Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 3, 2023

As an angel investor, I quickly learned that luck has very little to do with it, and I now look for some personal characteristics and leadership styles that separate the potential winners from the losers. These differences are the reason that investors say that they invest in people, rather than ideas. Marty Zwilling

Technical Review 269

Technical Review Kentucky Due Diligence Japan 269

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

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. I believe the old adage that you don’t know what you don’t know until you try to write it down. A business plan is for you first, not investors.

Intellectual Property 312

Intellectual Property Startup Angel Investor Viral 312

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 12, 2022

As an angel investor and a mentor to entrepreneurs I still see this every day. Building successful businesses still requires the ability to find and inspire the best people who “have what you haven't,” whether that be skills, knowledge, connections, or funding. Master-mind alliance. Going the extra mile. Personal initiative.

Technical Review 297

Technical Review Angel Investor Differentiation Business Model 297

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 10, 2021

Additionally, you need to be able to communicate the essence that story and value to investors in a couple of sentences – your elevator pitch. Often, the number one question that entrepreneurs fail to address is: “How much money do you need, and what valuation do you place on your company?” Lack of clear objectives/goals.

Software Review 307

Software Review Due Diligence Elevator Pitch Early Stage 307

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. The payback can be a pointer to a winning strategy, introduction to key investors, or a line of credit for your beginning inventory.

Advisory Board 356

Advisory Board Bandwidth Cofounder Technical Review 356

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 29, 2022

One of the things I’ve learned over my years as a business mentor and investor is that life isn’t fair when it comes to succeeding in business. In this context, I’m convinced that most of you already have, or can acquire, what it takes to succeed in business. Intelligence and insight: book and street smarts.

Silicon Valley 325

Silicon Valley Angel Investor Technical Review Boston 325

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2022

Maybe it’s time to look harder at the mantra of a new breed of gurus and successful entrepreneurs, including Steve Blank and Eric Ries , called “nail it then scale it” (NISI). For example, when you think about distribution channels, revenue streams, or the relationship with the customer, ask customers what they expect.

Angel Investor 359

Angel Investor Technical Review Incubator Business Model 359

Steve Blank

JANUARY 17, 2023

He said that from what he read, the path to building and funding a company seemed to be: 1) come up with an idea, 2) form a team, 3) start testing minimal viable products, 4) raise seed funding, 5) then obtain venture capital. But these look for founders who have a technical or business model insight and a team.

Technical Cofounder 346

Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 346

View from Seed

MARCH 4, 2020

In a few months, we are likely to see the annual Forbes Midas list of top performing early stage VC investors. Interestingly, it looks like the Midas List skipped 2010 and changed methodologies considerably in 2011, so you’d need to wait until 2021 to do a true look back. What will be interesting to see is whether this persists.

Venture Capital 313

Venture Capital China Technical Review Africa 313

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 11, 2023

pexels You need to have enough resources by having a seed-stage investor who will financially support your company in the long run. What exactly is the seed funding? What exactly is the seed funding? Some return value must be offered to the investors for startup seed funding to be considered acceptable.

Seed Stage 124

Seed Stage Technical Review Early Stage Due Diligence 124

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. I believe the old adage that you don’t know what you don’t know until you try to write it down. A business plan is for you first, not investors.

Intellectual Property 436

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Viral Distribution 436

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 21, 2020

Many new entrepreneurs are so excited by their latest idea that they can’t resist contacting every investor they know, assuming the investor will be equally excited and want to contribute immediately. Others will work hard on a business plan, and then mail it indiscriminately to every potential investor they can find on the Internet.

Technical Review 310

Technical Review Angel Investor Business Plan Social Media 310

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 8, 2019

Angel investors and venture capitalists don’t make equity investments in nonprofit good causes. The simple reason is that it’s impossible to make money for investors when the goal of the company is to not make money. What options do they have available to them, since they can’t sell a share of the company (no equity investment)?

