

Raising Money On AngelList: 21 Tips From Two Active Angels - nwest
http://onstartups.com/tabid/3339/bid/63010/Raising-Money-On-AngelList-21-Tips-From-Two-Active-Angels.aspx

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dools
This is kind of O.T but I've never really understood this:

 _"Don't wait too late in your rounds fund raise before you apply"_

When you "do a round" is there some sort of legally binding time and funding
limit? Or is this just some kind of self imposed thing (like when you're
selling vacuum cleaners door to door and say to the customer "Better get in
quick! We only have 5 vacuum cleaners left and they're selling fast!").

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maaku
Yes, the rounds usually have an end date written into the term sheets.

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johnrob
_21\. The best thing you can do is get traction_

Why is the supposedly most important idea listed last? It's no wonder startups
waste time on the wrong things, if this is the way advice is structured.

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dshah
Sorry about that. The tips weren't listed in any sort of "priority" order. The
reason the traction one was last wasn't because it's the least important, but
because I thought it was a good way to "close" the article.

Often, the last item in a list like this gets read much more often than the
middle items.

In any case, it's a fair point.

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nirvana
I read the Angel List T&C. It says they (the founders of Angel List) have the
right to participate in any fundraising up to %50 of the amount raised, on the
same terms as others.

This means, if you find an investor who brings something other than money, and
you agree to terms that take this into account, the owners of angel list can
get in on half of the deal at those terms.

So, would you agree to the same terms with a star like ashton kutcher, or dave
mcclure as you would to someone you've never heard of who is just offering
money? (Personally, I might not give either of the "stars" better terms,
because I would want a venture investment to be about money, not intangibles,
but that's me.)

I don't know the people behind angel list, so, lets presume they are great.
But I'm wary of entering into a situation where, unless you read the details
of the T&C and discover it, you've agreed to give people you don't know half
of your funding round, on terms that you might have set based on qualities
that the angel list people don't also possess.

This is what prevented me from getting an account there, and without an
account it is hard to know much about how angel list works, or what it is
like. (so, feel free to enlighten me.)

I'm not bashing them, just expressing a concern that I obviously can't express
there (because I'd have to agree to the T&C to open an account.) It's also
quite possible I'm wrong or misread the T&C.

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nivi
Hey, this is Nivi from AngelList. That is a dumb clause. We are changing it.
We will also look through the terms for other dumb clauses. I'll follow up on
this thread with the revisions later today.

People submit bug reports to us all the time. This is the first time we've
gotten a legal one. Thank you.

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nivi
We went through the terms and deleted the following:

DELETED: "We also have the right to invest in any business on the same terms
as are offered to Investors, or on better terms if we are able to negotiate
them with Entrepreneurs, and we have no obligation to make those investment
opportunities available to anyone else."

It was dumb. We also made a few other changes. Let us know if you have any
other feedback <http://angel.co/terms>

We've taken small allocations in a few investments on the site but we've had
to talk our way into the deal like every other investor in the world.

The terms are still not perfect nor will they ever be. I would like to rewrite
and simplify them one day but that might be wishful thinking.

Thanks to our counsel for the quick fixes. And thanks for the bug report.

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dshah
Awesome. Time elapsed between the reporting of the bug, acknowledgement,
resolution and release: < 3 hours.

~~~
EwanG
Really. I'm half tempted to start a startup just to be able to use a service
that is that responsive. Anyone want to push forward with the Trails version
of Google Street with me? :-)

