I couldn’t resolve: The investing world seemed certain that angel investors were rubes. Are angel investors just unwitting philanthropists or legitimate entrepreneurial investors?
Startup Professionals Musings
AUGUST 12, 2013
If your startup is looking for an Angel investor, does it makes sense to present your plan to flocks of Angels, and assume that at least one will swoop down and scoop you up? Maybe friends and family will give you money with no plan, but Angel investors expect a real plan.
Gust
APRIL 26, 2014
There are quite a few senior executives of large companies who are angel investors. The only legal issue is that they need, like anyone else, to be an accredited investor. Invested Interests angel investors fortune 500 executives private company public company
Feld Thoughts
JUNE 2, 2010
I’m on an Acela train between Boston and New York (listening to Boston’s More Than A Feeling – how recursive) on my way to the TechStars Boston 2010 Investor / Demo day. I wasn’t able to make it to Boston yesterday for the Angel Boot Camp as I was running around NYC with the CEO of a company I invested in last week introducing him to a bunch of potential customers and partners. It sounds like Angel Boot Camp rocked. Run in a pack: The best angels run in packs.
Startup Professionals Musings
DECEMBER 24, 2012
Every new startup I know dreams of being funded early by one of the 318,000 active Angel investors in the USA alone. Most of these investors are members of Angel groups that have a rigorous filtering and screening process, to select the top 3% and most fundable proposals.
Up and Running
DECEMBER 22, 2015
Angel investors can teach you a lot about money, whether or not you’re seeking funding from them. I’ve seen this over and over in my dealings as a member of a local angel investment group. What we do at the Willamette Angel Conference is the rule, not the exception.
Startup Professionals Musings
JUNE 11, 2017
If your startup is looking for an angel investor, it makes sense to present your plan to flocks of angels, and assume that at least one will swoop down and scoop you up. The challenge is to find the right angel for you, and for your situation. USA Angel Investment Network.
Gust
MARCH 12, 2014
But as a general rule of thumb, the investors in each round of financing will get somewhere between 15% and 35% of the equity in the company, and the total amount raised in each round should be enough to get the company to a significant increase in value. For an overview of the amounts raised at different stages from different sources, see the answers to What is the range of capital you can expect from an Angel vs VC?
YoungUpstarts
JANUARY 4, 2017
An angel investor who also has experience in the start-up world has a much greater understanding of how businesses work, what fears and concerns the start-up owner or owners have and much more. 3 Great Examples of Entrepreneurs Turned Investors.
Gust
NOVEMBER 15, 2011
So how do angel investors fall on this question? My bias, as an angel investor: other things being equal, yes. Looking beyond my specific bias, thinking of people I’ve worked with in my groups and in different investor venues, I think it’s fair to talk about some general rules that will apply to most situations: most investors, looking at most potential deals. Angel investors are all individuals.
Up and Running
MARCH 27, 2015
In the business world, angel investors are sometimes equated with actual angels, sent to help us fund what could not otherwise be funded. These guardian angels of innovation are responsible for bringing many new ideas to life. A2A—Analyst to Angel.
Gust
NOVEMBER 2, 2013
But taking a look at some operating US-based companies that currently come to mind when thinking about the space ( Kickstarter , Indiegogo , AngelList , Gust , CircleUp), some of the known angels who have invested in them include: Jack Dorsey. Industry Experts angel investors AngelList CircleUp crowdfunding Gust kickstarter startups
Gust
JANUARY 30, 2013
I’m posting this here for two audiences: angel investors and founders (including would-be and wanna-be founders) of startups. . I was one of four judges, all of us members of local angel investment groups working with the gust.com platform.
Feld Thoughts
SEPTEMBER 10, 2015
“I’ve had a few conversations recently about how individual seed investors are getting kind of tapped out – for a variety of reasons, but in general it’s not that easy to find people who are still actively investing. If you are an active angel, I’d love to hear what you think. But generally the pool of angel investors is increasing and the prolific ones who have a strategy ( such as the angel strategy I advocate ) seem to be keeping a steady pace.
Startup Professionals Musings
JULY 5, 2012
If your startup is looking for an angel investor, does it makes sense to present your plan to flocks of angels, and assume that at least one will swoop down and scoop you up? Maybe friends and family will give you money with no plan, but angel investors expect a real plan.
