Money Finders Archives - The 411 On Startups (tm)

Red flags in emails to angel investors

Apr

2012

(Some observations from Gabriel Weinberg) I’ve written before about how the very first email to an angel investor really matters, or at least to this angel investor. It’s very easy to get thrown in a bucket of wannabes or bad first-timers. Here are a few of those red flags from my perspective. Sending an email through a ...

Start-up funding scarce. Who was to blame? – Los Angeles Times

Jun

2009

Hattie Bryant and Bruce Camber said they were thrilled when John Garcia told them he had made a fortune as an entrepreneur and could help their company make it big too. Swayed by his sales pitch — including his claim that he had scores of people lined up to invest in promising companies like theirs ...

The Finders Paradox — OC VC

Sep

2008

Should you use a finder to obtain venture capital? I won’t tell you definitively whether you should or shouldn’t, but I will share my personal thoughts on the matter here and summarize by stating that I wouldn’t use one (knowing what I know) for the following reasons, in no particular order: 1. Most finders I ...

Another Tip for Entrepreneurs: On Raising Venture Capital — You Don’t Need Finders!!!

Sep

2008

Here’s another suggestion for anyone starting a venture and/or seeking venture capital. Be careful about using funding agents or “finders” to help you locate and raise venture capital. These people will often make all kinds of promises about who they know, and what they can do for you, but in fact you usually don’t need ...

Beware of Capital Raising Middlemen

Sep

2008

This problem of capital scarcity for early stage companies is so prevalent that you may have begun to notice that there are literally thousands of people in the business of “helping” entrepreneurs raise money. At least that’s what they lead you to believe. They have taken their cue from the Gold Rush when the truly ...

Choosing a Finder When Raising Capital

Sep

2008

At some point, you may be tempted to hire a professional “finder.” Technically, a finder is someone who purports to be an expert at helping entrepreneurs find money (or rather the sources that will invest the money). Finders have a mixed reputation in the industry because they’re substantially unregulated and have a history of overpromising ...

Ask The VC: Should I Outsource My Fundraising?

Sep

2008

Q: I’m the founder of a small internet start-up. Among my duties are editing and posting content daily, creating media partnerships, and bolstering our growth with creation of widgets, facebook apps, etc, but I’m also doing all of the fund-raising which feels like it should be my full-time job…if I could. I’m finding it hard ...