

AngelPad Opens Up Its Summer 2011 Applications - thomaskorte
http://techcrunch.com/2011/04/13/angelpad-2/

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MKK
I was part of the winter batch 2011 at AngelPad and just have to smile a
little when I read comments on TC about how much money you get for how much of
the company (5% for 25k, or 6% for 20k...).

Out of personal experience I can say that the money is like the least
important thing in this program. What you are really buying yourself with the
6% of your company are 4 fundamental things: \- Data Points in the Market \-
Social Proof \- Network For Fund Raising and Exposure \- Great, Super Driven,
Smart Friends (other founders)

Data Points in the Market: With data points I mean advice. As a founder of
your company you are staring at your problem for too long. You forget to think
outside the box. Feedback and advice from an experienced PM/Hacker/Founder
help you avoid mistakes. But be aware, each advice no matter who it comes from
is just ONE data point in the market. You need to collect many of them and
then decide for yourself and for your company what is best. AngelPad with its
5 mentors, helps you get direct/fast access to these data points on a weekly
basis.

Social Proof: Being part of AngelPad and getting through the application
process (4% roughly get accepted) is social proof. Potential future employees
or investors see this as validation that you are smart because someone already
did the homework/reference checks for them.

Network For Fund Raising and Exposure: The amount of intros they can make to
investors is amazing. We got 20 meetings lined up with top angels and VCs in
no time.

Great, Super Driven, Smart Friends (other founders): Last but not least, all
the other founders are super helpful, friendly and in a nutshell just an
awesome environment to be in. They are all super driven and smart. Value this
relationship. Stay in touch with them. Make an effort to connect. These are
the people are your first users, the first ones who recommend you and the
first ones who make an effort to comment/help you with your product.

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robkwok
I was a cofounder in the second batch of AngelPad (www.crittercism.com) Here's
why I would recommend AngelPad:

\- Coworking space: received a lot of great feedback and help from the other
cofounders. We also became pretty good friends with all of the other teams.

\- Founder experience: a lot of the other founders had a lot of work
experience. One founder was the first product manager at youtube, first
employee at slide.

\- Industry connections: a lot of the mentors are still in industry (VPs at
LinkedIn, Facebook, etc). The google mafia is VERY WELL connected. Basically,
you can pretty much get access to anyone you need to be successful, from top
VCs to the CEO of twitter.

\- Mentors: we had five mentors that were impressively available (Thomas Korte
met with every team every monday for 30 minutes and you met with another
mentor usually at least once a week). I exchanged emails at 2am with one of
the mentors throughout the program! All of the mentors are amazing and people
you really look forward to working with.

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stellabella
I learned and and grew more in the intensive 2 months @ AngelPad than in any 2
months of my life post college. The only other time was I learned as much when
I traveled through countries.

The mentors can make intros to many of the top VCs and angels when you're
fundraising. Their advice all make sense at the end. One of my favorites was
speakers every week.

In addition to the mentorship, I liked the sense of community @ AngelPad.
Startup life is unique - others can't relate to it as much. AP was its own
support network (like a gender-neutral frat).

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bjornlee5
Ironic to promote this on HN but you do need options in life. :) Don't trust
what you read. Talk to folks who went to the various incubators and find out
what works best for you. AngelPad worked really well for us due to the more
hands-on mentoring model, laser focus by ex-Google PMs (the AP mentors) on the
stuff that matters and the intensity of DemoDay prep. Stay away from AngelPad
if you want a cushy startup life :)

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martinshen
I'm curious to how AngelPad companies do post incubation and what the resumes
of the founders look like: (1) Does AngelPad typically look for Google/FB
experience or are they okay with founders without that type of experience, (2)
How many AngelPad companies have gone on to raise money (how much does
AngelPad help with that) or grow significantly?

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jarrold
This was one of the best experiences of my life, you won't regret applying.
Had the wonderful opportunity of getting to know the other founders whilst
working side by side and going through preparing for DDay, DDay and
fundraising together. The mentors are amazing and their advice has been
invaluable.

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andrewmlevy
I _completely_ agree :) great folks all around -- top notch founders and
advisors.

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philipDS
In the TechCrunch article they quote you on the following:

"... Our founders are a little older than the typical incubator crowd, with
some experience... "

Can you elaborate? Why? Is Angelpad less hacker-oriented in comparison to YC?
How do you relate?

~~~
colinyoung
I won't answer for Thomas, but:

No, I definitely wouldn't say angelPad is less hacker-oriented. It just means
their 'market niche' is more about experienced individuals, with some work
experience at startups, etc. Of course, our class (I was in W11) had both
experienced people who were on the scale of Product Manager at Youtube to just
great coders. AngelPad is like an older, wiser YC that seemed to seek to build
companies with slightly bigger ideas than YC, focused on more hands-on
mentorship.

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bretthellman
I was a founder in the 2nd batch and I second everything mentioned so far.
What most impressed me were the mentors. They are incredible in terms of
experience, networking and make themselves available 24/7.

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danyal711
A really solid experience with great mentors, founders and speakers.

