Angel investor Ron Conway: Every entrepreneur should get funded

I love Ron Conway! He's totally right! i think there is a process of due diligence any investor needs to have with an early stage company, but a certain amount of risk is always involved and shouldn't be avoided. Also, stop investing in clones of innovative platforms just because you missed out on investing in those pioneering products and ventures that are being emulated.Seek out the badasses and the bold new ideas that will change the world. Be like Ron!

Again – I'm here to wave a flag for Ron's view even if he doesn't need it. Due diligence is a necessary and useful process but anyone who has been around this block all agree on a few elements…namely, a business plan, the financials, the elevator pitch and other key elements angels and VCs use to determine if they will invest are wrong even before the ink dries on the freshly bound documents. Each company I've either started or been involved with 'evolves', its flexible and responsive to customer demands…the great 'A Ha!' concept that made you start the company in the first place is often left behind in the the dust of growth and early founders naivety – they change and thank goodness for that fleet of foot – it increases the chances of survival.And do you know what the magic ingredient of success, failure and creating a powerhouse is? Is it the plan, the financials? Is it even the concept? The sexy vertical? The hot space?No – its the founder and the team…its about character, perseverance, creativity, flexibility, charisma, the ability to build bridges and gain commitment, to get others to see the vision they are laying down – from would be recruits, to would be customers and ultimately investors.And the challenge? No spreadsheet, word document, website alpha or beta can show the metal of the founding team until they have passed through the incendiary hellish fire of a startup – so get out those checkbooks investors – you just plain can't figure this stuff out through four or forty meetings. Take a portfolio approach and hope the one Facebook you back covers the five hundred flops you also backed. What you really need is the emotional intelligence to admit you've made an investment mistake early and don't follow a bad investment with yet more money. Say 'Goodbye' to ego….if that's possible as you travel down the 101 leaving Palo Alto in the rear view mirror of your new Porsche… Founders? Go out and take over the world!Best of luck to all!Andrew

Your post has inspired me, Andrew. This process of looking for an angel investor is downright debilitating. Couple that with the fact that several of the VCs and angel investors I've spoken to don't really dedicate the time to fully understand our business model makes the process even more arduous. However, when we do find that one investor who isn't anxious to get on with their day, and who truly dedicates the time to understand the Social Entertainment Shopping concept, it'll be well worth the hardships. Moreover, I guarantee those who neglected to take the time to understand our business model will remember they were given the opportunity at one point in time, and maybe even listen more intently to the next entrepreneur.

The unnamed venture capitalists cited by Michael Arrington sound arrogant and clueless. There is room in the world for many kinds of startups with many levels of ambition. But when I see institutional venture capitalists putting $20 million into a series A financing, it looks to me as if it is the institutional VCs rather than the angels who need to rethink their business model.

[...] founder Michael Arrington has also worried that angel investors may be backing too many “dipshit companies.” Today, however, the complaints came not just from journalists or investors, but from some [...]

[...] recent article in VentureBeat mentioned a keynote by angel investor Ron Conway at AngelConf as saying that every entrepreneur [...]