There are many differences between the startup scenes in the east coast and west coast.  The west coast overall is a much more mature market with a lot more capital to put to work and east coast, primarily New York, has exploded in the last few years.  I meet with New York investors and their surprise …

It was a pleasure to moderate the Angel Investing in Action panel. The panelists were an excellent mix with Carol Curley, an experienced angel investor with diverse investment strategy; Anil Dash, an entrepreneur and active startup advisor; and Albert Wenger Partner at USV and angel investor. The goal was to educate the audience, the new …

I have been at the New York Angels for the last two years, and in that time we have grown to be the Most Active Angel Group.  I am tremendously proud of this achievement and it is made possible with a  group of actively participating members.  After a conversation with a friend, Tak Lo, I realized that there were …

This Wednesday I will be giving a talk with two panelists on working with angel groups to raise capital.  We will cover: What is an angel group? How do they work? The Pros and Cons of going to an angel group How New York Angels operates From Application through Funding Panelists They have worked with New …

Once an application is submitted, the investors are involved from the beginning of the process.  Applications for funding are reviewed by industry experts.  This process works and we have funded companies from a cold application.  It is rare, but it has happened.   Referrals It helps if you know one of the angels and they …

Demo Days are fun events where companies leaving accelerators get an opportunity to present their progress to date and capital requirements on a well orchestrated stage in front of investors, potential partners and press.  It is a show and the momentum created by demo day is significant.  I have learned that companies get closer to …

About a year ago and after working at New York Angels for a few months, I realized that as hot as the early stage venture scene is, I could not figure as to the number of deals being funded leant itself to prove high success for these companies in 1, 2, or more years.   …

In reviewing companies many months ago I found an unusual trend in which the pre-money valuation mode was $5M.  At the time, it seemed it was the default expression of having a startup.   “I have a startup in …. and it’s social… there’s BIG DATA…. we have MBAs…. I have never worked at nor …

In January 2012, I started working at New York Angels, a membership based group of angel investors.  We fund startup companies.  Brian Cohen, Chairman of New York Angels, would explain his bigger vision of angel investing within and beyond the New York Community and the leadership role of this organization.  To execute on this grand …

Your application for funding is a first impression to investors who have not met you or know anything about your startup.   A few good things to start with are: An accurate expression of what your product or service is  An understanding for whom your product or service is for  Throw in the team and …