3 ms·

I hope I'm not lumped in this group. I angel invest because there are some amazing people and I want to be involved and help the best I can. But I don't ever go

by joshu 16y ago

I hope I'm not lumped in this group. I angel invest because there are some amazing people and I want to be involved and help the best I can. But I don't ever go looking for businesses and try to "convert" them to venture-backed firms. There's a whole LOT of businesses that outside investors make zero sense for. Generally the kind that can reinvest their revenue for growth should avoid it. I almost always ask folks who have early revenue why they think they need to raise and suggest that they figure out a way to grow without an investor. If there was a way to reliably invest in a startup that was going to produce a revenue stream rather than exit someday then I think that would be awesome in general. Also, I only update my blog like twice a year. (And, finally, I am trying to build revenue-producing projects on my own. I don't talk about them because I am mostly just embarrassed.)

joshu 16y ago
And, to be clear: I agree with Max. There is unnecessary seductiveness of the lifestyle. And a lot of distortions in behavior due to chasing far too few opportunities.
- pvg 16y ago
  I think 'lifestyle' is the critical bit, rather than the hand-rubbing evilishness of angel or other investors - it's hard to imagine this has changed much, to the extent that it exists. The popular glamorization of 'startup as lifestyle' and, worse, 'startup as self-help/self-actualization' seems like a newer and sillier thing. You can open HN on some days and it reads like some sort of Cosmo for nerds.
- flatulent1 16y ago
  Good for you. (opps, message got threaded away from parent, reply to user who avoided VC) It seems best to avoid those that bring money but no skills/services to the table. While some could prove to be good allies, many others are more apt to be parasites than productive. If this country weren't so full of people trying to (or succeeding) in getting rich without actually producing anything useful, we wouldn't be in such a sorry state. Capitalism and competition can be a wonderful environment for innovation, but it can have a dark side when greed games the picture. I stumbled on an interesting piece a while back that I thought adds perspective http://articles.sfgate.com/2009-02-09/news/17189250_1_islamic-finance-economic-crisis-washington-mutual http://articles.sfgate.com/2009-02-09/news/17189250_1_islami...

by joshu 16y ago

joshu 16y ago

And, to be clear: I agree with Max. There is unnecessary seductiveness of the lifestyle. And a lot of distortions in behavior due to chasing far too few opportunities.

pvg 16y ago
I think 'lifestyle' is the critical bit, rather than the hand-rubbing evilishness of angel or other investors - it's hard to imagine this has changed much, to the extent that it exists. The popular glamorization of 'startup as lifestyle' and, worse, 'startup as self-help/self-actualization' seems like a newer and sillier thing. You can open HN on some days and it reads like some sort of Cosmo for nerds.
flatulent1 16y ago
Good for you. (opps, message got threaded away from parent, reply to user who avoided VC) It seems best to avoid those that bring money but no skills/services to the table. While some could prove to be good allies, many others are more apt to be parasites than productive. If this country weren't so full of people trying to (or succeeding) in getting rich without actually producing anything useful, we wouldn't be in such a sorry state. Capitalism and competition can be a wonderful environment for innovation, but it can have a dark side when greed games the picture. I stumbled on an interesting piece a while back that I thought adds perspective http://articles.sfgate.com/2009-02-09/news/17189250_1_islamic-finance-economic-crisis-washington-mutual http://articles.sfgate.com/2009-02-09/news/17189250_1_islami...