Equity 235

Equity Angel Investor Technical Review Exit Strategy 235

Up and Running

AUGUST 17, 2022

Did investors reject your business? Close to 30,000 of them will land angel investments , and fewer than 5,000 get venture capital. In more than a decade of angel investment, and having participated in hundreds of pitches—I’ve never seen one business succeed without multiple rejections along the way. That’s completely normal.

Venture Capital 146

Venture Capital Intellectual Property Angel Investor Bootstrapping 146

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 25, 2020

As an angel investor, I quickly learned that luck has very little to do with it, and I now look for some personal characteristics and leadership styles that separate the potential winners from the losers. These differences are the reason that investors say that they invest in people, rather than ideas. Marty Zwilling.

Technical Review 308

Technical Review Kentucky Due Diligence Japan 308

Up and Running

JULY 29, 2019

Are you wondering how to land funding from angel investors? This article focuses on angel investors in the U.S., and the process of raising angel investment for high-tech or high-growth startups. We should also point out that angel investment is different from venture capital. Finish your business plan.

Angel Investor 119

Angel Investor Venture Capital Technical Review Software Review 119

Up and Running

MARCH 31, 2021

Or, are there actually more opportunities for growth if we just take the time to look? But what about angel investment? Are those investors, who have a personal stake in funding small businesses, still doing so during an economic downturn? Well, that really does depend on what your business is and the industry it serves.

Small Business 116

Small Business Angel Investor Technical Review Elevator Pitch 116

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2014

Prorata rights are one of the most important rights of a private market technology investors and yet are seldom fully understood. They often create the biggest tensions between investors who are investing at different stages in the business. But I have seen equally bad behavior from super early stage investors.

Technical Review 336

Technical Review Later Stage Early Stage LP 336

VC Cafe

OCTOBER 31, 2022

Many companies are now having to resort to tough measures in order to stay afloat, including layoffs, down rounds and tough terms from current investors. As Micah Rosenbloom explains in HBR: Tough times put investors into triage mode. It’s an investors market. Investors are calling the shots. billion in 538 deals.

Founder 173

Founder Technical Review Down Round Liquidation Preference 173

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 15, 2020

As an angel investor and a mentor to entrepreneurs I still see this every day. Building successful businesses still requires the ability to find and inspire the best people who “have what you haven't,” whether that be skills, knowledge, connections, or funding. Master-mind alliance. Going the extra mile. Personal initiative.

Technical Review 315

Technical Review Angel Investor Differentiation Business Model 315

View from Seed

MARCH 24, 2021

At NextView Ventures we have written many pieces about venture capital — how to raise it, build your business, engage with investors, iterate your product, navigate expanding industries, etc. While some examples may be slightly dated, we look forward to hearing your perspective on what resonates and what doesn’t.

Seed Stage 177

Seed Stage Hiring IPO Analytics 177

Steve Blank

JANUARY 22, 2014

Today with every city, state and country trying to build out a technology cluster, following Dino’s progress can provide others with a roadmap of what’s worked and what has not. This has changed the way entrepreneurs think about building their startups and how investors should look at them. Here’s Part 2 of Dino’s story….

Early Stage 286

Early Stage Silicon Valley Oregon Technical Review 286

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 8, 2023

But many have no insight or connections to the ethereal angel investment community, which In the U.S. In fact, there are a few key sites to help you find angels, including AngelList and Gust , but these don’t tell you very much about how angels work, and how to find the right ones for your startup.

Venture Capital 265

Venture Capital Accredited Investor Syndicate Syndication 265

VC Cafe

AUGUST 11, 2022

And Founder-investor fit can be a huge asset if you manage to find it. “Founder-investor fit is crucial for a company’s success. And Founder-investor fit can be a huge asset if you manage to find it. “Founder-investor fit is crucial for a company’s success. The needle in the haystack.

