Nope. Most people (nearly two-thirds) that join VentureSouth tell us that they are becoming angel investors for the first time.
This is not deliberate: we are not seeking out people that do not know what angel investing is. Finding them, educating them, and then helping them navigate how to be an effective angel is not the most efficient operational model!
But it is necessary, because in the Carolinas there is not a long history of angel investment. In New York, it’s hard to move without bumping into an angel investor; in Anderson, it’s quite a bit easier. Our operating model is to find people that could be interested in becoming an angel investor, and then give them the tools they need to decide.
These tools include:
Educational events. Taking a look at our events page will give you a flavor of the educational events available to members. We start with a new member orientation session and instruction packet, to help new members understand the basics. We have online webinars and in-person educational sessions on specific topics pertinent to angel investing – from “intro to deal terms,” to “valuations of early stage companies,” to “executing exits” – covering the whole range from investing to realization. We also provide access to the Angel Capital Association’s suite of educational topics. If we had a bigger budget, we would love to do more of these activities.
In house expertise. The VentureSouth team do this, and nothing else, full time – and we are beginning to know what we’re doing. We unashamedly steal the best practices from across the US – in part thanks to Matt’s presence on the ACA’s board of directors.
Established processes. We screen, evaluate, and invest in a standardized way. This month’s deal is compared to all the others we have considered, so a new member can quickly and easily “calibrate” this opportunity against earlier ones – even if they hadn’t seen those ones.
Support from our sponsors. Banking services, legal documents, accounting and tax returns – headaches that a startup entrepreneur (or us!) cannot afford the time or capital to learn about on their own. Thanks to Wells Fargo, Nelson Mullins, Bauknight Pietras & Stormer, and many others, we have the resources to tackle all the technicalities of angel investing; new angels are in safe hands.