Be an angel investor

[jakejake]

Anyone doing it? tell me about it.

 

[abcdenim]

love to hear about this too

 

[Unregistered]

I'd invest in these angels.

Edit: ok, thought I was in DT.

 

[thekunk07]

i am doing it as well, but nothing to report yet

 

[gdl203]

I've done some angel investing with a couple of new ventures started by good friends. One was in cash, the other was in sweat.

 

[aj_del]

How do you do it ? How is it better/different than investing in a PE fund ?

PE funds which take funds from individuals are now taking off in India with minimum of around 100k to 500k. Same with PE with only real estate exposure.

 

[Quadcammer]

This is a very odd question.

Whats there to tell?

You invest ground level in a multitude of start ups. For every 1 that is a big success, there are probably 200 failures.

Not really something you just fall into without great connections and/or a sizeable net worth

 

[HgaleK]

Originally Posted by Quadcammer

This is a very odd question. Whats there to tell? You invest ground level in a multitude of start ups. For every 1 that is a big success, there are probably 200 failures. Not really something you just fall into without great connections and/or a sizeable net worth
^That mostly covers it. The great connections are easy enough to establish, but the money thing is what gets most people. People rarely want assistance through advising or labor as investments. They want cash. There's a good chance they'll lose your cash too... Edit: the people who make good money as angle investors were normally successful entrepreneurs themselves at one point, or managed businesses. If you don't want a lot of money to be pissed down the drain, you're going to need to be able to recognize classic noob blunders, bad business sense, and poor leadership. You then either ensure that it's dealt with in a manner that doesn't sap all of your time and energy (part time management or heavily involved advising for startups that you don't even own is a bad way to go) or find another venture.

 

[tj100]

Originally Posted by HgaleK

There's a good chance they'll lose your cash too...

I'd be really interested to hear about successful angel investments. I'm aware of some pretty small-scale ones (friend puts up some money to buy a small business, eventually sees some return), but nothing that would even hit the radar of a VC fund.

Every time I see 'angels' on a company's cap table, they've been completely crammed down by the subsequent VCs to just token participation and hope to get something back.

Thinking a bit more about it, Facebook may have had some early angels, but I'm not really sure.

 

[Gus]

I was an angel in a few ventures. One worked out well, a cooking school. It has been in operation for 6 years, they will be opening a second location soon and their 500 page "how to cook" book will be released by a major publisher next year with a national media tour. They are currently endorsing the largest kitchenware line in the US.

 

[edmorel]

Originally Posted by thekunk07

i am doing it as well, but nothing to report yet

Raw Riders Studios?

 

[JoelF]

Used to play a bit with very small stuff that came up through my law practice (which itself went out of business haha). Typically would structure as senior loans collateralized with all assets and go from there, so I guess more like asset based lending than angel equity. Interest rates were sky high and the loans would amortize so it generally worked out OK. I remember I funded one guy who was buying his partner out of a restaurant / catering business, first negotiated the desperate partner down to pennies on the dollar, then put a large fee for negotiating the deal into the loan balance. Creative stuff sometimes works out nicely.

 

[edmorel]

Originally Posted by JoelF

I remember I funded one guy who was buying his partner out of a restaurant / catering business, first negotiated the desperate partner down to pennies on the dollar, then put a large fee for negotiating the deal into the loan balance. Creative stuff sometimes works out nicely.

and people hate lawyers!

 

[JoelF]

Originally Posted by edmorel

and people hate lawyers!

Actually was a win for all sides except for the desperate partner, who as I remember was some kind of miserable ************* coke addict, Even with the fee my client still bought bought his business back cheap and I made a few bucks. So what's the issue?

 

[cross22]

Originally Posted by JoelF

Used to play a bit with very small stuff that came up through my law practice (which itself went out of business haha). Typically would structure as senior loans collateralized with all assets and go from there, so I guess more like asset based lending than angel equity. Interest rates were sky high and the loans would amortize so it generally worked out OK. I remember I funded one guy who was buying his partner out of a restaurant / catering business, first negotiated the desperate partner down to pennies on the dollar, then put a large fee for negotiating the deal into the loan balance. Creative stuff sometimes works out nicely.