I have never raised money before but I thought reaching so many investors for $250 is definitely worth it. It would cost me $250 to fly somewhere and meet ONE investor.
But like I said in my post, I don't know how effective it is. I will update my post in a couple of weeks with more information on its effectiveness.
Do you guys even read or do you just skim the list? Personally, I just skim the list but if you read it, I say:
"It has only been 3 days, so I don’t know how effective it is, but so far, I really like it."
What do you like about it? If you paid $250 for something other than getting in touch with investors if not actually securing investment, I'd definitely like to know. Otherwise, it seems that "liking it" is not a useful evaluation of their service.
I have a 1-yr startup and we fight tooth and nail to go to career fairs and conferences for free. $250 is not something we spend lightly, especially on something that doesn't give us a good chance of meeting people in person. It all depends on your situation, though. Ours could be quite different.
> "I signed up and paid $250 to have my application submitted to thousands of potential investors and investor groups. It has only been 3 days, so I don’t know how effective it is, but so far, I really like it."
I like the fact that I can reach 1000s of investors instantly. I know this isn't a substitute for a real relationship and networking but the cost/benefit IMHO is pretty good.
It's like posting your resume on monster.com. Sure, you will have a better chance getting a job from people you already know and have a relationship with or by going to job fairs but does that mean you should post on monster.com?
FYI: As of right now, 16 investors have looked at my application on angelsoft and I got 3 thumbs up and 0 thumbs down. Whether all this translate into actual investments or not, I don't know. But stay tuned, I will report back. I will even come back and post the results here, so you don't have to visit my blog :)
I've experienced this firsthand (last startup I worked for did the angel cartel thing). Don't get your hopes up.
These angel cartels work in phases -- you start with a big pool of hopefuls, then if they "like" you, they start to require that you give more presentations, and attend more parties and whatnot. At each phase, the time investments get larger and larger, and ultimately, you have to put in a lot of effort for a relatively small amount of money.
Meanwhile, you'll find that you're competing with "startups" that aren't startups, or that are in completely different fields (some of the top-rated presentations at our sessions were for real-estate investors!) Very few people get funded by these things, relative to the starting pool, and those that do get funded tend to be "startups" that have relatively conventional business models (like the aforementioned real-estate people).
My impression is that angel cartels are gathering places for modestly rich people who want to get their feet wet in angel investing. Given that you really want your first investors to be experienced and helpful, these things probably aren't a good match for an early-phase tech company.
Hello fellow business man. I have a very interesting and time sensitive officer for you. We will connect you with 10,000 investors with millions of USA dollars $$$. We guarantee 100% funding. They have too much money LOL! This is legit.
Friend, email me as soon as possible so you can get the money to be rich! You only need to pay $1000 USA dollars before you get 100000 time that back LOL!
I agree with others. Putting a service you don't know is worth paying for on a list called "services worth paying for" is misleading - and yes, most people skim long lists.
It sounds like you have experience here. Do you have more networking advice or information referrals.
My startup is based in Boston. We have some MIT and Harvard professors on our board of advisors, but we don't have other connections to networks and investors, and our advisor board hasn't been able to give us good leads. We've engaged in fund-raising efforts through letters and applications, as well as by going to relevant conferences, sometimes on the schedule, sometimes just passing out stickers on the side (or the street when they kick us out). We talk to a lot of people and have a vibrant but fluxful volunteer community. How do we find investors? (or grants; we're currently a non-profit, but we have revenue models and would be ok with employing a for-profit partner model)
thx (diN0bot @t bilumi org)
I'm no expert on this - I'm in Cambridge, UK and seeking investment. Just my experiences on what I'm doing :)
There's a few guys and girls, three or four - that I'm actively seeking. I found them from networking with cool startups and seeing who they recommended. [If you're curious, I'm looking for some guys at Index and Cambridge Angels]
I think then you have to really get "out there" and go to every business/startup/investment meetup/conference with a fistful of business cards. I've met some really interesting people who have offered various introductions.
I dont want to make it sound like you should "use" people for their contacts. Meet awesome people who are interesting and help them out - and just hope they'll repay you the favour. :)
Linkedin & YouNoodle are really great for this stuff - just be as sociable as possible.
I"m trying to pick the best investor for my project. I've got three lined up already - am I being too picky?
I'm in Manila, business plans are set, know-how is embedded (;)), but I'm trying to learn how to best protect my ass around this corrupt gov. and middle-gov officials.
But like I said in my post, I don't know how effective it is. I will update my post in a couple of weeks with more information on its effectiveness.