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This site charges $250 to put you in front of a bunch of angels. They claim 5% get funded. Has anyone ever gotten funding through this outfit? I'm considering

This site charges $250 to put you in front of a bunch of angels. They claim 5% get funded. Has anyone ever gotten funding through this outfit? I'm considering applying for my company - www.trailbehind.com, after we launch our new version next week.

bouncingsoul 18y ago
A thread about AngelSoft funding: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=168575 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=168575
- okeumeni 18y ago
  pg had it perfect: Never pay to pitch, period.
- deleted 18y ago
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- deleted 18y ago
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cperciva 18y ago
I think somewhere around 5% of people who apply to YC get funded. Would you pay $250 to apply to YC?
- andrewljohnson 18y ago
  One difference is that YC money is capped at a very small amount.
pg 18y ago
There are several angel groups that charge money to present to them. I would not recommend doing this. Angel groups generally are worthless (out of 102 YC-funded startups prior to this cycle, zero got money from angel groups), and the ones that charge you to present seem particularly dubious. If they had good deal flow, they wouldn't have to charge you to pay their operating expenses; angels would pay them for access to it. Plus the best angels tend not to be members of these groups; they don't need to. Which means this is a world where lame startups present to lame investors.
- andrewljohnson 18y ago
  Thanks for the advice Paul. You'll have our application in the summer, and I'll skip this site.
- DanielBMarkham 18y ago
  Paul -- could you elaborate a bit here? We all see hundreds of angel groups all over the world. There must be thousands or even tens of thousands of angel investors. How come "Angel groups generally are worthless"? Unable to make decisions? Poor management? No funds to invest? People just fishing for good ideas? etc? I know a lot of people have tried something like "E-bay for Funding Startups" but not to much success. What's the major obstacle here?
  - pg 18y ago
    I'm not sure what the cause is. I've just noticed that I never come across startups who've been funded by them. If I had to guess, I think the problem might be the investors they attract. None of the top angels I know would join an angel group; they're all already plugged into the startup world, usually because they came from it themselves.
    - brlewis 18y ago
      I came across framemedia, not that that proves anything. http://www.commonangels.com/loader_funded.html http://www.commonangels.com/loader_funded.html
- mathewgj 18y ago
  +1! Totally agree. There are serious angels who co-invest fairly regularly with other angels they know and trust - but these organized groups, especially the pay to pitch ones are a bad neighborhood.
  - mathewgj 18y ago
    'regularly'
- 18y ago
breck 18y ago
My gut says, skip it, but... Why not apply without paying and if they actually ask you for the $250 then say screw it. If they think you're going to be successful, they'd want you to use their site and won't charge you.

bouncingsoul 18y ago

A thread about AngelSoft funding: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=168575 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=168575

okeumeni 18y ago
pg had it perfect: Never pay to pitch, period.
deleted 18y ago
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deleted 18y ago
[deleted]

cperciva 18y ago

I think somewhere around 5% of people who apply to YC get funded. Would you pay $250 to apply to YC?

andrewljohnson 18y ago
One difference is that YC money is capped at a very small amount.

pg 18y ago

There are several angel groups that charge money to present to them. I would not recommend doing this. Angel groups generally are worthless (out of 102 YC-funded startups prior to this cycle, zero got money from angel groups), and the ones that charge you to present seem particularly dubious. If they had good deal flow, they wouldn't have to charge you to pay their operating expenses; angels would pay them for access to it. Plus the best angels tend not to be members of these groups; they don't need to. Which means this is a world where lame startups present to lame investors.

andrewljohnson 18y ago
Thanks for the advice Paul. You'll have our application in the summer, and I'll skip this site.
DanielBMarkham 18y ago
Paul -- could you elaborate a bit here? We all see hundreds of angel groups all over the world. There must be thousands or even tens of thousands of angel investors. How come "Angel groups generally are worthless"? Unable to make decisions? Poor management? No funds to invest? People just fishing for good ideas? etc? I know a lot of people have tried something like "E-bay for Funding Startups" but not to much success. What's the major obstacle here?
- pg 18y ago
  I'm not sure what the cause is. I've just noticed that I never come across startups who've been funded by them. If I had to guess, I think the problem might be the investors they attract. None of the top angels I know would join an angel group; they're all already plugged into the startup world, usually because they came from it themselves.
  - brlewis 18y ago
    I came across framemedia, not that that proves anything. http://www.commonangels.com/loader_funded.html http://www.commonangels.com/loader_funded.html
mathewgj 18y ago
+1! Totally agree. There are serious angels who co-invest fairly regularly with other angels they know and trust - but these organized groups, especially the pay to pitch ones are a bad neighborhood.
- mathewgj 18y ago
  'regularly'
18y ago

breck 18y ago

My gut says, skip it, but... Why not apply without paying and if they actually ask you for the $250 then say screw it. If they think you're going to be successful, they'd want you to use their site and won't charge you.