The 10-Minute Interview – Business Angel Stefan Glaenzer

Stefan is London-based entrepreneur and angel investor from Germany. He is the co-founder of companions.de, companionsTV, ricardo.de and myblog.de. He is also the founding investor and executive Chairman of Mendeley.com and RjDj.me and has been in the same role at Last.fm.

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Where Business Angel Investors Fear to Tread

Investors in early stage and start-up businesses are known as angel investors. The tag ‘angel’ coming from their tendency to operate in the margins where venture capitalists, banks and other backers choose not to go.

They also help plug a major funding gap to get such ventures off the ground and they happen to be the kind of investors who are prepared to take a risk, rely on their instincts and invest large sums without too many hard questions asked.

At least this is the accepted view.

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Angel Investors and Entrepreneurs – A Match Made in Heaven?

More than half of business angel investments fail, but why? How much of this can be put down to the innate vulnerability of start-up businesses?

Surely having an enthusiastic angel investor on board, eager to provide a timely injection of funding to ensure success should mean failure rates i.e. those leaving the business angel out of pocket come exit time should statistically be on the better side of half.

Yet this clearly isn’t the case.

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Business Angels Find Safety in Numbers

We have already established that angel investing is a risky business but one with potentially high rewards. So is it better to go it alone? Or seek the company of others?

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Business Angels – What Would Warren Do?

Have you ever asked yourself what would Warren Buffett do if he were a Business Angel?   Well, it might be a bit hard to ask Mr Buffett along to attend our investments seminars, so instead we have attempted to summarise the rules Warren Buffett applies to his investments to see if we can apply [...]

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How to Beat the Odds on Business Angel Investments

We are living in risk-averse times and “Cash combined with courage in a crisis is priceless” according to Warren Buffet. But when does courage cross the line into gambling territory? Or to put it another way what if you had say, £50,000 to invest, and someone said you have a 20% chance of a return [...]

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Getting more out of your Board of Directors

By Dr. Earl R. Smith II DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com www.Dr-Smith.com With many companies – particularly early-stage ones – the Board of Directors is seen as little more than a legal necessity. But it can be so much more including an important force for growth and a gyroscope that keeps things on course and sure-footed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I work [...]

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What are Business Angels really like?

Business Angels come in different shapes and sizes. But are they really like? Crazy? Successful? Generous or in it for the money? That is a question that not only entrepreneurs ask themselves, but also the Business Angels too. Why? Most investments that gain Angel investment will have not one single investors but a small team [...]

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Green Business Equals Danger for Greenhorns?

I am not suggesting for a moment that all Green businesses are bad investments, but I am suggesting that whenever a bubble appears or to there is much enthusiasm for an idea, that a number of the businesses ideas sold to unquestioning investors will turn out to serve the middle men far more than the money men. [...]

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How should Entrepreneurs and Investors cope with a Second Recession?

In the first recession investors wanted business plans that offered new simplified services or goods that make things work better (ie. increase efficiency – such as self-service on the web for better prices) or that reduce costs (such as better conferencing or collaboration on the web allowing businesses to cut corporate travel). However, as opinions [...]

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What are you investing in?

The biggest question for angel investors – and hardest to answer question – is ‘what am I actually investing in’? However, if we ask the question another way, it does become easier. If we take the approach that the task of the investor is first and foremost not to lose his money, then the first [...]

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What makes a successful Business Angel Investment?

56% of ventures invested in by angel investors will fail, according to recent research by Nesta.. However, as Nesta warns, the figure could be even higher as their statistical sample was taken from angel investors who have remained active over a number of years. Therefore, the rate of failure could be as high as 80% , [...]

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Venture Capital’s 70% drop creates Business Angel Opportunity

“Venture Capital funds available for start-up and growth businesses has dropped 70% since 2000″, said Anne Glover chief executive of Amadeus Capital Partners at the BBAA Annual Awards Dinner. This means that businesses seeking new capital that are unable to raise bank finance (and who is able at present?) will need to increasingly turn to [...]

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Business Angels need training!

Business Angels need training – that was the overwhelming message coming from the British Business Angels Association annual conference held at the Belfry in early July. Quoting new research from Nesta, Mogwenna Rees-Mogg stated that a ’56% failure rate for Business Angel investing is not good enough’. This means that for every £1 invested by [...]

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British Business Angels meet at the Belfry today

The BBAA (British Business Angels Association) trade body is today organising its annual awards ceremony and conference at the Belfry. The event is sponsored by Advantage West Midlands, the redevelopment agency for the West Midlands. It will include both an opportunity to recognise key contributions made to this growth sector during the year at the annual awards dinner [...]

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LLP or Ltd ? This is the question!

Should a Business Angel look for an investment in a LLP (Limited Liability Partnership) or a Limited Company?

Often, entrepreneurs will have both LLPs and LTDs for their different businesses.

To answer the question of which is better we need to ask:

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Debt vs Equity Investing

The FT neatly describes the difference between Debt and Equity when it argues today, that the tax treatment should be the same for both. Of course, the fact that it is not has led investors to structure their deals to take advantage of the difference. And, flavour of the month is convertible debt. But more of [...]

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9 things every Business Angel needs…

The 9 things every direct business investor or business angel needs: Deal Flow There are more and more sources of direct business investment opportunity – you need to find a way to track them and pick out those that deserve more attention. Firstly, you’ll join networks or groups, which is often free, and then you’ll begin to [...]

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