Comments on: Do You Really Want to Find Investors? http://upandrunning.entrepreneur.com/2009/06/03/do-you-really-want-to-find-investors/ Starting your business with growth in mind Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:06:50 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: The Blog Week in Review — June 4, 2009 | Business in General http://upandrunning.entrepreneur.com/2009/06/03/do-you-really-want-to-find-investors/comment-page-1/#comment-3690 The Blog Week in Review — June 4, 2009 | Business in General Thu, 04 Jun 2009 17:31:28 +0000 http://upandrunning.entrepreneur.com/?p=552#comment-3690 [...] Blog Week in Review — June 4, 2009 // Do You Really Want to Find Investors? — Tim Berry looks at the pros and cons of seeking investors for your [...] [...] Blog Week in Review — June 4, 2009 // Do You Really Want to Find Investors? — Tim Berry looks at the pros and cons of seeking investors for your [...]

]]> By: David S. Rose http://upandrunning.entrepreneur.com/2009/06/03/do-you-really-want-to-find-investors/comment-page-1/#comment-3687 David S. Rose Thu, 04 Jun 2009 03:04:51 +0000 http://upandrunning.entrepreneur.com/?p=552#comment-3687 Tim hits the nail on the head once again. As an <a href="http://rose.vc" rel="nofollow">active angel investor</a> (over 75 companies) running one of the most active <a href="http://newyorkangels.com" rel="nofollow">angel groups</a> in the country (several million dollars into 22 deals in 2008 alone), I can confirm that the single biggest problem we face is NOT weighing the fine points between potential investments. Rather it is plowing through the hundreds of companies seeking funds who simply should not be considering equity investments under any circumstances, for all of the reasons Tim describes. "Not appropriate for an equity investment" is NOT the same thing as saying "bad company". There are many, many companies (hundreds of thousands of which are started each year) which are perfectly fine companies: effective, successful, even wildly profitable...but if they don't hit ALL the points that Tim mentioned, then they need to be financed in some other way (bootstrapping, grants, debt, founders, friends & family, etc.) than angel or venture money. <a>Bill Payne</a>, the winner of this year's Hans Severeins "Angel of the Year" award from the Angel Capital Association, has written <a href="http://angelsoft.net/blog/2008/08/05/what-are-lifestyle-businesses-and-how-do-they-differ-from-growth-companies/" rel="nofollow">a good post</a> on the difference between the two types of businesses. Tim hits the nail on the head once again.

As an active angel investor (over 75 companies) running one of the most active angel groups in the country (several million dollars into 22 deals in 2008 alone), I can confirm that the single biggest problem we face is NOT weighing the fine points between potential investments. Rather it is plowing through the hundreds of companies seeking funds who simply should not be considering equity investments under any circumstances, for all of the reasons Tim describes.

“Not appropriate for an equity investment” is NOT the same thing as saying “bad company”. There are many, many companies (hundreds of thousands of which are started each year) which are perfectly fine companies: effective, successful, even wildly profitable…but if they don’t hit ALL the points that Tim mentioned, then they need to be financed in some other way (bootstrapping, grants, debt, founders, friends & family, etc.) than angel or venture money.

Bill Payne, the winner of this year’s Hans Severeins “Angel of the Year” award from the Angel Capital Association, has written a good post on the difference between the two types of businesses.

]]> By: Christine Peters http://upandrunning.entrepreneur.com/2009/06/03/do-you-really-want-to-find-investors/comment-page-1/#comment-3684 Christine Peters Thu, 04 Jun 2009 00:25:15 +0000 http://upandrunning.entrepreneur.com/?p=552#comment-3684 Very interesting article. It gives someone like myself, an entrepreneur of a new business, a lot to think about. I read this just as I was beginning to consider investors, and whether we might want to start researching that option at this point. You gave me a number of things to consider carefully. Thanks for all of the info. Glad to have found your site. Very interesting article. It gives someone like myself, an entrepreneur of a new business, a lot to think about. I read this just as I was beginning to consider investors, and whether we might want to start researching that option at this point. You gave me a number of things to consider carefully. Thanks for all of the info. Glad to have found your site.

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