An examination of the recent trend for high-profile celebrities to involve themselves in the hyper-saturated brave new world of emerging startups, specifically as evidenced by the recent actions of Leo DiCaprio and Ashton Kutcher.

Angels beware, Pre-Seed investment funds are returning. And this time around they’re a little more sophisticated. Your average tech related start-up (that can raise money) typically goes through 3 rounds of fundraising: 1. Friend and Family 2. Seed Round 3. Series A

There is only one secret to a successful start-up and it’s YOU! Entrepreneurs and would be entrepreneurs spend their lives trying to figure out the secret to a successful start-up. Investors make a living out of trying to select and back the very best business models for the future. Everyone’s chasing dreams.

An excellent interview with David S. Rose, one of the most highly regarded Angel Investors in the USA. David Rose is an entreprenurial executive and investor with experience in high technology and communications,angel investments, finance and government. Described as ” The Father of Angel Investing in New York ” and a ” world conquering entrepreneur “,  David is Chairman of [...]

“You had me at hello…” So went the famous line from Zellweger to Cruise in ‘Jerry MaGuire’. “You had me at positioning…” Or not – is the reality with investors. Particularly early stage investors. Your company’s strap line and one paragraph descriptor is the most important weapon you’ll ever have. Get it right. If you [...]

Yesterday we posted a video speech by Richard Branson on how entrepreneurs can be successful in a recession. He summarized the last 2 years economic carnage pretty well – you know, bank implosions, Detroit blues, credit calamity – ya de ya da. Then explained how in fact its a good time to build a new [...]

I was recently told of a Spanish saying which states that ‘money hides’. Never has this been more real. Last week we wrote an article on  ‘Banks Battle Entrepreneurs’ which got a flurry of entrepreneurs contacting me with their particular war stories. Shocking. The reality is things are even worse than I thought. You see, [...]

At Innovatrs we get to chat with a number of interesting VC’s and funds across the US and Europe. Many of them are all hot and bothered about green and clean tech startups. They’re scouring solar, wind, wave, agriculture and other energy innovators for the next big, er, well, Enron! Enron? How uncool is that? [...]

Startup entrepreneurs need angel investors more than ever before. Not just for the advice and guidance that they can increasingly find online and at college – but for your money! Don’t get us wrong, your advice and guidance is really nice – but writing a cheque is even more important right now. The banks have [...]

Fundraising for your startup in 2010 is going to be a challenge. Not as bad as 2009 – but not a lot better. Here are some tips to help you get through the maze: 10. Wear a hard hat. 9. Have at least $£100,000 in annual revenues or the best free model since, er Twitter. [...]

There are a ton of phony angel investors out there just waiting to waste your time. They’ll use the veneer of being an angel investor to try and win your business as an ‘introducer’ or worse. They’ll promise to help you raise money, make intro’s blah de blah in exchange for 5% of your company [...]

The last year has been tough for startups. Very tough. Investors are not investing and customers are hard to find. We all need cash – but where to find it: investors or customers? Is it chicken or egg? Unfortunately not. For nearly all startups the answer is simple - CUSTOMERS come first. Unless you need a [...]

I remember one of my venture investors, from the Valley, telling me ‘Phil, remember, a VC only ever has to do one thing for you. Write a cheque!’ He went on to add: ‘To get the deal they will promise you everything else under the sun and deliver none of it. So all that matters [...]

If you run a startup or are planning to do so you’ll bump into venture capital (VC) funding. So what is it? Photo by Darrren Hester via Flickr Venture capital is the backbone of a select few, more successful startups but reality is few entrepreneurs really understand what it is about. Getting the mechanics of [...]

Finding early stage investors can be like looking for a very small needle in a very large haystack. And in downturns it gets even worse. In depressions like we have just gone through its like finding nats on camels asses while they sprint for their lives in a sandstorm. Given that venture capital dudes have [...]

The venture capital industry as we know it is going the way of the Dodo. There are 3 key reasons for this: 1. As startups, technologies and innovation become more global the ‘Silicon Valley’ ecosystem is sidelined. And VC’s outside the Valley have poor track records and weak managers. Startups abroad happily build businesses without [...]

We recently wrote a lengthy article on how to raise money for startups. The process of fundraising. But what about the when? 11 years ago I launched an incubator so we set about defining and developing a process for building a venture. We figured that it was hard enough building one business at a time – [...]

A while ago I was told by one of my mentors that they key to any successful fundraising is finding, marketing to and closing ‘the lead’. It’s good advice. Just look at the maths. Leaders probably account for less than 1% of the population. That means the other 99% are followers. And followers follow a [...]