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I appreciate this may be the way the author likes it, but I wonder if they realize quite how asymmetric this is: Don't make me leave my mail client, don't send

I appreciate this may be the way the author likes it, but I wonder if they realize quite how asymmetric this is: Don't make me leave my mail client, don't send me long emails, don't make me work to find your Twitter/LinkedIn, don't message me if you're not my target demographic BUT don't get someone to make an introduction for you, make sure you've got your MVP demo-able, make sure you've read everything in my blog (and from the comments here, don't ask questions and expect a personal answer). Given the primary thing you want from an angel is time (which is another way of saying that the most valuable trait of an angel is their experience), this seems like an odd way to market oneself.

epi0Bauqu 15y ago
It's a bit more subtle than that. I have time for people past this initial stage, and lots of time for angel investments. But I don't have time to engage fully with everyone who emails me. I simply get too much email and have too much to do for that to work out mathematically. So these tips are more about getting noticed. It's really just advice. If you don't do them will you be completely thrown out? No. I read pretty much everything and give it serious thought. But if you don't do them you're not putting your best foot forward. I also don't think I'm alone here, though I'm of course not speaking for anyone but myself. I suspect that if you did all these things you'd have a much higher conversion ratio, which ultimately will just save you a tremendous amount of time.
colbyh 15y ago
If I'm cold calling someone for money and mentorship I feel like the pressure should be on me, honestly. At this point I'm the only one with something to prove, the angel has the luxury of being as picky as he or she wants to be.
- medinism 15y ago
  I disagree. Investment is a two way street. Angels benefit from deal flow as well so making themselves unavailable does seem odd. If they want to invest in early stage ventures but don't have the time there are plenty of other vehicles to put their money in without being bothered
biot 15y ago
The relationship is asymmetric though. If you're looking to raise money then you're a salesperson for your startup, selling the idea of whatever you're building to the investor in the hopes that they buy in with their cash and/or time. As a salesperson, you need to converse with the prospect in the manner that is going to win the prospect over. Most prospects don't give you a wonderful list like this with "key tips on how to increase your odds of winning a sale with me".
joshu 15y ago
Horseshit. An angel is looking for people with hustle. Someone with hustle will find a way to email me. Not blast me on twitter (along with 35 other people all at the same time.) "Make sure you have a working demo" is a pretty reasonable cutoff, don't you think? As a known angel, you get inundated with requests; you have to develop a bunch of quick ways to throw out the majority of incoming traffic or you drown.
- hythloday 15y ago
  None of them seem unreasonable. My point was rather than the only thing the angel has going for them is the value of their time--the value of their money is identical across angels. To stress how little of this time is available ("don't send me long emails") to founders off the bat seems, to me, to be an undesirable quality I would want to hide from founders.
  - joshu 15y ago
    I think "don't send me long emails" is shorthand for "communicate clearly and crisply" - lots of people ramble and I can't be bothered to pick out the one important detail.

epi0Bauqu 15y ago

It's a bit more subtle than that. I have time for people past this initial stage, and lots of time for angel investments. But I don't have time to engage fully with everyone who emails me. I simply get too much email and have too much to do for that to work out mathematically. So these tips are more about getting noticed. It's really just advice. If you don't do them will you be completely thrown out? No. I read pretty much everything and give it serious thought. But if you don't do them you're not putting your best foot forward. I also don't think I'm alone here, though I'm of course not speaking for anyone but myself. I suspect that if you did all these things you'd have a much higher conversion ratio, which ultimately will just save you a tremendous amount of time.

colbyh 15y ago

If I'm cold calling someone for money and mentorship I feel like the pressure should be on me, honestly. At this point I'm the only one with something to prove, the angel has the luxury of being as picky as he or she wants to be.

medinism 15y ago
I disagree. Investment is a two way street. Angels benefit from deal flow as well so making themselves unavailable does seem odd. If they want to invest in early stage ventures but don't have the time there are plenty of other vehicles to put their money in without being bothered

biot 15y ago

The relationship is asymmetric though. If you're looking to raise money then you're a salesperson for your startup, selling the idea of whatever you're building to the investor in the hopes that they buy in with their cash and/or time. As a salesperson, you need to converse with the prospect in the manner that is going to win the prospect over. Most prospects don't give you a wonderful list like this with "key tips on how to increase your odds of winning a sale with me".

joshu 15y ago

Horseshit. An angel is looking for people with hustle. Someone with hustle will find a way to email me. Not blast me on twitter (along with 35 other people all at the same time.) "Make sure you have a working demo" is a pretty reasonable cutoff, don't you think? As a known angel, you get inundated with requests; you have to develop a bunch of quick ways to throw out the majority of incoming traffic or you drown.

hythloday 15y ago
None of them seem unreasonable. My point was rather than the only thing the angel has going for them is the value of their time--the value of their money is identical across angels. To stress how little of this time is available ("don't send me long emails") to founders off the bat seems, to me, to be an undesirable quality I would want to hide from founders.
- joshu 15y ago
  I think "don't send me long emails" is shorthand for "communicate clearly and crisply" - lots of people ramble and I can't be bothered to pick out the one important detail.