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Why would you need angel investment if you were profitable? It seems like the terminology has shifted a bit or something.

njharman 13y ago
Same reason you raise any type of capital, growth.
- aptwebapps 13y ago
  Yeah, but is it still angel investing?
  - endersshadow 13y ago
    Angel investing means that they buy equity but don't have input on decision-making. VCs buy equity but do have input on decision-making (usually sitting on the board). I meant it in that context. If that terminology is different between Texas and the Valley, then I'm not aware of it. What do you think angel investing means?
    - aptwebapps 13y ago
      I'm not exactly an insider, but I took it to just mean early and small. The idea being that you needed an 'angel' just to get started.
mindcrime 13y ago
It seems like the terminology has shifted a bit or something. Exactly. There basically isn't anybody doing seed stage investment out here (where "here" is North Carolina for me)... the angels are basically doing what used to be an "A round" and the "early stage" VC's are either "A" round or later. Now I understand the desire to minimize risk... we'd all like to minimize risk, surely? But for angel investors and venture capitalists to be this risk averse just seems counter-intuitive. Seed stage investing and venture investing are inherently risky, hence the term "high risk, high reward". But these folks seem to want all the reward and none of the risk. About the best shot you have here at early funding out here is "friends, fools and family", or hope you get lucky and get into Triangle Startup Factory or get an NC IDEA grant. Otherwise, you just have to self-fund everything, or pursue some sort of "alternative" strategy (customer funding, crowd-funding, or whatever you can think of). Of course, the flip side is that if you do self-fund and you can get some serious traction going, then you have much more leverage with investors at that stage. When you can honestly say "Hey, we don't really even need your money" then you don't have to accept absurdly unbalanced terms from would-be investors. shrug

njharman 13y ago

Same reason you raise any type of capital, growth.

aptwebapps 13y ago
Yeah, but is it still angel investing?
- endersshadow 13y ago
  Angel investing means that they buy equity but don't have input on decision-making. VCs buy equity but do have input on decision-making (usually sitting on the board). I meant it in that context. If that terminology is different between Texas and the Valley, then I'm not aware of it. What do you think angel investing means?
  - aptwebapps 13y ago
    I'm not exactly an insider, but I took it to just mean early and small. The idea being that you needed an 'angel' just to get started.

mindcrime 13y ago

It seems like the terminology has shifted a bit or something. Exactly. There basically isn't anybody doing seed stage investment out here (where "here" is North Carolina for me)... the angels are basically doing what used to be an "A round" and the "early stage" VC's are either "A" round or later. Now I understand the desire to minimize risk... we'd all like to minimize risk, surely? But for angel investors and venture capitalists to be this risk averse just seems counter-intuitive. Seed stage investing and venture investing are inherently risky, hence the term "high risk, high reward". But these folks seem to want all the reward and none of the risk. About the best shot you have here at early funding out here is "friends, fools and family", or hope you get lucky and get into Triangle Startup Factory or get an NC IDEA grant. Otherwise, you just have to self-fund everything, or pursue some sort of "alternative" strategy (customer funding, crowd-funding, or whatever you can think of). Of course, the flip side is that if you do self-fund and you can get some serious traction going, then you have much more leverage with investors at that stage. When you can honestly say "Hey, we don't really even need your money" then you don't have to accept absurdly unbalanced terms from would-be investors. shrug