Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

Every new startup I know dreams of being funded by an angel investor. are eliminated during due diligence. Over the past 10 years, I have had the opportunity to see how the process works, several times from the startup side, and more recently from the angel perspective (as a member of an angel group selection committee).

Angel Investor 224

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Technical Review Elevator Pitch 224

Up and Running

MARCH 14, 2018

I know what it’s like to pitch to investors—both angels and venture capitalists. I’ve raised close to $1 million from angel investors for my previous technology startups. Sometimes you only get 10 minutes to pitch your business opportunity to the investors (or less in some cases). Your revenue or business model.

Hockey Stick 164

Hockey Stick Exit Strategy Technical Review Angel Investor 164

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 27, 2016

There is an old saying in the startup investor community, “Smart investors invest in the team, not the idea.” As an angel investor, I’ve learned to believe in this approach, since I have seen great ideas go astray, due to poor execution and I have seen apparently marginal ideas make millions, managed by a savvy entrepreneur.

Technical Review 134

Technical Review Intellectual Property Due Diligence Angel Investor 134

NZ Entrepreneur

DECEMBER 10, 2020

“I was then able to say to the rest of the angel groups that the others invested.”. The snowball effect meant one person’s confidence inspired the next which Sutton says reduced the due diligence workload for him. He found many private investors were interested in him as much as StockTrim. “It Lesson 10.

Technical Review 103

Technical Review Software Review Due Diligence Startup 103

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

However, in private markets, there is more room to optimize across all 11 steps of the investing process: firm management , marketing, fundraising , origination , manage relationships, due diligence, negotiation, monitoring, portfolio acceleration , reporting, and. 6) Due diligence. I personally use Salesforce.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

Gust

OCTOBER 20, 2011

Individual accredited investors in typical angel deals put personal capital at risk for an equity share of growth-oriented, start-up companies. These angel investors generally invest $25,000 to $100,000 in a round totaling $250,000 to $1,000,000. A local network of angels is critical to achieving a diversified portfolio.

Valuation 146

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Intellectual Property Technical Review 146

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 9, 2021

Most new entrepreneurs tend to avoid the financials of the business, and as a result are badly surprised by cost realities, and can’t answer investor questions. I suggest a simple Excel spread sheet loaded with your revenue, cost, and margin targets covering the first five years of your business.

Elevator Pitch 390

Elevator Pitch Entrepreneur Due Diligence Angel Investor 390

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2022

There just aren’t enough angel investors and VCs to go around. I recommend you work only with financial and broker organizations who have done the due diligence required, and who have a track record of success. The image of shell companies has long been tarnished by true stories of lawsuits and “ pump and dump ” schemes.

Merger 261

Merger OTC IPO Due Diligence 261

Up and Running

DECEMBER 18, 2013

Instead of looking at your credit score or asking you for your business’s detailed financial statements, Kabbage asks you for your UPS, PayPal, Amazon, Square, eBay, and/or Quickbooks accounts, and then uses the data it gathers from those accounts to determine your sales revenue and cash flow itself.

Kenya 119

Kenya Angel Investor Technical Review Software Review 119

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 1, 2020

The primary source of your funds should be your paying customers, i.e., your business should generate enough revenues and profits to fund the growth and expansion. These usually play a role in the very early stage of your business, primarily pre-revenue. Equity investors. The third source of funding is from equity investors.

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Seed Stage 150

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 22, 2013

Something isn''t going to go your way--product development, hiring, revenues. Angel investor Jeff Stewart once told me that either the product takes twice as long and costs three times as much to build as your plan, or takes three times as long to build and costs twice as much--you just don''t know which one. I wish they had.

Technical Review 118

Technical Review Due Diligence Angel Investor Venture Capital 118

YoungUpstarts

DECEMBER 10, 2015

This lack of focus causes startups to invest their resources and energy into the wrong areas, thus limiting their revenue streams and profits. Ensure that profit and loss records are kept and managed each month and that the business’s management team work on strategies that will help to grow the business’s revenue over the long-term.

Due Diligence 100

Due Diligence Startup Angel Investor Hiring 100

Up and Running

JULY 23, 2014

The exit strategy isn’t about you, it’s about your investors. Startups looking for angel investors or venture capital (VC) absolutely need an exit strategy because investors require it. The company brings in money and the investors get money out. The exit is what gives them a return.

