Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 22, 2020

As a long-time advisor to entrepreneurs, and a former angel myself, I still find startups confused about the definition of an angel investor, and how and when to attract one. Here are some key points to consider in finding one for you: Look for accredited angels and groups rather than individuals.

Angel Investor 322

Angel Investor Valuation Syndicate Syndication 322

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 16, 2014

Source: Center for Venture Research – Angel Market Analysis Report. Q: What is the typical profile of angel investors? Angel investors are generally former entrepreneurs and/or executives, who invest in privately-held, early-stage companies. Q: Why do people become angel investors? approx 2004-09.

Angel Investor 114

Angel Investor Technical Review Venture Capital Pre-Money Valuation 114

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2017

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Consider licensing your product or intellectual property, and “white labeling.”

Product Development 177

Product Development Cost Developer Product 177

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2022

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Consider licensing your product or intellectual property, and “white labeling.”

Intellectual Property 341

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 341

Gust

JULY 23, 2014

I almost never invest in ideas or plans, so you’ll need to have a company and at least a product, if not customers. Invested Interests Power Pitches angel investor business David Rose entrepreneur meeting pitch startup' And that’s how to get a meeting with David S. original post can be found on Quora @ [link] *.

Angel Investor 153

Angel Investor Elevator Pitch Pre-Money Valuation Technical Review 153

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 14, 2023

For example, a software development startup raising $250,000 from angel investors better be able to operate on $25,000 per month. Overall, managing cash flow and burn rate is more critical to your business success than having the right idea and the right product.

Burn Rate 258

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Management Salary 258

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2023

First of all, I will admit that there is some risk involved with talking to any potential investors, even with an agreement, just as there is risk in all the elements of your plan, product and market opportunity. Here are the key considerations from my perspective: Dealing with known or trusted investors and advisors.

Non-disclosure Agreement 254

Non-disclosure Agreement Technical Review Due Diligence Angel Investor 254

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2022

I see more and more entrepreneurs who seem to have everything going for them – vision, motivation, passion, even a good business plan, product, and money, and yet they can’t close customers. Process myth: Why building a product leads to failure. In my view, savvy “super angel” investors such as Mike Maples, Jr. ,

Angel Investor 359

Angel Investor Technical Review Incubator Business Model 359

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 31, 2023

Based on my own career as a business owner and angel investor, in this age of change, I still see key successes and growth from the same team member work qualities. It takes effort and homework to find productive relationship channels, such as industry conferences, connections to experts, and key customer relationships.

Flash 303

Flash Technical Review Angel Investor Social Media 303

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 21, 2023

The average length of a funding pitch to angel investors is ten minutes. The biggest complaint I hear from fellow investors is that startup founders often talk way too long, and neglect to cover the most relevant points. An obvious effort to keep talking after the time limit won’t save your day with investors.

Technical Review 369

Technical Review Elevator Pitch Angel Investor Matching 369

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 12, 2023

Every entrepreneur I know has their favorite excuse for a previous failure – an investor backed out, the economy took a downturn, or a supplier delivered bad quality. Finish the product before marketing begins. Marketing should start before product development. No startup can afford to do these serially.

Intellectual Property 312

Intellectual Property Startup Angel Investor Viral 312

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 12, 2021

You need an investor, and want a document to mass-mail to everyone. Most VCs and Angel investors don’t read unsolicited proposals, unless they have met you first, or have a glowing recommendation from another investor or acquaintance. You need an investor, and want to solicit professionals online.

Business Plan 316

Business Plan Technical Review Angel Investor Due Diligence 316

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 26, 2021

I know from experience that my friends who are angel investors are looking for the same indications, although none of us has a scorecard , or even know exactly what we are looking for. Idea people must surround themselves with people who build momentum and get things done, including production, marketing, finance, and sales.

Entrepreneur 341

Entrepreneur Angel Investor Partner Software Developers 341

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2022

As a startup mentor, I’m always amazed that some entrepreneurs seem to be an immediate hit with investors, while others struggle to get any attention at all. Finally I realized that venture capital and angel investors are actually humans, despite some views to the contrary. Evidence of adaptability and flexibility.

Intellectual Property 278

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Early Stage Venture Capital 278

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 18, 2021

If your startup is great enough to get a term sheet from angel investors or a venture capitalist, the next step for the investor is to complete the dreaded due diligence process. Explain that they may be called, and use the opportunity to check their satisfaction with your company and your product. Validation of product.

Technical Review 380

Technical Review Due Diligence Term Sheet Angel Investor 380

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2022

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Consider licensing your product or intellectual property, and “white labeling.”

Intellectual Property 261

Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator Bootstrapping 261

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 18, 2022

If you are not in that rare category of known and proven entrepreneurs, you should avoid the following list of my top ten turnoffs that I have personally experienced as an angel investor. Investors are buying part of the business, not the product or service. The best demos to investors are 30 seconds or less.

Business Plan 273

Business Plan Technical Review Angel Investor Social Media 273

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 1, 2021

First of all, I will admit that there is some risk involved with talking to any potential investors, even with an agreement, just as there is risk in all the elements of your plan, product and market opportunity. Here are the key considerations from my perspective: Dealing with known or trusted investors and advisors.

Non-disclosure Agreement 399

Non-disclosure Agreement Technical Review Due Diligence Angel Investor 399

Steve Blank

JANUARY 17, 2023

Three types of organizations – Incubators, Accelerators and Venture Studios – have emerged to reduce the risk of early-stage startup failure by helping teams find product/market fit and raise initial capital. He had a track record of taking small teams and growing them into successful product lines.

