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AngelList is optimized for professional investors in Silicon Valley. It's a little like inside baseball - "Oh, Dave McClure invested - now I gotta get in!" We

by npt4279 13y ago

AngelList is optimized for professional investors in Silicon Valley. It's a little like inside baseball - "Oh, Dave McClure invested - now I gotta get in!" We're optimized for people who love a particular startup because they use the product, but may not be as well networked in Silicon Valley or as familiar with startup financing. Ultimately, we're all about everyday Americans investing as little as $100. We also have fully-integrated self-service fundraising software, since we're not relying on SecondMarket like AngelList does. This gives us a little more flexibility. Startup founders can use our software to do digital signatures, escrow, investor accredited verification, contract generation, etc, for as little as $100.

prostoalex 13y ago
How do you address the quality problem? It seems that most startups don't need just capital, they need capital and connections to help with introductions and hiring. So it seems that the modus operandi for an early stage startup would be * join a well-known incubator, get investments attached to that program, if that fails * reach out to well-known angels and super-angels, rely on them to syndicate, if that fails * reach out to not-so-well-known angels and superangels, if that fails * crowdfunding It seems that the startups that are attracted to crowdfunding are either those that only need capital and not connections (a rare thing), those that have been spurned by incubators and angels, and those that need more capital than incubators or angels could provide but had been spurned by VCs.
- npt4279 13y ago
  If you look at the portfolio of 25+ companies currently fundraising on Wefunder, I think the results speak for themselves. All except one went to an incubator AND used us. Most of the YC companies do not need capital. Most have raised significant amounts from very well-known investors. We don't replace the current system of fundraising. We're just another tool founders can use. We solve the quality problem by making it a no brainer for the startup - quick and fast money from a crowd of passionate users and customers of your product. But only having one shareholder on your cap table.

by npt4279 13y ago

prostoalex 13y ago

How do you address the quality problem? It seems that most startups don't need just capital, they need capital and connections to help with introductions and hiring. So it seems that the modus operandi for an early stage startup would be * join a well-known incubator, get investments attached to that program, if that fails * reach out to well-known angels and super-angels, rely on them to syndicate, if that fails * reach out to not-so-well-known angels and superangels, if that fails * crowdfunding It seems that the startups that are attracted to crowdfunding are either those that only need capital and not connections (a rare thing), those that have been spurned by incubators and angels, and those that need more capital than incubators or angels could provide but had been spurned by VCs.

npt4279 13y ago
If you look at the portfolio of 25+ companies currently fundraising on Wefunder, I think the results speak for themselves. All except one went to an incubator AND used us. Most of the YC companies do not need capital. Most have raised significant amounts from very well-known investors. We don't replace the current system of fundraising. We're just another tool founders can use. We solve the quality problem by making it a no brainer for the startup - quick and fast money from a crowd of passionate users and customers of your product. But only having one shareholder on your cap table.