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Ask HN: How and when to pitch an angel?

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Ask HN: How and when to pitch an angel?

#1

Post by aditya »

There's a lot of info out there on pitching VCs and what the deck should include but not so much on pitching angels for smaller seed stage investments, so:

* What is the right time to pitch an angel? Is it after the alpha but before traction or after a good amount of traction?

* What should a pitch deck for angels include?

Re: Ask HN: How and when to pitch an angel?

#2

Post by demosthenes »

There aren't any hard and fast rules here.

It's rarely too early to get in touch with angels and get on the radar if you expect that you'll need funding.

Meanwhile, keep in mind that the longer you wait, the more traction you get, the better your bargaining position and the higher the valuation.

Re: Ask HN: How and when to pitch an angel?

#4

Post by aditya »

demosthenes wrote: post #2

There aren't any hard and fast rules here. It's rarely too early to get in touch with angels and get on the radar if you expect that you'll need funding. Meanwhile, keep in mind that the longer you wait, the more traction you get, the better your bargaining position and the higher the valuation.

So there's no real difference between pitching an angel vs a VC then?

Re: Ask HN: How and when to pitch an angel?

#5

Post by htsh »

When I did it back in 1999, we raised angel money right after we had a team & a short business plan with a powerpoint but not even an alpha product yet. Our idea required enough development work that we couldn't really manage while keeping our full time jobs. (http://web.archive.org/web/20001019030551/http://emfocus.com...)

And from what I've seen of the relatively new seed investment firms, you can approach some just as early - an idea, a team, and a plan (sometimes as short as a few pages). Some would prefer that you not even incorporate yet.

It was 1999, though, and likely less formal relative to the more mature market now. Back then it seemed most angels were friends or family of the founders. The boom was so strong that getting early investors was no more difficult than talking to friends who liked to invest. You could also work with an incubator but we didn't call those guys "angels."

Re: Ask HN: How and when to pitch an angel?

#6

Post by pg »

When (a) you're ready for the distraction of fund-raising, and (b) you think an intelligent person would be convinced by what you have so far.

You don't usually need a formal deck. Ask the investor.

Re: Ask HN: How and when to pitch an angel?

#7

Post by paulsingh »

I recently closed some money with angels and your results will surely vary (so take all of this this with a grain of salt):

* It's never too early to pitch an angel. IMHO, angels are generally comfortable investing before you have real traction - smart angels have told me that they invest in people, not ideas. So, the takeaway is that you want to start talking to angels early - let them know what you're up to and, if there's mutual interest, you'll get to the next level.

* Your deck should include the Kawasaki 10: http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2005/12/the_102030_rule.html Though, don't whip your deck out on the first date -- I've had more success by having informal coffee/lunch meetings first. If they want to know more, that's when you send them the deck.

* When in doubt, remember this: "Ask for advice and you may eventually get money. Ask for money and you'll often get advice."

Finally, if you want to continue the conversation offline, I'd be happy to help -- feel free to email me.

Re: Ask HN: How and when to pitch an angel?

#8

Post by AlexTheFounder »

The difference in pitching a VC vs. an angel is in presenting your far goals. I guess no VC will like your promise to quickly become a profitable company with few employees only and making hundreds of thousands per year, and not going to grow beyond that. Angels might like that more than having to wait several years to get a smaller slice from a bigger pie.
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