Ask HN: Has anyone ever gotten funding from this website? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone ever gotten funding from this website?

#11

Post by point » Thu, Jan 29, 2009, 9:37 PM UTC

If you're dumb enough to pay money for this, you're dumb enough that your site will never make any money. The only ones who will get rich from this are the owners of the site - they are selling you a dream, and you are paying for it.

Spend the money on some proper SEO services instead, it will do you more good.

And let me give it to you square - your site will NEVER get funding. It's not hot, it has little potential of becoming huge. It's the type of site that can make solid money, but only by targeting the users directly. When you are making good money, the angels will come to you.

If you are trying to raise funding for your site, you are in the business of dreams, not reality.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone ever gotten funding from this website?

#12

Post by okeumeni » Thu, Jan 29, 2009, 9:41 PM UTC

bouncingsoul wrote: post #3

andrewljohnson wrote: post #2

This site charges $250 to put you in front of a bunch of angels. They claim 5% get funded. Has anyone ever gotten funding through this outfit? I'm considering applying for my company - www.trailbehind.com, after we launch our new version next week.

A thread about AngelSoft funding: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=168575

pg had it perfect: Never pay to pitch, period.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone ever gotten funding from this website?

#13

Post by amobilebiz » Thu, Jan 29, 2009, 9:53 PM UTC

Angelsoft has two business models. One is where they charge entreprenuers to essentially pitch their angel members. The second is they provide a platform for angels and even some VCs to automate their application process. With this model the process is free to the entreprenuer and the angel or VC covers the cost.

While I believe the first model is useless money spent, I do believe the second model is much better and entreprenuers should not avoid filling out an angel groups investment application based solely on the fact they use Angelsoft to process the application. I have utilized the process myself and while I did not get funding from (I did get face-to-face meetings though) the angel groups I submitted to I found the application process easy and organized. I am familiar with several groups that utilize the Angelsoft platform and all are very reputable.

Long story short, blindly sending your business plan to just about ANY investment group (excluding YC and similar models) is not going to get you anywhere. Introductions and networking are the only true way of having a chance at any investment. I can think of other things to spend the $250 on than a membership with Angelsoft. On the other hand, if you have interest in a specific angel group or VC and they point you to Angelsoft to submit your business plan, etc... know that (a) it is free for you; and (b) that Angelsoft is a legitimate platform for submitting your application.

Note that I have no affiliation with Angelsoft other than I have utilized their platform to submit to several VCs.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone ever gotten funding from this website?

#14

Post by andrewljohnson » Thu, Jan 29, 2009, 9:56 PM UTC

point wrote: post #11

If you're dumb enough to pay money for this, you're dumb enough that your site will never make any money. The only ones who will get rich from this are the owners of the site - they are selling you a dream, and you are paying for it. Spend the money on some proper SEO services instead, it will do you more good. And let me give it to you square - your site will NEVER get funding. It's not hot, it has little potential…

Our site already got funding, thanks. And an fbFund grant.

Of course, we'll need more in 2010, hence my constant quest for more money.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone ever gotten funding from this website?

#15

Post by matthias » Thu, Jan 29, 2009, 10:12 PM UTC

The live activity monitor is pretty nifty.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone ever gotten funding from this website?

#16

Post by breck » Thu, Jan 29, 2009, 10:32 PM UTC

andrewljohnson wrote: post #2

This site charges $250 to put you in front of a bunch of angels. They claim 5% get funded. Has anyone ever gotten funding through this outfit? I'm considering applying for my company - www.trailbehind.com, after we launch our new version next week.

My gut says, skip it, but...

Why not apply without paying and if they actually ask you for the $250 then say screw it.

If they think you're going to be successful, they'd want you to use their site and won't charge you.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone ever gotten funding from this website?

#17

Post by alain94040 » Thu, Jan 29, 2009, 10:48 PM UTC

As much as I like the creator of AngelSoft, I think the $250 offer is wrong. AngelSoft provides good value by unifying the application process to many legitimate groups out there (angel forum for instance). One thing I hate is when each web site has a slightly different format to ask me about my business. TechCrunch has a template. YC has one. It goes on and on.

So AngelSoft is successful in that regard, with the hundreds of groups using them. The fact that they tried to monetize it by charging rookie entrepreneurs, well... it depreciates their brand.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone ever gotten funding from this website?

#18

Post by DanielBMarkham » Thu, Jan 29, 2009, 10:55 PM UTC

pg wrote: post #7

andrewljohnson wrote: post #2

This site charges $250 to put you in front of a bunch of angels. They claim 5% get funded. Has anyone ever gotten funding through this outfit? I'm considering applying for my company - www.trailbehind.com, after we launch our new version next week.

There are several angel groups that charge money to present to them. I would not recommend doing this. Angel groups generally are worthless (out of 102 YC-funded startups prior to this cycle, zero got money from angel groups), and the ones that charge you to present seem particularly dubious. If they had good deal flow, they wouldn't have to charge you to pay their operating expenses; angels would pay them for access…

Paul -- could you elaborate a bit here?

We all see hundreds of angel groups all over the world. There must be thousands or even tens of thousands of angel investors. How come "Angel groups generally are worthless"? Unable to make decisions? Poor management? No funds to invest? People just fishing for good ideas? etc?

I know a lot of people have tried something like "E-bay for Funding Startups" but not to much success. What's the major obstacle here?

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone ever gotten funding from this website?

#19

Post by point » Thu, Jan 29, 2009, 11:01 PM UTC

andrewljohnson wrote: post #14

point wrote: post #11

If you're dumb enough to pay money for this, you're dumb enough that your site will never make any money. The only ones who will get rich from this are the owners of the site - they are selling you a dream, and you are paying for it. Spend the money on some proper SEO services instead, it will do you more good. And let me give it to you square - your site will NEVER get funding. It's not hot, it has little potential…

Our site already got funding, thanks. And an fbFund grant. Of course, we'll need more in 2010, hence my constant quest for more money.

So you have no plan to make money for the entire year of 2009? Are you running a business or a charity?

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone ever gotten funding from this website?

#20

Post by andrewljohnson » Thu, Jan 29, 2009, 11:23 PM UTC

point wrote: post #19

andrewljohnson wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Our site already got funding, thanks. And an fbFund grant. Of course, we'll need more in 2010, hence my constant quest for more money.

So you have no plan to make money for the entire year of 2009? Are you running a business or a charity?

We have a plan to make money this year. But then again, so did the last start-up I worked at, and it took us a while longer than a year to post revenues of any kind.

For TrailBehind, we think we can start bringing in revenues this summer (or a large enough audience for institutional funding), but our fallback is to seek additional angel funding. And Plan C is to accept some consulting gigs. We're also going to apply to YC, but that's more for the intangibles than the money.

This month, I brought on our first employee (besides the two founders, who are hackers), to execute our sales and marketing plan. We have multiple paths to revenue that he is charged with exploring, along with seeking out additional funding.

Because our website is devoted to the outdoors, the market is cyclical, and I have determined what that cycle is using Google Analytics. So, we have been developing for a few months, and we'll have a major go-to-market push in the late spring as the hiking season revs up. We're also using the next few months to begin laying seeds with potential partners and additional investors.