19 ms·

How to suck at raising angel investment

49 points by dshah 16y ago

samaparicio 16y ago
One way to suck less is to raise angel money after you've made some progress, such as demonstrating some technology viability, some market traction, or at least commitments from other people to join you if you get funded.
- petewarden 16y ago
  Definitely. At the end of the day, the best way to get any kind of funding is to make people worry that they're missing the boat heading towards a ton of money. Demonstrating real customers, and everything else that falls under 'traction' and 'momentum' is the way to achieve that. If I had to do it again, I'd completely forget about the money-raising and spend the three months focused on the product, and worry about everything else much later. That's not a great fit for the Techstars program, though some of the most interesting companies to come out of it have ended up boot-strapping, eg Occipital/Red Laser.
- RobertL 16y ago
  The problem with Angel funding is that once you do all the required things like "demonstrate technological viability, show some market traction, and get a few commitments" then you are worth a whole heck of a lot more than you can ever get from the so called Angels so "Why Bother?".
eande 16y ago
Aaron Patzer was a single founder at Mint.com and there are many more examples.
- clintsharp 16y ago
  So I hear the single founder thing thrown around a lot, and as I'm currently working on an idea I struggle with the fear of taking on a second founder simply to get around the stigma of being a one-man team. I am a highly technical business man. I can code, I can do strategy, I can read a P&L. Design is the only big gap in skillset and it seems like bringing on a co-founder simply for design work would be over the top. I do wish I could find someone to work with on this project, but I don't know anyone personally that I would consider for the job and I don't know that I want to start a business with a stranger. What to do? Anybody else in Colorado in a similar situation? :)
  - petewarden 16y ago
    Get involved with Techstars and the tech community, there's a lot of events all the time here in Boulder. Boulder/Denver New Tech meetups are probably the best introduction: http://www.bdnewtech.com/ http://www.bdnewtech.com/
  - alain94040 16y ago
    Find a co-founder: http://fairsoftware.net/search-cofounder-web-developer http://fairsoftware.net/search-cofounder-web-developer Unfortunately, no one is running the equivalent of the co-founders meetup in Colorado (http://www.meetup.com/Co-Founders-Wanted-Meetup/ http://www.meetup.com/Co-Founders-Wanted-Meetup/), but you are welcome to start one if you want to. TechStars would indeed be a great anchor, but you don't have to ask permission to start such a meetup.
    - enjo 16y ago
      Boulder New Tech is an excellent place to find what you're looking for.
  - MotorMouths 16y ago
    Ping me and I might be able to help. I went through something similar with my start-up.
  - clintsharp 16y ago
    I've been thinking I need to move up to Boulder rather than being down South of Denver, but doing so would be counterproductive since I still have another job aside from working on my product. Moving that far north would mean 2 hours a day wasted in commute, so I'll probably just live with only going up that way a few times a month for meetups. As for the other advice, my thanks to all who responded. In the mean time, I'm going to keep trucking along working on my product and hopefully the right person will present themselves through some of the networking options that have been recommended.
- petewarden 16y ago
  There's lots of examples of successful lone founders, but most of the angel investors I met cringed at the thought of putting money into a one-man band. It's possible to overcome that with enough traction, but it is an extra obstacle.
- epi0Bauqu 16y ago
  FWIW, I'll fund single founders. I am one and my last investment was in one. All the angels who joined me in the round will also do it.
JoeAltmaier 16y ago
Best way to suck: don't even start. Figure its hopeless and keep your day job.
- jonpaul 16y ago
  Great point. Most people can't even get over the fear of starting, as it's safe not to start - this way they can't fail.
jallmann 16y ago
I don't see what's so bad about eating alone at restaurants. I do it sometimes if I want time to myself.
deleted 16y ago
[deleted]

49 points by dshah 16y ago

One way to suck less is to raise angel money after you've made some progress, such as demonstrating some technology viability, some market traction, or at least commitments from other people to join you if you get funded.

petewarden 16y ago
Definitely. At the end of the day, the best way to get any kind of funding is to make people worry that they're missing the boat heading towards a ton of money. Demonstrating real customers, and everything else that falls under 'traction' and 'momentum' is the way to achieve that. If I had to do it again, I'd completely forget about the money-raising and spend the three months focused on the product, and worry about everything else much later. That's not a great fit for the Techstars program, though some of the most interesting companies to come out of it have ended up boot-strapping, eg Occipital/Red Laser.
RobertL 16y ago
The problem with Angel funding is that once you do all the required things like "demonstrate technological viability, show some market traction, and get a few commitments" then you are worth a whole heck of a lot more than you can ever get from the so called Angels so "Why Bother?".

eande 16y ago

Aaron Patzer was a single founder at Mint.com and there are many more examples.

clintsharp 16y ago
So I hear the single founder thing thrown around a lot, and as I'm currently working on an idea I struggle with the fear of taking on a second founder simply to get around the stigma of being a one-man team. I am a highly technical business man. I can code, I can do strategy, I can read a P&L. Design is the only big gap in skillset and it seems like bringing on a co-founder simply for design work would be over the top. I do wish I could find someone to work with on this project, but I don't know anyone personally that I would consider for the job and I don't know that I want to start a business with a stranger. What to do? Anybody else in Colorado in a similar situation? :)
- petewarden 16y ago
  Get involved with Techstars and the tech community, there's a lot of events all the time here in Boulder. Boulder/Denver New Tech meetups are probably the best introduction: http://www.bdnewtech.com/ http://www.bdnewtech.com/
- alain94040 16y ago
  Find a co-founder: http://fairsoftware.net/search-cofounder-web-developer http://fairsoftware.net/search-cofounder-web-developer Unfortunately, no one is running the equivalent of the co-founders meetup in Colorado (http://www.meetup.com/Co-Founders-Wanted-Meetup/ http://www.meetup.com/Co-Founders-Wanted-Meetup/), but you are welcome to start one if you want to. TechStars would indeed be a great anchor, but you don't have to ask permission to start such a meetup.
  - enjo 16y ago
    Boulder New Tech is an excellent place to find what you're looking for.
- MotorMouths 16y ago
  Ping me and I might be able to help. I went through something similar with my start-up.
- clintsharp 16y ago
  I've been thinking I need to move up to Boulder rather than being down South of Denver, but doing so would be counterproductive since I still have another job aside from working on my product. Moving that far north would mean 2 hours a day wasted in commute, so I'll probably just live with only going up that way a few times a month for meetups. As for the other advice, my thanks to all who responded. In the mean time, I'm going to keep trucking along working on my product and hopefully the right person will present themselves through some of the networking options that have been recommended.
petewarden 16y ago
There's lots of examples of successful lone founders, but most of the angel investors I met cringed at the thought of putting money into a one-man band. It's possible to overcome that with enough traction, but it is an extra obstacle.
epi0Bauqu 16y ago
FWIW, I'll fund single founders. I am one and my last investment was in one. All the angels who joined me in the round will also do it.

JoeAltmaier 16y ago

Best way to suck: don't even start. Figure its hopeless and keep your day job.

jonpaul 16y ago
Great point. Most people can't even get over the fear of starting, as it's safe not to start - this way they can't fail.

jallmann 16y ago

I don't see what's so bad about eating alone at restaurants. I do it sometimes if I want time to myself.

deleted 16y ago

[deleted]