Startup Investing

5 ways top angel investors improve their deal flow

5 ways top angel investors improve their deal flow

Sep 11, 2014 | , ,

For a startup investor, getting good deal flow is paramount for success. Even if your investment process is solid, your risk management is sound, and your luck is (really, really) good, without good deal flow, well, you’re not going to end up a very successful investor. Why? Your investment results will depend on the quality of the opportunities you have — the better the opportunities, the better the expected results. In fact, one could argue that the art and science of early-stage investing lies solely in a person’s ability to develop their own sources of deal flow. Mark Suster writes about why he doesn’t like meeting with bankers who are pushing deals: The process of raising capital IS part of running a business. It’s where you get to test your ideas in the marketplace of people who see many similar ideas. It’s where you meet people who have broad networks and even if they don’t invest in you may prove very helpful in your future. It’s part of a process where you learn which investors YOU like so you can decide with whom...

Read More
23 entrepreneurs turned investors who are banking huge profits

23 entrepreneurs turned investors who are banking huge profits

Sep 9, 2014 | , ,

Just because you’re a great entrepreneur doesn’t mean you’ll make a great investor. While there’s overlap, the skillset that makes an individual a powerhouse when it comes to building a company (and exiting it) isn’t the same as what makes a profitable investor. Gallup research shows certain behavioral traits are shared among top entrepreneurs. Out of 2,500 entrepreneurs studied, top performers tend to spend a lot of time aligning employee responsibilities with corporate goals. That makes for great entrepreneurs but that same behavior doesn’t necessarily manifest itself in top investors. Investors need to be able to identify that trait in the entrepreneurs they fund. It’s common in the startup space for entrepreneurs to try their hands at investing in startups once they cash out, only to find that the same skills that made them rich won’t necessarily make them successful investors. But, there are a few entrepreneurs turned investors that have parlayed their business-building skills into become successful angel investors and venture capitals. Thankfully for us, many of these entrepreneurs-turned-investors write extensively about their experience. Here’s a list of 23 entrepreneurs who...

Read More
This Week In Crowdfunding: Crowdfunding Entrepreneurship

This Week In Crowdfunding: Crowdfunding Entrepreneurship

Sep 7, 2014 | , ,

This Week in Crowdfunding is a newly launched podcast series hosted by OurCrowd’s Zack Miller and David Stark, where they cover the best in Crowdfunding with a frank — and educational — discussion about the issues surrounding Crowdfunding. Every week, they interview successful entrepreneurs, deconstruct campaigns, and hear from the smartest people around on this transformative, massive financing trend. Sign up to listen to the podcast on iTunes * Sticher * SoundCloud!  ——————————————— As crowdfunding gathers more momentum, crowdfunding activities are becoming more mainstream. This week’s guest on the program, Hillel Fuld, is a technology evangelist and the Chief Marketing Officer of Zula. On the podcast, hosts David Stark and Zack Miller talk to Hillel about his experiences meeting with thousands of technology teams and what qualities and behaviors can make a crowdfunding project successful vs. a failure. Starkup Nation and Zack Attack discuss recently delivered crowdfunded products and the record-breaking Coolest Cooler campaign (I want one!) which just topped $13 million on Kickstarter. Lastly, Stark and Miller share the good news that a company they crowdfunded is readying an IPO — a first for the crowdfunding industry. Listen to the FULL episode Resources mentioned in the podcast...

Read More
#WhatsYourBigIdea Podcast: Hunt Down Great Ideas & Make Them Yours

#WhatsYourBigIdea Podcast: Hunt Down Great Ideas & Make Them Yours

Sep 4, 2014 | , , ,

Great business ideas do not spring from innate creativity, or necessarily from the brilliant minds of people. Rather, great ideas come to those who are in the habit of looking for great ideas — all around them, all the time. Join Andy Boynton, Dean of the Boston College School of Management and author of The Idea Hunter: How to Find The Best Ideas and Make Them Happen, and OurCrowd’s Zack Miller as they discuss the process great investors like Warren Buffett use to generate new ideas and make money from them, how to create an idea portfolio, what makes up a good idea vs. a bad one, and more. This is part of an ongoing exploration we’ve had with our investor community at OurCrowd about ideas and creativity. To learn more about big ideas, check out IsraelIdeas.com   Zack Miller is the Head of Investor Community at OurCrowd. Zack has been growing investment businesses for the past decade, holding senior leadership positions and consulting some of the top next-generation finance sites. To contact Zack Miller, follow him on Linkedin / Twitter Andy Boynton is dean of...

Read More
5 Mistakes Rookie Angel Investors Make

5 Mistakes Rookie Angel Investors Make

Aug 28, 2014 | , , ,

Startups are exciting again. Reeling from the 2007-2008 financial crisis, investors seemed to sour on illiquid investments. Too many financially-engineered investments in derivatives and wacky mortgage products made investors feel that the game was fixed. But that’s all changed as America’s economic engine — small technology-driven companies — is revving up. Companies with big visions and ambitious growth goals are getting snapped up, merged and acquired, and IPO’d, making their early investors celebrities… and extremely wealthy. Events like Facebook’s multi-billion dollar IPO in 2012 and its subsequent purchase of Whatsapp for $12 billion in 2014 have attracted new investors seeking their fortunes in angel investing. New investors, new mistakes Many of the same rules of the game apply to angel investing, as they do to investing in the stock market. But given the fact that most startups are private, small, and closely-held companies, investors new to the asset class are finding that there is a learning curve to scale before they’re able to reap the historical returns which average close to 30% per year, according to a Kauffman study. While we have...

Read More