Whats the range of your investment size?
Almost always $10k-$25k. I am a very small investor.
How much equity does that usually get you?
I am a junior angel in Silicon Valley. AMA
71–80 of 237 posts
Re: I am a junior angel in Silicon Valley. AMA
#72This applies to me personally, but I'll ask out in the open: Are you interested in advising young startups?
I don't really do advisory boards. It has different compliance hurdles due to my work situation. Also, in my experience, startups are bad at fairly compensating their advisors. I'd agreed to seven or so advisories in the past and actually gotten paperwork for shares just a single time. One startup actually had me come in twice for advice and then later told me they decided not to have an advisory board.
Gotcha, thanks.
What's a fair equity share for an advisor, btw?
Re: I am a junior angel in Silicon Valley. AMA
#73Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't really do advisory boards. It has different compliance hurdles due to my work situation. Also, in my experience, startups are bad at fairly compensating their advisors. I'd agreed to seven or so advisories in the past and actually gotten paperwork for shares just a single time. One startup actually had me come in twice for advice and then later told me they decided not to have an advisory board.
Gotcha, thanks. What's a fair equity share for an advisor, btw?
I dunno that one. It's typically not much.
Re: I am a junior angel in Silicon Valley. AMA
#74Re: I am a junior angel in Silicon Valley. AMA
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
Thanks, that is a wonderful compliment. If you have something specific you like crispified, I'd be happy to do a summary post about it. (The user experience of accessing my blog for the first time is terrible if you're not coming to a particular article, since it degrades into "what am I thinking about this week" and doesn't usually include context for the last four years.)
Not really. I wish you'd do something bigger. You certainly have what it takes. I hope appointment reminder turns into that thing. (Also, ++ for using Twilio)
I'm cautiously optimistic. Bigger, though, is just a side effect of playing a game well, not a goal I really go after for it's own sake. Pick a name out of your Rolodex, any name: I wouldn't trade my life for his for all the tea in China.
Re: I am a junior angel in Silicon Valley. AMA
#76Re: I am a junior angel in Silicon Valley. AMA
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
None.
Is that because you won't invest outside the Bay area?
Yes.
My network drops off very rapidly outside the Bay/NYC. So 1) I don't see as much stuff that way. 2) I'm less useful/valuable outside that area. 3) The companies will have a much tougher time outside that area.
Re: I am a junior angel in Silicon Valley. AMA
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why do you think that?
The point of raising funds is to hire people who can accelerate the growth of the business. $200k gets you a person or two, which doesn't do very much. So you find yourself raising again pretty much immediately. The fundraising process is a colossal waste of your time. An entrepreneur going this route is not making good trade-offs. In my experience, most of these companies fail.
If $200k is too small to be a worthwhile raise, what do you think of people getting money from Ycombinator?
Re: I am a junior angel in Silicon Valley. AMA
#79In general how far along is the startup by the time you invest?
Re: I am a junior angel in Silicon Valley. AMA
#80I'm a big fan of the ideals of 37 Signals, such as embrace constraints, bootstrapping, etc. But, I feel that my day job is getting in the way i.e. time. Should I take the plunge and seek angel or continue on my bootstrapping adventures?