Founding a company confronts founders with a variety of challenges. Even in the planning and conception phase, the right approach is needed to drive forward the further development of the company in a targeted manner. Before new business models and innovations can be established in the target market, they must first be financed during the start-up process. There are many ways for founders to access financing sources. Especially in the early stages of a company, additional resources, experience, know-how, financial capital and important contacts are crucial for the start-up and growth of the company. A business angel can start with exactly those aspects and proactively contribute to the further development of the company.
More frequently, former and current entrepreneurs and top managers are investing in startups as business angels. This form of financing has become more attractive for the protagonists. On the other hand, for startups this means that contact with initial business angels is quickly established. Nevertheless, it is crucial to take the fastest angel interested, but the most suitable investors for further cooperation. In the following, I will explain how this can be done, based on eight basic pieces of advice.
- Be clear about your basics.
Actively address your vision and mission, review your business model and be aware of your team’s competencies, strengths, and weaknesses. Only when basic parameters are validated and you are aware of them, you can succeed.
- Develop an investors persona
Think in advance about the profile of the desired person in terms of experience, capital, network and other areas of competence and what kind of support you will expect.
- Get in contact early and via intros
Get in touch with potential investors early and start first informal conversations. Use other people or organizations that are already in contact with the target persons. Business angel networks (aaia), as well as other founders or networking startup events are excellent ways to do this.
- Create a personal pitch deck
Tailor your pitch deck to your audience and the goal you want to achieve. Equip it with all investment-relevant information and address a call-to-action to your audience at the end. To be prepared for all questions, additional backup slides with further information are recommended.
- Get visible, create interest and FOMO
Make yourself, your startup and your ideas heard. This is best achieved by regularly visiting relevant event formats, via startup media or social media platforms, especially LinkedIn is recommended for advertising in your own interests and topics.
- Get yourself experts on board
Once suitable prospects have been found, the actual process really takes off. To structure the contractual and content-related aspects of the investment in a target-oriented manner, it is advisable to enlist the support of experts from the relevant field. Particularly in the case of legal components, the supporting consultants should be equipped with a wealth of skills and experience.
- Find the right investors mixture
In many cases, several investors will invest in your startup per investment round in joint coordination and cooperation. Pay attention to the right mix of quality and quantity and proactively support already approved investors in their search for additional partners.
- Focus on your core business
The investment process is resource and time intensive. The actual core business and operational activities should never be disregarded. Once the investment is formally completed, you are ready to start working with your investors. Start immediately and purposefully and bring your vision to life.
Finding the right business angel can be challenging in many places. Take advantage of our network and expertise and let us support you with our many years of experience in the search for investors. For more information, please visit our website. We look forward to hearing from you.