Angel Insights | Your guide to angel investing

Clifford Dennett was the Founder & CEO at SoshiGames, where he secured commercial deals with the band Queen, Universal Music and Sony, led a team to create online and mobile experiences with over 1.3m users, raised £1.3m in funding, tripled revenues per paying user and built a strong pipeline of future business. Despite these many successes, with the ever increasing competition in the gaming market and significant changes to Facebook and social media algorithms, Soshi Games went into liquidation earlier this year. In today’s interview with Cliff we discuss the changing landscape of tech and gaming, the failure of startups in general and with Soshi and then how to handle investors when dealing with the liquidation of a company.

In Today’s Episode You Will Learn:

1.) Clifford explains the origins of Soshi Games and his a-ha moment for getting the company started?

2.) What were the fundamental determinants that caused the demise of Soshi?

3.) How prominent were the likes of Facebook algorithms to the success of Soshi’s business?

4.) How was the fundraising experience for Soshi? Were there any surprising or challenging elements?

5.) How does it feel as a founder to have a failed venture with investor money?

6.) Is there anything that Clifford wished someone had told him at the beginning of the journey? What would Clifford have done differently if he were to start Soshi again?

Items Mentioned In Today’s Show:

Cliff’s Fave Blog or Newsletter: Brainpickings (https://www.brainpickings.org)

Soshi’s Musical Partnerships: Lawson, Queen

As always, you can learn more about SyndicateRoom here:

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and see Harry Stebbings' latest tweets here:

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Josh Maher is the president of Seattle Angel, with 20 years of experience investing, building and growing technology startups. Recently, Josh has released his new book, Startup Wealth: How The Best Angels Make Money In Startups (http://www.amazon.com/Startup-Wealth-Angel-Investors-Startups-ebook/dp/B0149G02NA), where Josh interviews 23 of the world's best investors including the likes of Brad Feld and Mark Suster, in order to find out their tactics, tips and investing strategies. More of Josh’s profiles of great investors can be found online at startupwealth.com. You can find his writings on building companies and investing at joshmaher.net and you can always find him on Twitter @joshmaher.

In Today's Episode You Will Learn:

1.) Josh welcome to Angel Insights, I would love to start off by hearing how did you get into investing?

2.) I want to dive straight into your new book, Startup Wealth: How The Best Angels Make Money In Startups, for the book you met with some incredible investors in Brad Feld, Mark Suster and many more. What was your biggest takeaway from your time spent with them and what aspects of their character make them such good investors?

3.) When comparing the meetings with investors was there any patterns or commonalities in their approach to investing? Their approach to due diligence?

4.) If there was one thing that surprised you most from your meetings with the investors what would it be? Who were you most impressed by?

5.) As the President of Seattle Angel, a prominent angel investment network in Seattle, why do you think networks are so important? What can investors do to maximize their network? What can individuals do who are looking to join a network?

As always, you can learn more about SyndicateRoom here:

www.syndicateroom.com

Modwenna Rees Mogg is an experienced corporate financier turned entrepreneur, as the founder of www.angelnews.co.uk, the leading private investor news service with the goal of improving transparency and accountability in the early stage investment market to enable it to grow and create win:win situations for all concerned. Modwenna has also recently Co-Founded CrowdRating, the ratings agency for equity crowdfunding. In today’ episode we delve into why now is the best time to be an angel investor, what separates a great angel from a good angel and how to utilize your investing network for maximum dealflow.

For your chance to win a signed copy of the legendary Venture Deals by Brad Feld all you have to do is click the click to tweet: http://ctt.ec/e0zkG

In Today’s Episode You Will Learn:

1.) How did Modwenna get into the investing world?

2.) Why is now the best time to be an angel investor and what has changed over the last few years that has made this happen?

3.) What does Modwenna think separates the incredible angel from the less useful investor?

4.) What does Modwenna think of the syndicated model of angel investing? Has Modwenna seen a rise in the amount of angel due to crowdfunding platforms increasing accessibility?

5.) If a startup has more than one angel on the cap sheet, who should be the lead investor? What are the characteristics of a great lead investor?

6.) Modwenna tells us a little about Crowdrating, what the site does and how CrowdRating (http://www.crowdrating.co.uk) assesses whether a project is a solid investment or not?

Items Mentioned In Today’s Show:

Modwenna’s Fave Investing Resource: CB Insights (https://www.cbinsights.com)

As always, you can learn more about SyndicateRoom here:

www.syndicateroom.com

For a chance to win a signed copy of Brad Feld incredible best-selling book Venture Deals all you have to do is click the link below and tweet, for your chance to be entered into the competition.

http://ctt.ec/KtRDd

Ben Luntz (https://angel.co/ben-luntz) has really experienced it all on both sides of the table having been an incredibly successful entrepreneur with the acquisition of his company Apex Exposure, Ben started making angel investments and born was his passion in investing and working alongside startups to today where Ben is now managing Co-Founder and Managing Partner @ Indicator Ventures, an early stage digital venture fund in NYC.