Founder 187

Founder Term Sheet Cofounder Venture Capital 187

The Startup Magazine

MARCH 30, 2022

Startups represent an appealing prospect for a lot of investors, with the promise of an early injection of cash paying out in a big way if a business is catapulted to sustainable success over the ensuing months and years. Photo by RODNAE Productions from Pexels. The statistics don’t lie. Timing is crucial.

Technical Review 134

Technical Review Due Diligence Angel Investor Startup 134

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

My favorite new VC blogger, Hunter Walk, weighed in with some thoughtful comments about how Syndicates might actually pit, “ angel vs. angel.” For starters, what is AngelList Syndicates? AngelList 101 : As you know, AngelList is a platform where angels can invest in semi-screened tech deals. Both are right.

Syndicate 356

Syndicate Syndication Cofounder Early Stage 356

NZ Entrepreneur

DECEMBER 10, 2020

Now, cofounders Paul Simpson and Dominic Sutton are sharing what they learned during the ups and downs of the journey. In early 2020, Sutton set up meetings through cold and warm outreach over email, LinkedIn, and networking through angel and tech start-up groups. StockTrim came out successful – oversubscribed, in fact.

Technical Review 103

Technical Review Software Review Due Diligence Startup 103

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

One of the things that founders have the most angst about is whom they should have on their board and at what stage of the business. Time based as in “a guaranteed right for 12 months, which can be renewed by mutual board consent” and event based “a guaranteed right until the company has raised $x million from new investors.”

Venture Capital 236

Venture Capital Startup Angel Investor Silicon Valley 236

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2013

I’ve noticed that some entrepreneurs seem to have no trouble attracting investors, while others with a great business plan struggle with it. The reality is that angel investors are humans, and personal traits often make or break the relationship, even before the investment is considered. Listens before answering questions.

Technical Review 273

Technical Review Intellectual Property Angel Investor Elevator Pitch 273

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. I’m not your average angel.

Angel Investor 159

Angel Investor Technical Review Software Review Accredited Investor 159

The Startup Magazine

FEBRUARY 26, 2024

Early-stage investments are a vital part of the venture capital ecosystem, injecting much-needed capital, often along with angel investors , into the veins of innovation. Future Trends: What’s Next for Venture Capital? The allure here is unmistakable. But it’s not for the faint of heart.

Venture Capital 124

Venture Capital Technical Review Due Diligence Early Stage 124

Up and Running

NOVEMBER 26, 2018

In this article, we’ll take a quick look at the big picture, and then talk through options for funding. Financing options depend on what kind of business you have. Don’t waste your time looking for the wrong kind of financing. Myth #3: Business plans sell investors. So you do a lot of work before you get investors.

SBA 161

SBA Venture Capital Angel Investor Technical Review 161

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2023

Time is too precious to waste trying to close a deal with the wrong investors at the wrong time. 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. Congratulations!

Angel Investor 313

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 313

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 30, 2017

The key is to look hard outside the world of “professional investors,” to regular people who share your vision and dreams, friends and family who believe in you, and crowd funding your ideas that have a popular appeal. Create the ideal investor profile for your unique business.

Technical Review 220

Technical Review Accredited Investor Due Diligence Equity 220

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 17, 2020

Many companies seek angel investors, venture capital and even family and friends’ money when they’re planning to start a company. Investors can also profit at a fixed interest rate, regardless of how the company is doing. What are some things to look out for? office space, legal fees, payroll, etc.)

Finance 217

Finance Forecast Balance Sheet Angel Investor 217

NZ Entrepreneur

MAY 31, 2021

The Angel Association of New Zealand ( AANZ ) is co-hosting with New Zealand Growth Capital Partners ( NZGCP ) a series of workshops on early-stage investment. But what is the right way to diversify in practice, in the New Zealand context? It’s not just about taking every possible opportunity and making a lot of investments.

Portfolio 81

Portfolio New Zealand Management Technical Review 81