Exit Strategy 131

Exit Strategy Software Review Angel Investor Startup 131

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 8, 2014

I have a vivid memory of bombing a pitch that I was delivering to a group of angel investors in Seattle. Investors care more about how you’re going to a.) get to revenue, b.) What investors care about more than your “hockey-stick” growth are the numbers behind your numbers, or your financial assumptions (i.e.

Hockey Stick 114

Hockey Stick Technical Review Due Diligence Seattle 114

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2019

There just aren’t enough angel investors and VCs to go around. I recommend you work only with financial and broker organizations who have done the due diligence required, and who have a track record of success. The image of shell companies has long been tarnished by true stories of lawsuits and “ pump and dump ” schemes.

Merger 303

Merger OTC IPO Due Diligence 303

VC Cafe

JULY 5, 2010

Janvest , a new seed fund of $5 million backed by American angel investors and chaired by the former head of the Mossad (Danny Yatom), saw an opportunity to fill the gap by making offering US-based angel investors the opportunity to tap into the Israeli startup industry. pre-revenue/no prototype/mobile app only, etc).

Technical Review 106

Technical Review Software Review Seed Stage 106

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 17, 2020

Individual super angel investors. There is a rather new term for those large, individual investors who are usually former entrepreneurs made rich through sale of their previous ventures. The advantage to getting the attention of a super angel is that most operate informally and make quick decisions with little due diligence.

Equity 62

Equity Finance Liquidity Event Angel Groups 62

Up and Running

APRIL 11, 2012

Expect lots of questions from your investor audience. Investors who wish to pursue investment will ask for a copy of your business plan and enter a stage called “due diligence,” spending lots of time with you validating the investment opportunity. Reel the investors in” and close the deal.

Business Plan 85

Business Plan Elevator Pitch Technical Review Due Diligence 85

Up and Running

JANUARY 2, 2013

I know what it’s like to pitch to investors – both angels and venture capitalists. I’ve raised close to $1 million from angel investors for my previous technology start-ups. Sometimes you only get 10 minutes to pitch your business opportunity to the investors (or less in some cases).

Hockey Stick 164

Hockey Stick Exit Strategy Technical Review Due Diligence 164

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2016

After many years of working with angel investors seriously trying to find new ventures worthy of their hard-earned money, I find their frustration often exceeds that of entrepreneurs sincerely looking for financial help. Investors invest in people, often more so than in the product. Surprises during due diligence.

Due Diligence 120

Due Diligence Intellectual Property Preferred Stock Seed Stage 120

Business Plan Blog

DECEMBER 26, 2013

10 Steps to Success With Angel Investors. Raising funds from business angels may be difficult, time consuming and even frustrating but for the right founder with the right project it may be the preferred option. Establish a group of angels who have indicated an interest in investing the opportunity to form an angel group.

Angel Investor 51

Angel Investor Due Diligence Pre-Money Valuation Angel Groups 51

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2018

There just aren’t enough angel investors and VCs to go around. I recommend you work only with financial and broker organizations who have done the due diligence required, and who have a track record of success. The image of shell companies has long been tarnished by true stories of lawsuits and “ pump and dump ” schemes.

Merger 198

Merger OTC IPO Due Diligence 198

ReadWriteStart

MARCH 1, 2011

Since most companies have little to no revenue, who else has already invested in the deal is heavily weighted to prove value. s and Angels such as Jason Calacanis and Dave McClure responded to Roberts and took the opposite stance - McClure and his fund 500startups have done 20-plus deals directly from AngelList and they greatly prefer the ?

Technical Review 123

Technical Review Due Diligence Cofounder Startup 123

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 15, 2012

If you are new to the startup space and Angel investing, you probably don’t realize that some groups of Angel investors charge entrepreneurs a fee to pitch to their groups. On the other hand, if you have solid revenues, good growth, and need to scale faster, it may be worthwhile to get to the best Angels in town.

Angel Groups 237

Angel Groups Angel Investor Due Diligence Seed Stage 237

Gust

OCTOBER 18, 2011

This is the first of a six part series on different methods used by angel investors to arrive at pre-money startup valuations. It is one of the most useful methods for establishing the pre-money valuation of pre-revenue startup ventures. Below is a brief description of each of the most popular methods.