In Today’s Episode You Will Learn:

1.) How did Ben get into investing in startups?

2.) Having been a successful entrepreneur prior to his investing career, how did Ben’s entrepreneurial origins impact his investing strategy?

3.) At the very seed stage of the funding environment with very few metrics, what metrics does Ben look for and secondly if they are not available how does he evaluate potential investments?

4.) What inspires confidence in Ben when he sees the names of fellow investors? Is it track record? Connections? Funds? Current job title? What does Ben like to see in co-investors?

5.) What is the worst investing war story Ben has experienced? What went wrong and how has Ben’s approach or strategy altered as a result?

6.) What sectors or industries is Ben particularly excited by? What is the next industry to be disrupted and why?

Items Mentioned In Today’s Show:

Ben’s Fave Investing Resource: CB Insights (https://www.cbinsights.com)

Ben’s Most Recent Investment: Bond (http://hellobond.com/)

Anand’s interview with The Twenty Minute VC (http://www.thetwentyminutevc.com/anandsanwal/)

As always, you can learn more about SyndicateRoom here:

www.syndicateroom.com

Alicia Syrett is the founder and CEO of Pantegrion Capital (http://www.pantegrion.com), an angel investment firm that focuses on seed and early stage investments. With over 10 years’ experience in the financial industry, Syrett is a member of several angel networks, including Golden Seeds and NY Angels. She presently serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of HeTexted, and is also on the Advisory Boards of Beauty Booked and I-ELLA.

Before starting Pantegrion Capital, Ms. Syrett was the CAO, Managing Director and very first employee of a multi-billion dollar private equity firm. She established numerous operational areas, including payroll, insurance coverage, healthcare and retirement platforms, vendor services and much more.

Alicia Syrett is a frequent speaker on panels for various startup organizations in New York City as well as for entrepreneurship programs at NYU and Columbia.

In Today’s Episode You Will Learn:

1.) How did Alicia get into the investing world?

2.) Having been first employee at a milti billion dollar private equity firm, what were Alicia’s biggest takeaways from this experience?

3.) How important is it for angels to have an entrepreneurial background? Does Alicia ever get the desire to rejoin the startup world as an entrepreneur?

4.) In the very competitive world of seed and angel funding that exists today, how does Alicia look to stand out as an angel?

5.) What are Alicia’s thoughts on boards at the very early stage? Are they an absolute requirement? How many members should there be? What makes a good board member? What should founders be wary of in their board?

5.) How important does Alicia believe networks can be as a source of deal flow for angel? What advice would Alicia give to someone looking to join a network?

6.) How does Alicia feel the female angel investing ecosystem is going? What can be done to encourage more females to enter the world of investing?

Items Mentioned In Today’s Show:

Alicia’s Favourite Investing Resource: Feedreader (http://feedreader.com)

Alicia’s Most Recent Investments: iFunding (https://www.ifunding.co)

As always, you can learn more about SyndicateRoom here:

www.syndicateroom.com

Bjorn Evers has over 15 years of experience from positions as CEO, board member and investor across multiple online industries such as management consulting, eGaming, online identification, payments, music and dating. Bjorn is the first investor in Jumio and the original inventor of Jumio’s identification product. In addition to this Bjorn built Jumio’s sales team from the start to establish Jumio’s products as the standard for identification online and the billion-dollar business it is today. If that wasn't enough Bjorn is an early investor and board member of many successful innovative internet companies such as Betable, Skiomusic, Ever Adventure (Slotser), 7Heaven, Devcode Payments and GreenZorro.

If you love the show, share the love on Twitter by clicking here:

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In Today's Episode You Will Learn:

1.) How did Bjorn get into investing?

2.)How important does Bjorn feel it is for angels to have prior experience in the operator industry? What would Bjorn consider his key value add to be?

3.) With regards to reviewing new business opportunities, what is entailed in Bjorn's due diligence? What metrics does Bjorn find himself really honing in on?

4.) Looking at your investment portfolio as a whole now, past and present, do you believe that your investment strategy has altered over the years? If so how and why do you think that is?

5.) Looking back over your investments do you find you have been very sector and stage specific, when it comes to investing in startups?

6.) What are Bjorn's thoughts on the syndicated model of investing? Does he like co-investing with people?

7.) When investing with people, what characteristics does Bjorn expect those people to have.

8.) Bjorn describes an investing war story, explaining what went wrong and how his approach altered as a result?

Items Mentioned In Today's Show:

Bjorn's Most Recent Investment: SkioMusic (https://angel.co/skio-music-1)

As always, you can learn more about SyndicateRoom here:

www.syndicateroom.com

Andy Mcloughlin was co-founder of London-based Huddle, a leading enterprise content collaboration company. Under Andy’s leadership, Huddle became one of Europe’s most awarded and well-known technology startups, raising over $80M of venture funding.

