Looks legit but I was wondering if anyone here has experience with them and how that turned out.
also on that topic, does anyone have any experience with Angel investors? how did it work out? would you do it again? those types of things.
My business plans are starting to attract interest from people not directly involved and I am seriously starting to look at what I need to do to find some outside income.
What do you have in mind when you say angel investors? Angel investors have become somewhat more formalized into official angel investment groups. I think it’s debatable if they’re good for start-ups or angel investors but it at least makes it easier to talk about, since they are nominally professional and usually have well defined investment criteria. Otherwise, a broader meaning of angel investor can be so wide that it covers almost anything.
Experiences can vary widely and I think it’s dangerous to try to extrapolate any meaning from anecdotes. If you find an investor who has some experience somehow in your space and can contribute to the company, and you both do all your due dilligence, and have the legal aspects handled professionally, and have the right attiude and understand each other’s expectations, then you’re likely to have great results.
In my experience, entrepreneurs are more likely to have a necessary-but-evil view of VCs than Angels, seeing them as people trying to steal control of the company. The same people are likely to have no real understanding of whether VC or angel funding is right for their business. So my point is, don`t take that view and be wary of others who think investors are the enemy or have stories of how they were burned. It’s not wrong so much as naive. You should look at investors as partners who can help your business grow, not people trying to steal control.
I’ve never heard of the site you mentioned, but I’d suggest trying to find contacts through people who provide professional services for your business. Do you have a good securities lawyer on retainer? If they’re experienced with start-ups, they should be a great resource for introducing you to potential angels, if you don’t have your own connections.
There really arent people providing services for my line of work…we are a service industry. The stories I was looking for are more along the lines of any experiences, not just bad ones. I am looking to explore all the avenues I can to get this thing rolling and the angel investors are one of those avenues. I definitely don’t have a lawyer on board right now, there is no money for one at the moment and its still very very early.
I have gone through start up and Angel and VC funding several times now and am currently in discussions for another one.
Feel free to email me and I’ll provide whatever advice you might need. Email is
natewooley99 AT gmail DOT youknowwhat
In my experience one of the biggest issues for a service-based company is scalability. Experienced angels, i.e. people who have done a few deals and have realistic expectations, are looking for a practical possibility of a # times return on their investment in a few years. Obviously it’s not easy for any business to convince someone of this or everyone would start businesses and get other people to fund them. But with a service business, savvy investors want a compelling plan for how your business can scale up and grow fast enough to return what they’re looking for. Most service businesses don`t scale particularly well, so what makes yours different?
I know you’re looking for stories and the above isn’t a story. I hope sharing my experiences is somewhat useful to you.
email will definitely be coming
actually the core business is service, but one part could be sold to other businesses, and the third part would work to help things out. the business is very scalable but much of that would come through dominating the market.
while not a story this works just fine, like I said anything helps in the advice/experience department (wait did I say that in this thread?) anyway I do appreciate it.