As in most investing questions, it depends. I have seen many, many variations, but the basic designs are made up of debt instruments and equity instruments, usually with a combination. The decision on how to construct the "deal" is all around risk and yield. The higher the risk, the higher the y...
Since you mentioned you're raising a seed round, I strongly suggest not using an investment banker. At the seed stage, VCs are investing in you more than your business—putting a banker in the middle will do you a lot of disservice. IBs are typically used for Series B and beyond. I also noticed...
A good deck doesn't sell a terrible story, but a bad deck can ruin a great story. Your primary goal should be to distill your story down to 10 slides max, with as *few words as possible* on each slide. Images, product shots and graphs are all more impactful than words. A good outline is as fol...
From what I have heard from some successful crowd fund raisers. You are better to spend time getting yourself organized before you start your campaign. Make sure you have a least a team of four people and ensure that everyone knows there role and the tasks that they are responsible for.
One of the start-ups I'm involved with does a lot of work alongside entrepreneurs building companies towards an eventual exit or sale... Here's a couple of recommendations, aside from the usual "research what typical sales people in your industry get paid" advice: 1. Incentivize unexpected busin...
Get on AngelList (angel.co), it's widely used by web and e-commerce investors. Best way to get visibility.
In my experience, angel investors bring money but little else. There are exceptions (super angels, etc.), but most angels expect you to run the business, have the ideas, turn them into something profitable and figure out how to make it all work. If your investor has specific expertise in your...
Team is more important than the startup itself. Investors prefer invest in the Jockey over the Horse. There may be n number of reasons for not getting through the funding rounds. If your startup is able to provide 10x return I can invest straight away. However, I will look at the team first and f...
Ask yourself: -Do you believe in their vision? -Would you leave everything you have to work with them to make their dream come true? -Do you have strong data that tell you that what they say will happen it's true? -Do you think the founders are the best to accomplish what they are going for? -Is...
Short answer: Of course! Many angel groups require you to submit through Gust because it offers a consistency and makes reviewing applications easier. But not all use Gust same as not all use AngelList... I haven't met an angel who frowns upon using multiple platforms. I would encourage you t...