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How to approach an angel investor  

Andrew Scott, founder of location-aware recommendation startup Rummble and several others before that, has written a good beginner's guide to approaching angel investors.

A key extract:

Ask an Angel up front some basic questions. Don't be shy. You need to know:

  • Do they have the money?
  • What is the typical size of the investment they do
  • What was the size of the last 3 investments and in to which companies

It's key to know these sort of things to avoid wasting time pitching someone who can't or won't invest. Another founder I know, who's building a startup that's currently pre-revenue and pre-traction, always starts by asking:

We're pre-revenue and pre-traction. Does it still make sense for us to pitch?

This makes it harder for the investor to then turn around (as european investors are wont to do) and say, after a long pitch process, "We'd like to invest, but come back when you have traction."

Have a read if you need a refresher on raising investment, or want to find out more about it.

More from the library:
Antilogs: How To Draw The Right Lesson Learned
Finding a great startup advisor
Don't shut up