Valuation 174

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Southern California Post-Money Valuation 174

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 20, 2018

Most new entrepreneurs tend to avoid the financials of the business, and as a result are badly surprised by cost realities, and can’t answer investor questions. I suggest a simple Excel spread sheet loaded with your revenue, cost, and margin targets covering the first five years of your business.

Elevator Pitch 164

Elevator Pitch Due Diligence Angel Investor Business Plan 164

Up and Running

MARCH 11, 2015

I’ve pitched in taxi cabs, I’ve pitched on street corners, in board rooms, on stage in front of 400 angel investors. The opportunity when I got to pitch on stage in front of 400 angel investors was for the largest angel investor conference in the Pacific northwest called Angel Oregon, and we competed with 60 other companies.

Technical Review 60

Technical Review Software Review Due Diligence Exit Strategy 60

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 18, 2014

Most new entrepreneurs tend to avoid the financials of the business, and as a result are badly surprised by cost realities, and can’t answer investor questions. I suggest a simple Excel spread sheet loaded with your revenue, cost, and margin targets covering the first five years of your business.

Entrepreneur 270

Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Due Diligence Angel Investor 270

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 3, 2014

There just aren’t enough Angel investors and VCs to go around. I recommend you work only with financial and broker organizations who have done the due diligence required, and who have a track record of success. It takes real money to get into the game. Being a public company isn’t cheap or easy.

Merger 246

Merger OTC IPO Stock 246

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 13, 2010

If you are new to the startup space and angel investing, you probably don’t realize that some groups of angel investors charge entrepreneurs a fee to pitch to their groups. On the other hand, if you have solid revenues, good growth, and need to scale faster, it may be worthwhile to get to the best angels in town.

Angel Groups 234

Angel Groups Entrepreneur Angel Investor Due Diligence 234

Berkonomics

AUGUST 3, 2023

Professional angels: This is the arena where I work and play. Micro-VC’s: This is a recent class of venture investors, often with smaller funds, and willing to invest from $1,000,000 to $2,000,000 on average, filling a gap between professional angels and VC’s.

Private Equity 118

Private Equity Valuation Cap Table Accredited Investor 118

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

A Progress Graph on the right visually shows how far you’ve come (in whatever units of goodness you’re tracking – revenue, units, users, etc.) Good if you have your own money, better if the cash comes from investors, but best if it’s revenues from customers. Get back up and running.

Customer Development 262

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 262

www.readwriteweb.com

MARCH 7, 2011

Since most companies have little to no revenue, who else has already invested in the deal is heavily weighted to prove value. s and Angels such as Jason Calacanis and Dave McClure responded to Roberts and took the opposite stance - McClure and his fund 500startups have done 20-plus deals directly from AngelList and they greatly prefer the ?

Technical Review 50

Technical Review Due Diligence Startup Angel Investor 50

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 2, 2016

Unfortunately, as a startup advisor and angel investor, I’ve seen too many ventures with great potential get destroyed or set back by legal and other shortcuts that should never have been allowed to happen. Skip any due diligence verification on interested investors. Don’t give away your business.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Due Diligence Non-Compete Startup 120

VC Cafe

JULY 4, 2012

It’s worth noting that angel investment platforms such as AngelList and CircleUp are excluded from this definition. for businesses: €250 up front for existing businesses (start–up ideas can place for free) + 5% of amount raised + legal fees – only payable if successful for investors: 2.5% Perform due diligence once target raised.

Equity 160

Equity Europe Due Diligence Startup 160

Gust

JANUARY 15, 2013

It’s not that much about a rocky recent past; it’s more about money being too easy in the recent past, and now, as a natural result, things get tighter because “easy” money doesn’t always mean enough of the due diligence and thought to make good deals. This is what I hear from my own sources.

Due Diligence 119

Due Diligence Startup Angel Investor Early Stage 119

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 15, 2015

There just aren’t enough Angel investors and VCs to go around. I recommend you work only with financial and broker organizations who have done the due diligence required, and who have a track record of success. It takes real money to get into the game. Being a public company isn’t cheap or easy.

Merger 120

Merger OTC IPO Due Diligence 120