Customer Reviews

Angel Financing for Entrepreneurs: Early-Stage Funding for Long-Term Success

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I did, so I bought five books. I will review them from worst to best.

"Finding an Angel Investor In a Day," by The Planning Shop (2007), told me nothing I didn't know, and I didn't know anything about business plans or angel investors. The title is ludicrous and the advice is obvious, e.g., "Your business plan should be concise, compelling, and irresistible to investors." 1 star.

"The ABC's of Writing Winning Business Plans," by Garrett Sutton (2005), walks you through writing business plans for a lawn mowing business and buying a pizza restaurant. If your business is more complicated, this is not the book for you. 1 star.

"The Ernst & Young Business Plan Guide," by Brian Ford, Jay Boorstein, and Patrick Pruitt (2007), is a good book but hardly inspiring or insightful. If you follow this book your business plan will be competent but won't grab investors. 3 stars.

"Angel Financing for Entrepreneurs," by Susan Preston (2007). This book doesn't explain how to write a business plan, but it explains how to make a 10-minute PowerPoint presentation to investors -- a presentation that will grab investors. For example, one question is "How is your product or technology scalable?" I also learned some of the financials that angel investors look for, such as what IRR is expected. This book helped and inspired me to write an excellent presentation, that became the basis for my business plan. 5 stars.

"Raising Venture Capital for the Serious Entrepreneur," by Dermot Berkery (2008). This is a textbook for a business school course about venture capital. This book is full of insights. Every few pages new ideas would compel me to go to my computer and add stuff or rewrite my business plan, for example, Berkery emphasizes the need for clear milestones. Preston mentioned milestones but didn't make it clear why they are so important. The financials that were briefly presented in Preston's book are thoroughly presented in Berkery's book, for example, what gross margin investors look for (80% or more) and why they need such extremely profitable products or services. Plus you learn the jargon or key phrases of venture capitalists, e.g., "a large but well signaled market," the importance of "market power" and an effective "route to customers." I feel that my business plan now speaks to investors in their language, with the numbers they are looking for. 5 stars.

I just completed "Angel Financing for Entrepreneurs" and found it to be exceptionally informative. I manage an angel investment group, and this book conveys exactly the information I would like entrepreneurs to know before approaching our group for investment. The presentation of and explanatory comments regarding a preferred stock term sheet (a staple in our industry) were ecxellent, as were the discussions of determining your capital requirements and preparing for presentations with investors. It's a great balance of technical information with solid, down-to-earth advice on raising money. It should give readers a great advantage prior to launching what for some is the daunting process of raising capital for an early-stage company.

I purchased this book with great expectations. I wanted more information on structuring deals and term sheets. This book has 375 pages, but glossary and contact information take up almost half. Most of the information in this book is general - I can find most with a simple search on the internet. There are a few great hints and key points that angel investors would look at. It's a hard cover book, but the information that is useful could of been put in a small paperback at a much lower price. Good book for someone who knows nothing about angel investors, but lacks real substance for serious entrepreneurs.

And I'm only in the 3rd chapter. I'll agree I was disheartened when I realized at least half the book is an appendix and the first chapter is a bit repetitive, but....., the information that follows is well worth the $30 I paid. A little more work and $50 for the book would only raise an eyebrow or two. If you expect to get $1,000 worth of reference material or a bible for an industry insider, well...., forget it. If you're really on the fence considering it, buy it second-hand at $15, don't buy coffee for a month and I'll guarantee you'll be well ahead of the game. Is it for someone with previous experience in Angel Investing? No, go write your own book if you have that experience. Is it useful for the price and its' stated intent? No question. There's obvious experience being laid out in the book and that's worth thousands more than any price I've seen asked for the book.
Just my 2 cents, go to get back to that next chapter now...

This was a great book that is written specifically for entrepreneurs trying to find angel capital, not for angel investors themselves. If that is what you are looking for, this is the book you'll want to get. First of all, to my knowledge, this is the only book written specifically about angel investments as they pertain to entrepreneurs. There are other similar books, but I could not find one that was exactly like this one.

The book gives you basic, yet fundamental information on where to find angel investors, what they will expect from you, the kinds of questions they will ask, how the deal may be structured (even includes a sample term sheet), etc. If you already know a lot about the subject of angel investing, then there is probably nothing new to you in this book, but if you dont, I highly recommend it.

P.S. Many first-time entrepreneurs have the misconception that they can get venture capital or grants to START their business, which is simply not true for the most part. This book explains that venture capital for start-ups is not even feasible, and that is why angel capital is the better route to pursue for your first investment round.

Good luck to all of you in your future endeavors! I know you all can succeed!

I found this book on the syllabus of one of the entrepreneurial courses for Dartmouth's MBA (a resourceful way to find good reading). It was far superior to New Venture Creation (timmons) which seemed to be the main reading on that syllabus. That book is good but full of a lot of superfluous info--I'm still wading through that one. This book is concise, packed, and speaks exactly to entrepreneurs seeking angel money or creative financing. It doesn't wax poetic about starting a venture, but does give the down and dirty on where investors are, the history of angel investing, and how that has lead to current investor expectations. It includes examples of what a cram-down round looks like on a spread-sheet and more.

I was very impressed with this reading and highly recommend it. Every time I was reading and was wishing it had a resource, that resource popped up in the next few pages. Excellent info in a concise format. If you're not looking for angel financing however, you'll be disappointed as this book won't speak to you.

This book is full of useful information for both angel investors and entrepreneurs seeking funds for any start-up. There are anecdotes, facts and figures describing the industry and trends, a comprehensive list of resources, groups and sample agreements. There are checklists for use in everything from business planning to due diligence. If you are interested enough to be reading this review you should just get the book, you will be glad you did.

I'm looking forward to reading this book -- Jim is speaking at the upcoming conference in Denver (The Capital Factor http://TheCapitalFactor.com) and I plan on meeting him there! I've heard a lot of wonderful things about him from people who have heard him speak and you gotta admit, what the guy has accomplsihed so far is astonishing!