YoungUpstarts
JANUARY 12, 2017
Securing adequate financing for any new venture nowadays is an exceptionally difficult proposition, which is why angel investors are considered so valuable to the startup ecosystem. In general, angel investors tend to group entrepreneurs into two distinct categories.
View from Seed
OCTOBER 5, 2016
Whether an entrepreneur is raising a smaller (pre-)seed round entirely from individuals or she has a seed-stage or larger VC firm involved in (leading) the seed syndicate, it’s somewhere between necessary and optimal to have multiple individual angel investors involved. First and foremost, angels can provide capital. That’s especially true for angels. Again, that’s especially true for angels.
Startup Professionals Musings
JULY 23, 2011
A while back, I outlined “ Most Startups Get No Professional Investor Cash ” for startups, listing angel investors as alternative #6. I still get a lot of questions on these mysterious and often invisible investors, so here is another attempt to bring them out of the ether.
Rob Go
OCTOBER 12, 2016
Nearly all seed rounds we are a part of include angel investors. In almost all of these cases, these smaller investors were included into a syndicate because they “added value” either through domain or functional expertise or through their network.
Seth Levine's VC Adventure
JANUARY 24, 2014
I’ll be speaking at an Impact Angel Group event on February 12th. With a few other angel investors, I’ll be talking to other angel investors, along with prospective angel investors, about the role of impact investing the community, as well as in our own portfolios.
Startup Professionals Musings
JUNE 26, 2013
I see now emerging a new wave of investors, popularly known as “super-Angels,” micro-VCs, or “super-seed” investors. Due to the struggling economy as well, traditional individual Angel investors haven’t been able to fill the gap.
Up and Running
SEPTEMBER 10, 2014
Angel investors come from a variety of ages, backgrounds, and professions. I’m not your average angel. I’m not active in an angel group. I live in a small town surrounded by farms and I made my first angel investment at 29 because my dad said it was a good idea.
Gust
MARCH 15, 2014
If you are an angel investor, the only way to do it is to take things very seriously. If you take angel investing seriously, you should aim to develop a portfolio of at least 30-40 investments over 5-10 years of active investing. If you can’t psychologically take the complete failure of at least one company (let alone 20 or more), then you shouldn’t be angel investing in the first place. Invested Interests angel investor fail investment startup
Gust
APRIL 30, 2014
The biggest change is the one that ALL serious angel investors eventually arrive at: no matter how smart or experienced you are, there are simply too many exogenous factors affecting outcomes for you to be able to pick only winners. Invested Interests angel investors investing startups VCs
Startup Professionals Musings
FEBRUARY 15, 2015
Angel investors and venture capitalists don’t make equity investments in non-profits. The simple reason is that it’s impossible to make money for investors when the goal of the company is to not make money.
Instigator Blog
SEPTEMBER 20, 2013
But that wasn’t angel investing (although it had some similarities). Nine months ago I made my first independent angel investment. I made that mistake with an angel investor once (who invested in Standout Jobs) and it’s one I’ll never repeat. Angel investing is fun. Some parts of angel investing aren’t fun, namely reading legal documents and wiring money. I’ve also been affected by investors saying no.
Early Growth Financial Services
JUNE 11, 2015
Kevin Smith of SEEDCHANGE shared his insights with us on what it takes to hook angel investors. In some ways, getting your startup funded has parallels with The Amazing Race. It can seem like a long, winding, obstacle-strewn course.
Gust
MAY 17, 2014
Although that’s probably not the right question to be asking (because the right investor is one who is investing in you as a businessperson, not you as a minorityperson), some firms and groups specializing in this sector are NMAN, the National Minority Angel Network ( [link] m/ ), MAIN, the Minority Angel Investor Network ( [link] investor… ), and Jalia Ventures( [link] ventures.com/ ).
Startup Professionals Musings
APRIL 28, 2011
If your startup is looking for an angel investor, does it makes sense to present your plan to flocks of angels, and assume that at least one will swoop down and scoop you up? Maybe friends and family will give you money with no plan, but angel investors expect a real plan.
Gust
JANUARY 15, 2014
When I started my angel investing over a decade ago, there was no such thing as a site to handle the surprisingly-challenging process of keeping track of all the information regarding all the companies with which I was working. Gust News angel investor Gust startup deals
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