The Funding Guru » Angel Garage

How do I write an Executive Summary?

Andrew — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 20:17:22 +0000

How to write an executive summary

This has got to be in the top ten questions I get asked by those entrepreneurs who are kicking off their first serious and committed attempt to raise money. I know when I first went through this process, I went out and asked [...]

Your Feedback: Fund Raising Survey

Andrew — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 17:48:34 +0000

Just under a month ago I put some simple questions together focused on fund raising and asked you, the people who read this blog, to respond. Thanks to all the people that took the “45 Seconds Survey”.

I thought it would be useful to go through some of the data and comments and if you have not yet taken the survey – I’ll put a link at the end of this posting.

1. Do you think you will be raising funds for a business in the next 6 months?

50% Yes
16.7% Maybe
33.3% No

2. If you will be raising funds for a business – where do you think you will focus?

80% Angel Investors
20% VCs or loans

3: How hard do you think it will be to raise funds for a business? Why?

80% Super Hard because…(A few representative comments)

“Economy is tight. “

“Never done it; not part of my network”

“Few contacts, poor economic climate”

4. What help or information would be critical in the next six months – either for funding or your Startup / business? (A few representative comments)

“What do I need to present to potential Angel funders? How do I find potential funders?”

“Connecting with interested investors…”

5. If you could have a magic button that would do ANYTHING for your Startup or growth business – What would that button do? (A few representative comments)

“Marketing. We don’t have the funds to spread the word.”

“Deliver my marketing message to a million people in a credible, trusted manner.”

There are a few elements that particularly stood out – I was surprised at the number of people who would actually be going out to investors in the next six months – more than 50%. Now that could be a factor of the people who read this blog (if so – you’ve come to the right place and thanks for reading…) – however, 50% + still seems high to me – what do you guys think?

Second, the overwhelming majority of people believe that Angels are the route to go to get the necessary capital to take their business to the next level – I found that extremely surprising – especially as Angels tend to get used earlier in the funding life cycle of a company. I would be shocked if 80% of the people who read this blog are just at those earliest stages. Assuming for a moment that there are readers with more mature growth companies – why is Venture Capital not more represented as a likely route for those to raise capital?

A few ideas –

1) Is there a belief the VC industry has slowed down or is no longer lending?

2) Are VCs tougher investors?

3) Is it tougher to get through the door of a VC than an angel?

If you have a view – please add your comments.

And lastly – despite their being multiple websites and blogs out there – there still seems to be a lack of clarity around what VCs and Angels need to see as part of the investment evaluation process. Well, interestingly enough – I’ve been working on some tools that could help with that process and as soon as they’re ready for prime time, I’ll let all those on the mailing list know more.

If you would like to add your views to the survey – I’ll keep it open for a short while longer.

Click Here to take survey

Any comments or thoughts – please attach them and I’ll do my best to respond.

Andrew

Getting Your First Angel Investor – A Light Hearted look

Andrew — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:31:18 +0000

You’re treading through the entrepreneurial forest surrounded by uncertainty and mist – taking one careful step at a time, frightened to pick and commit to one path, you wonder if there is still time to turn around and head back into safer country – they’ve kept your old job available (..surely…) but, only pausing for a moment, you know, deep down, that you are already committed. Gulp!

…the hunt it on.

Your gun is lowered but your sweaty hands clasp and unclasp around stock and barrel.

You feel the weapon, knowing it has some weight – knowing too that it’s not as big or as powerful as those guns possessed by others but nevertheless, you’re still proud – it makes you smile because you created it with your own two hands.

You press on, only briefly glancing back over your shoulder, the path you’ve trod already dark and uninviting.

Your gun gleams in a flash of sunlight and inspiration…is it time to ready it? Should you relax for a bit longer? Will it be good enough to bring down your first investor?

Barely daring to breath – you swallow with a drying mouth – knowing your ability to eat rests on the next few moments, scanning for investor movement, then…

– SNAP –

…your last step breaks a twig underfoot…and the angels burst from the brush…

Your heart responds by jumping into your throat – damn! So Soon….too soon?

They scatter in multiple directions – none towards you but sighting one that looks fat and promising – before you’re even properly lined up – you pull the trigger, desperate to bag your first.

With half shut eyes you watch perhaps you last chance fly on brisk wings, already knowing the result in the hollow of your stomach.

