"A related red flag is asking me a question or mentioning something that I've obviously addressed in a blog post."
This is a red flag for me from the other side. It comes off as out-of-touch to assume that because I want investment from you I will read through your entire blog. I'm sure there's quality information there but reading every post is not a high-value thing to do with my time as an entrepreneur.
Who said anything about reading every post? There is a search box. If you are asking a specific question to me I would expect at least a cursory search to see if I have written on that topic.
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.
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.
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.
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".
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.
I have found that people are far more responsive on twitter, but the follow up email (after you have their attention) really needs to be special and RELEVANT.
Often this is a numbers game. Try lots of investors as each are at different stages (some have the readies, some may not be interested in your sector, etc)
I love this list by Gabriel. I've seen everyone of those mistakes by my startup friends or myself when we were younger.
I just wish he accepted Canadians in his investment pool. Not that I'm even looking for investment or anything, but if I was I'd be nice having someone that actually gets machine learning and big data from the ground level.
It's worth a valuation significantly less (say half to a third) since the insights he would give and the types of connections he would have (and knowing the difference between which of whom to introduce since he gets the space) would be phenomenal.
It can be really simple. Ex 1: I see you invested in X, which is similar to what I'm doing for this reason, and so I'd love to get your insight. Ex 2: I read your post on X; we're having this issue now and I'd love to get your insight on this piece. Ex 3: Given your experience running X, I think you could help us with Y.
It doesn't have to be long or superficial, though that pre-supposes you do sincerely need help with Y. If you're just looking for money, then that may not be the case. But in that situation, I'm probably not the right angel investor.
It's a decent list, however, it's a red flag if my Twitter account isn't up to date and or if it's non-existent?
Better spec that I own an iPhone and use Foursquare while you're making a list of obnoxious requirements. Uh oh, I don't even have a Pinterest account yet!
The proper response to an angel that red flags on something like that is: sorry, I'm too busy doing actual work to worry about whether my Twitter account is existent and up-to-date, I'm going to pass on allowing you to invest into my company.
For the record, I don't own an iPhone and don't have a Pinterest account either (though I'm guessing you were being snarky there). However, at the seed stage you're investing in people and a quick way to start finding out about people is through their online profiles. So no, you don't need those things, but it makes it quicker to learn about you. Also, on a higher level, if you're doing an Internet startup I would expect you would be trying out and engaging in various Internet services. If not Twitter, than something. That said, and as I linked to in the post (http://www.gabrielweinberg.com/blog/2010/10/pitch-decks-are-...), I think conveying personal history in one way or another is very important.
I think people in this thread are reading too much into his list of requirements. He's telling you some of the details you can get right that will help him to decide to invest in you, and you're taking them literally. I don't use twitter, but I don't think he'd hold it against me if I were asking for his investment. He just wants an easy way to look at my online presence, so something like a blog/stackoverflow/HN account/github/Facebook would be helpful too.
[+] [-] adammichaelc|14 years ago|reply
"A related red flag is asking me a question or mentioning something that I've obviously addressed in a blog post."
This is a red flag for me from the other side. It comes off as out-of-touch to assume that because I want investment from you I will read through your entire blog. I'm sure there's quality information there but reading every post is not a high-value thing to do with my time as an entrepreneur.
[+] [-] epi0Bauqu|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rayhano|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hythloday|14 years ago|reply
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|14 years ago|reply
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.
[+] [-] joshu|14 years ago|reply
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.
[+] [-] biot|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] colbyh|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] MartinMond|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] epi0Bauqu|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cjhopman|14 years ago|reply
"Not interested in [x, y, z, just a, b, or] anything involving physical products"
[+] [-] unknown|14 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] rayhano|14 years ago|reply
Often this is a numbers game. Try lots of investors as each are at different stages (some have the readies, some may not be interested in your sector, etc)
[+] [-] 3pt14159|14 years ago|reply
I just wish he accepted Canadians in his investment pool. Not that I'm even looking for investment or anything, but if I was I'd be nice having someone that actually gets machine learning and big data from the ground level.
It's worth a valuation significantly less (say half to a third) since the insights he would give and the types of connections he would have (and knowing the difference between which of whom to introduce since he gets the space) would be phenomenal.
[+] [-] mahmud|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] vaksel|14 years ago|reply
Dropping blog posts etc just seems very superficial...and actually saying how they'd be the person to help you just makes you come off as needy.
Multiply that by 30-40 people, and it's no wonder it takes people months to raise funds.
[+] [-] epi0Bauqu|14 years ago|reply
It doesn't have to be long or superficial, though that pre-supposes you do sincerely need help with Y. If you're just looking for money, then that may not be the case. But in that situation, I'm probably not the right angel investor.
[+] [-] shingen|14 years ago|reply
Better spec that I own an iPhone and use Foursquare while you're making a list of obnoxious requirements. Uh oh, I don't even have a Pinterest account yet!
The proper response to an angel that red flags on something like that is: sorry, I'm too busy doing actual work to worry about whether my Twitter account is existent and up-to-date, I'm going to pass on allowing you to invest into my company.
[+] [-] epi0Bauqu|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sskates|14 years ago|reply