What makes a startup accelerator work? And why regional accelerators need to change.

Whilst USA based startup accelerators are – beyond doubt – hugely successful, I believe that regional (and most European) startup accelerators need to change the way they do business.

Find out why and what it means for both business angels and entrepreneurs…

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The 6 Stages of Startup and Business Angel investment

The confusion reigns supreme – what is the difference between series A funding and series B? And where do business angels fit it?

And are startups ready for seed funding at concept stage, prototype or revenue? Find out here…

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Business Angel – news round up March 2012

4 great business angel and startup articles from around the web

• Startup equity share models
• Y Combinators focus on the startup team
• What happens when a VC meets his customers?
• SEIS – more details please…

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The software Business Angel opportunity of 2012

A new year is a good time to take stock and look around to see where the best investment opportunities will come from in the year ahead.

We are picking out cloud based software solutions as the best of the bunch.

Why…?

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Business Angels make their move to business accelerators

Business angels and business angel networks are changing … and it is for the benefit of both the angel investors and the entrepreneurs!

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Business Angels: Can you beat 210 companies and 35 fold increase in 5 years?

We now have – in the form of NESTA’s Startup Factories report – independent analysis of the money making power of a highly successful business accelerator.

Y Combinators has delivered a 35 fold increase over 5 years and made 210 investments.

We don’t reckon any single business angel – or super angel, for that matter – can beat this performance? Do you?

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Startup Team Harmony – Why It’s SO Important

Starting up any business will bring extreme pressures, and research shows that most businesses will fail within the first five years.

With this in mind, if you’re a business angel it is worth keeping a very close eye on team harmony, a significant indicator of the future success of a startup. You don’t want a Carlos Tevez type situation on your hands….

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Why I don’t sign NDAs (usually)

Very few people have a ‘secret sauce’ to justify an NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement)…

…and advice to ask for NDAs before sharing the essence of the business gets in the way of raising funds.

Find out why I won’t sign (usually) an NDA and what you can do about it…

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15 minutes is all it takes to win funding

Entrepreneurs often start out with a willing business angel audience but end up with an audience wishing they’d just stop talking….

Why is that?

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Talent beats Money for Startups

Our recent poll on LinkedIn (you can still vote up and until the 14th of July) shows that 70% of respondees believe talent is more important that money.

Why do they think this?

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Business Angels; its not about the product!

A shocking result of the recent Startup Genome report was the finding that startup success is not all about the product!

Shock! Horror! Then why are the business angel and entrepreneur pitch events all about the product?

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Board meetings in an era of rapid execution

Guest writer Nic Brisbourne from The Equity Kicker blog and DFJ Esprit, Venture Capitalists, reviews some new ideas about how to run board meetings in startup and fast growth companies.

One of the ideas is to run weekly blog updates on the key metrics and not wait for monthly meetings. Would it work? It will if there is commitment says Nic. Read on for more…..

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Secret of startup success: Does your startup learn?

The Startup Genome report has some surprising findings.

For instance, it all depends on the team and its ability to learn.

Also, the report states that customer acquisition is the priority at all stages (and never product).

Surprised? Then read on…

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Understanding the Business Angel Investment Stage

Many inexprerienced entrepreneurs are unaware that Business Angels will only be with you for a short while!

That is, their role is usually to provide gap funding between friends and families and the professional Venture Capitalists.

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The big Team problem for Business Angels

Business Angels come from all sorts of back grounds.

Many are successful, some very successful.

However, does that mean that they will always pick a good investment? No…

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Boom! Is Russia’s Business Angel Market Ready to Explode?

Dogged by corruption and instability, Russia was once regarded as a difficult place to do business, but there are signs that times and attitudes may be about to change for the business angel market within the boundaries of this former Communist superpower.

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Getting a Good Deal from Business Angels

Much is written about how to attract business angels to invest in your business, but where is the advice for entrepreneurs on how to negotiate a good deal?

A visit to my local electrical store the other day got me thinking about how satisfying it can be to get a good deal, but also how difficult it can be to avoid some of the pitfalls while negotiating it.

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Angels Den Founder Bill Morrow on ‘Crowdfunding’

Crowdfunding, a model that raises funding for start-ups by harnessing the power of the Internet investor crowd has grown from similar models that already exist in the US, but Crowdcube is the first website of its kind to be launched with UK businesses in mind – will it provide all the answers for entrepreneurs who need investment?

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A Budget for Business Angels and some (but not all) Entrepreneurs…

There were some joyous early reactions to today’s budget particularly on the lunchtime news when Dragon’s Den’s Deborah Meadon among others got excited by the Chancellor’s tax windfall for VCs and how she could now take more risks with early stage companies… but exactly how much risk will business angels and VCs now take?

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Will it be a Budget for Business Angels or Entrepreneurs?

The government are hoping to close up any loopholes that allow wealthy investors to take advantage of tax breaks while also launching the most pro-growth Budget for a generation – can they pull it off?

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