Amis and Stevenson (2001) have a great deal of information regarding angel investing in their book, Winning angels: The seven fundamentals of early-stage investing. Entrepreneurs take note! I will be sharing over the next several weeks valuable information from Amis and Stevenson (2001) beginning this week with Sourcing. To get started, let’s look at a couple of definitions that will help clarify.
What is an Angel Investor?
According to Ganti (2019), “An angel investor is usually a high net worth individual who provides financial backing for small startups or entrepreneurs. Often, angel investors are found among an entrepreneur’s family and friends. The funds that angel investors provide may be a one-time investment to help the business get off the ground or an ongoing injection to support and carry the company through its difficult early stages” (para 1).
What is Sourcing?
According to Amis and Stevenson (2001) “Sourcing or identifying entrepreneurial projects of merit is the first step in the process of making early-stage investments” (p. 33). Amis and Stevenson (2001) break down sourcing activities into four groups.
How to get started…
The four groups of activities to begin the Sourcing process according to Amis and Stevenson (2001) include: Preparation activities (an example given is writing down exact thoughts about what types of investing one is interested in), Networking Activities (an example given is meeting personally with appropriate persons including bankers and venture capitalists), Visibility activities (examples given are giving interviews and writing books), and Focus activities/tactics (an example given is networking).
As a self-published author myself, the mention of writing books as part of visibility activities caught my eye. I will elaborate a bit about this topic. Amis and Stevenson (2001) state, “Publishing a book makes you an expert to many people even if they never read it. The book will often open up speaking and teaching opportunities that in turn create deal sources” (p. 47). From personal experience, I do know that mentioning that you have written a book or books does open doors for speaking engagements. I have a speaking engagement targeting caregivers coming up because I mentioned that I had written books about caregiving while visiting a local Senior Citizen Center recently. As a caregiver for many years now, I do know quite a bit about caregiving and how to survive caregiving. I have published multiple books available on Amazon found at the following link:
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=patricia+kay+reyna&ref=nb_sb_noss
If you are interested in having me speak at your next event please contact me through my website kayreyna.com. I would be delighted! Now, moving on about Sourcing…
Other Considerations regarding Sourcing…
Amis and Stevenson (2001) also provide advice on quality and quantity of investing in projects and provide insights on how to identify a Five-Star Entrepreneur. I wonder if the last part of that sentence caught any entrepreneurs’ eyes? Well, I would want to know…How does one identify a Five-Star Entrepreneur? Amis and Stevenson (2001) suggest evaluating the entrepreneur on considerations including: how well they listen and learn, how well they attract others, if they are honest and how hard they work. Considering those identifiers, are you a Five-Star Entrepreneur or are there areas you need to work on?
References
Amis, D., & Stevenson, H. H. (2001). Winning angels: The seven fundamentals of early-stage investing. London: Financial Times Prentice Hall.
Ganti, A. (2019, March 31). Angel Investor Definition. Retrieved May 22, 2019, from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/angelinvestor.asp
Kay,
I appreciate your introduction and inclusion of definitions as we begin to explore these topics. I took a similar approach to kick off my upcoming blog posts. As far as your analysis is concerned, thank you for sharing your experience as a published author. I am not an angel investor or a book author, but I have a true appreciation for research and the work it takes to process data into meaningful information that guides business activity and day-to-day life in general. I truly believe that this and other unique life milestones help us become well-rounded entrepreneurs. Also, I must say I smiled after reading your comments on “Five-Star entrepreneurs.” I constantly find myself reading into secondary messages or messages conveyed by omission when analyzing reading materials. I think there is a significant value gained by looking at deeper than surface information. Great job Kay!
-Jose F. Saavedra
Kay,
I found that Amis and Stevenson have provided a solid starting point for those considering angel investing. Their coverage is also good for those wanting to obtain funding from angel investors as well. Many of the talking points found within their book so far, have given us the insight on how to attract an investors attention. The starting block of course, must contain the essential elements of “listening, learning, honesty, and work ethic. This can be a useful tool of guidance on how to do business and should be used as a “blueprint” to “investor 101.” Thank you for your insights this week!
– Paul
Great job Kay reviewing this material. I can see how writing books caught your eye. And I’d say that you are right. If you write a non-fiction book, or write a book based upon historical fact, then you as the author are perceived as an expert. Good self-promotion as well …..