Andy has been a prolific active angel investor since 2010 and has built a portfolio covering 35+ pre-seed / seed stage investments. His companies include innovative SaaS businesses like Tray.io, Buffer and Pipedrive, as well as retail plays including Postmates, Secret Escapes and Zesty.

Andy is now a Venture Partner with SoftTech VC, one of the most active seed stage investors in Internet, SaaS and mobile startups.

In Today’s Episode You Will Learn:

1.) How did Andy get into Angel Investing?

2.) Why does Andy believe Europe has the capacity to create amazing entrepreneurs?

3.) What is your Andy’s approach to deal sourcing?

4.) What is Andy’s approach to accelerators and demo days?

5.) In such a competitive market, how does Andy differentiate between startups?

6.) How important is portfolio diversity for Andy?

7.) What are Andy’s thoughts on group investing?

Items Mentioned In Today’s Show:

Silicon Valley 2nd Episode: The Down Round

Fave Blogs: Hunter Walk, Hiten Shah, Launch Ticker

Productivity Tool: Evernote

As always, you can learn more about SyndicateRoom here:

www.syndicateroom.com

Dr. Alicia Robb, a Senior Fellow with the Kauffman Foundation. Alicia is also a Visiting Scholar with the University of California and the University of Colorado. She is also a prolific author on the topic of entrepreneurship. In addition to numerous journal articles and book chapters, she is the co-author of Race and Entrepreneurial Success published by MIT Press and A Rising Tide: Financing Strategies for Women-Owned Businesses by Stanford University Press. She serves on the Board of the National Advisory Council for Minority Business Enterprise, the Advisory Board for Global Entrepreneurship Week, and is a guest contributor to outlets such as Huffington Post and Forbes.

If you like today's show we would be so grateful if you would share the episode on Twitter by clicking here: http://ctt.ec/5ldX2

In Today’s Episode You Will Learn:

1.) How did Alicia get into angel investing?

2.) What are the biggest problems Alicia faces in recruiting further female investors?

3.) How does Alicia select her lead angels? What does Alicia look for?

4.) How does Alicia and her program approach deal sourcing?

5.) What makes a startup investable? What is required?

6.) What does Alicia think of the entrepreneurial community in Boulder?

7.) How does Alicia approach startup valuations?

Items Mentioned In Today’s Show:

Alicia’s Favourite Newsletter: The Policy Dialogue on Entrepreneurship

Alicia’s Deal Sourcing Tools: AngelList, WeFunder, CircleUp

As always, you can learn more about SyndicateRoom here:

www.syndicateroom.com

Kelsey Lynn Skinner invests in technology startups with thoughtful ambitious people. She works in venture capital at Imperial Innovations in London and has a small (mostly US) angel portfolio in addition to serving on the screening committee of several UK angel groups. Here she discusses some of the similarities and differences in venture and angel investing as well as some of the most important lessons learned from her time in investing.

In Today’s Episode You Will Learn:

1.) How Kelsey got into investing?

2.) Is operational experience important for investors to have?

3.) What are the differences between VC investing and angel investing?

4.) What does Kelsey look for in co-investors? What investor motivations concern Kelsey?

5.) How does Kelsey’s strategy alter between making VC compared to angel investments?

6.) What level of engagement does Kelsey expect from her startups?

7.) What does the optimal portfolio look like?

8.) What are Kelsey’s biggest problems with regards to deal flow and how does she overcome them?

Items Mentioned In Today’s Show:

Kelsey’s Blog Article: Funding For Startups (https://medium.com/innovation-insights/funding-for-startups-find-some-grey-hairs-e6693ff70efe)

Kelsey’s Favourite Book: Mindset by Carole Dweck (http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1780332009/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=1780332009&linkCode=as2&tag=thtwmivc03-21)

As always, you can learn more about SyndicateRoom here:

www.syndicateroom.com

Marty Zwilling is the Founder and CEO of Startup Professionals, a company that provides services to startup founders around the world. His background includes a 30-year track record as an executive in general management, computer software development and product management. However, Marty is now in what he calls "give-back mode" as a mentor to startup founders, and an Angel investor. His experience with investors includes roles on the selection committee of two local Angel groups, and working from the other side of the table with several VCs in Silicon Valley. In addition to blogging, Marty has recently released his first book titled “Do You Have What It Takes To Be An Entrepreneur?”

If you enjoyed the show, click here! http://ctt.ec/YivR2

What Will You Learn In Today’s Show:

1.) How Marty got into the world of angel investing?

2.) What are the benefits of consulting and mentoring for investors in terms of deal value and value add?

3.) As an investor, what does Marty believe to be more important, the product or the team?

4.) When investing what does Marty look for in founders?

5.) How important is geographic proximity when investing?

6.) How metrics does Marty use to evaluate a startups valuation?

7.) What should angels look for specifically in a business plan?

Items Mentioned In Today’s Show:

Marty’s Fave Book: The Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki

As always, you can learn more about SyndicateRoom here:

www.syndicateroom.com