You Missed!

…and the sound of fluttering fades with your hopes, disappearing into the gray sky.

But out the corner of one eye, you see movement. Could it be?

Twisting your head, you see it…Yes!

A breath, held as you squint to make sure…

Lined up and holding tight, you pull the trigger, wincing as the gun recoils.

Bang!

A Hit!

Whew – you bagged your first angel.

Now what?

Do you really have to gut it yourself?

Consider signing up to my mailing list and I’ll send you updates to help.

Andrew

Cash – The Oxygen of the Start-Up (…or the Advisor Garage Re-Launch)

Andrew — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 13:26:01 +0000

About four years ago, I worked with a smart group of people to design and build Advisor Garage. At the time, dating websites were growing exponentially – it seemed even my postman was about to set up his own version of match.com. But Advisor Garage was not a dating site to help people met the partner of their dreams…

Advisor Garage was set up to help entrepreneurs ‘connect and date’ advisors and mentors.

This is how we (as tried and tested Entrepreneurs) thought about it…

No Entrepreneur is an Island…Like a great beer – Start-Ups often require a multitude of ingredients…:

A GREAT idea… A plan of execution… Motivated People… Money… A place to do business… Legal support… Marketing… Technology… Money… A Channel to market… Prospective customers with a need… Sales expertise… A Product or Service… Did I mention Money?

…and the list goes on and on.

What about bootstrapping you might ask? Sure – bootstrap – but you still need the above list…and more, you just somehow manage to get them for less. Bootstrapping doesn’t mean no resources – it means cheaper or, if you’re lucky free resources (but remember that saying – you usually ‘get’ what you pay for…).

Pulling all those (and more) elements together can take months – especially for the newbie Entrepreneur – so Advisor Garage was created. The Goal…help ‘connect’ entrepreneurs with advisors with a wide variety of expertise and contacts so they could save themselves weeks and months they would usually spend to find and pull these pieces of the Start-Up jigsaw puzzle together.

Let me say that in a slightly different way – Advisor Garage’s goal: Help entrepreneurs shave off months from Start to Market to CASH!

Cash is the oxygen of a new business – Again – Cash is the OXYGEN of the business. ALL Businesses. No exceptions. Private or public sector – for profit or not-for-profit.

Cash keeps the lights on – the people coming through the front door – the computers humming and the telephones ringing. Everything is about CASH. Without it, you can’t service the customer, be a Green company, employ people or yourself or whatever your own, specific, world changing goals for your Start-Up might be.

CASH IS THE START AND END OF A BUSINESS. If you don’t believe me – Go ask General Motors!

During the three years Advisor Garage was live – over 1000 advisors joined! That’s a THOUSAND Advisors with enormous diversity of contacts, experience and access to resources to help entrepreneurs cut weeks and months off of the cost and time it takes them to start and build their businesses.

By plugging into great advisors could mean shaving months off the time it takes to bring a business to market. So what?

Those saved months could be critical in terms of securing your first customers…getting ahead of your competition…building your brand and market – but bottom line – it gets you faster to the cash!

During those three years building Advisor Garage I was lucky enough to meet and connect with some great Advisors and entrepreneurs and about six months ago I woke up one morning and had a ‘Eureka moment’…

Advisor Garage had been growing day by day but my Eureka moment told me there was a better way to help entrepreneurs…I felt a broad smile spread across my face as it all fell into place inside my head.

That day I took down Advisor Garage and began to focus on the Advisor Garage re-launch – a re-launch which would completely change the product /service Advisor Garage delivered but which would offer SIGNIFICANTLY MORE VALUE to entrepreneurs and multiply their chances of successfully launching and growing their young business!

So – We haven’t set a re-launch date yet as we’re still working on it and want to make sure it’s ‘just right’ but if you are interested in finding out how Advisor Garage can SIGNIFICANTLY enhance your chance of Start-Up success and shave months off your time to market and to cash then head over to Advisor Garage and sign up to our mailing list. We’ll tell you all about our re-launch just before the BIG day!

Next post I’ll tell you a little bit about Advisor Garage’s sister sites that we are also busy developing – Angel Garage and VC Garage…by all means ‘comment’ if you have any ideas about what they may do or even better – what they could do for you and your start up.

Here’s to YOUR Start-Up Success!

Andrew

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