Technical Cofounder 346

Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 346

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2022

I still have to tell some entrepreneurs that even with the best idea, they have to move to Silicon Valley to find the investors they need, or they need to move to the U.S. Also, investors from the super-hubs (Silicon Valley, New York, or Boston), probably won’t assume anyone outside their domain has the savvy and resources to make it happen.

Las Vegas 309

Las Vegas Silicon Valley Arizona Montana 309

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 13, 2022

Influencers are recognized experts and pseudo celebrities who can pick favorite products or start new trends. You need to evaluate the tradeoffs of getting investment capital from angel investors and crowdsourcing. Be proactive is reaching out for support and help. Commit to and communicate a higher-level purpose.

Technical Review 355

Technical Review Social Media Channel Flash 355

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2020

For example, a software development startup raising $250,000 from angel investors better be able to operate on $25,000 per month. Overall, managing cash flow and burn rate is more critical to your business success than having the right idea and the right product.

Burn Rate 310

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Salary Angel Investor 310

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 17, 2020

Every entrepreneur I know has their favorite excuse for a previous failure – an investor backed out, the economy took a downturn, or a supplier delivered bad quality. Finish the product before marketing begins. Marketing should start before product development. No startup can afford to do these serially.

Intellectual Property 436

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Viral Distribution 436

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 24, 2022

As a business consultant and angel investor, I often ask for your own assessment of marketing ROI , or customer acquisition cost (CAC). What if someone sees an ad, visits a web page, watches a video, downloads a brochure, responds to an e-mail, and finally buys a product? Multiple marketing tactics seek to share attribution.

Acquisition 250

Acquisition Cost Customer Sales Cycle 250

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2021

In my experience as an angel investor for new startups, I’m always surprised by how many entrepreneurs are looking for funding without outside advisors. Remember that people make a business, more often than a product. Learn how to budget your time and select productive relationships.

Advisory Board 356

Advisory Board Bandwidth Cofounder Technical Review 356

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 12, 2022

As an angel investor and a mentor to entrepreneurs I still see this every day. Great entrepreneurs are proactive, not only in selecting the right idea, but in implementing a product, setting a price, and choosing customers. Business success is still more about the people than the technology or idea involved. Imagination.

Technical Review 297

Technical Review Angel Investor Differentiation Business Model 297

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2019

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Consider licensing your product or intellectual property, and “white labeling.”

Finance 320

Finance Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 320

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. Build a prototype product.

Angel Investor 260

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch Angel Groups 260

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2020

You may think that patents and copyrights are not required, since your products are so innovative, but you will find that competitors are quick to copy your idea if you don’t protect it. In addition, most investors won’t give you money for scaling if you don’t have a strong property base. Neither is good.

Intellectual Property 432

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Technical Review Angel Investor 432

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 22, 2021

Most entrepreneurs have learned that it’s almost always quicker and easier to get cash from someone you know, rather than angel investors or professional investors (VCs). In fact, most investors “require” that you already have some investment from friends and family before they will even step up to the plate.

Technical Review 338

Technical Review Elevator Pitch Due Diligence Angel Investor 338

The Startup Magazine

MARCH 30, 2022

Of course with the promise of such significant rewards, there are also intimidating risks to take into account, and realities for investors to accept before they go all-in. Photo by RODNAE Productions from Pexels. Rigorous research is your responsibility.

Technical Review 136

Technical Review Due Diligence Angel Investor Startup 136

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2020

As a startup mentor, I’m always amazed that some entrepreneurs seem to be an immediate hit with investors, while others struggle to get any attention at all. Finally I realized that venture capital and angel investors are actually humans, despite some views to the contrary. Evidence of adaptability and flexibility.

Intellectual Property 316

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Early Stage Venture Capital 316

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2014

As a startup mentor, I’m always amazed that some entrepreneurs seem to be an immediate hit with investors, while others struggle to get any attention at all. Finally I realized that Venture Capital and Angel investors are actually humans, despite some views to the contrary. Evidence of adaptability and flexibility.

Angel Investor 268

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Early Stage 268

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 5, 2023

Since this number is budgeted and pre-authorized, managers tend to focus upon other things such as sales, marketing and product development issues. There is an art to efficient management of a process, whether that is the process of bringing a product to market from R&D to production or developing a new product’s launch program.

Silicon Valley 118

Silicon Valley Burn Rate Angel Investor Down Round 118

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 21, 2020

If you are not in that rare category of known and proven entrepreneurs, you should avoid the following list of my top ten turnoffs that I have personally experienced as an angel investor. Investors are buying part of the business, not the product or service. The best demos to investors are 30 seconds or less.

Technical Review 310

Technical Review Angel Investor Business Plan Social Media 310

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2019

Based on my recent experience as an angel investor, and advisor to new business owners, I now recommend that all entrepreneurs, especially introverts, learn and practice the discipline they need to build and nurture relationships with key constituents through the following activities: Formalize a mentoring relationship with someone you trust.

Entrepreneur 261

Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Angel Investor Incubator 261

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2023

Luckily, not all investors are looking for the same thing, so it pays to know what type of investors are most interested in what your startup brings to the table. The key is understanding how potential investors see you, and especially how they view the maturity stage of your startup. Congratulations!

Angel Investor 313

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 313