

Naval Ravikant & AngelList: The Match.com of Funding [Interview] - RichardPrice
http://thenextweb.com/entrepreneur/2011/02/17/naval-ravikant-angellist-the-match-com-of-funding-interview/

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mayukh
FTA : "The current method of fundraising is very broken. It’s offline, it’s
inefficient, it can takes 12 weeks or longer to raise a round. Why are we in
2011 still raising money offline? You market through Facebook or Twitter, get
customer service through Get Satisfaction and host your servers on Amazon, why
shouldn’t getting funding for your company be serviced through the web? The
whole process has to move online."

I disagree, funding a startup is unlike any other commodity or service you
might just buy online. Yes the web makes it more efficient to process and
transmit information (startup pitches, prototype products/mockups), but if a
VC is going to put in 7/8 figures into your startup, you better believe he's
going to want to meet with you and your team.

There's a reason that we have a high degree of local VC's in various parts of
the country and the world. They need to be on the ground, close to their
startups. Mentor them, advice them and make sure the $$$$ they've invested in
is being put to good use.

Its been discussed endlessly here and elsewhere: a good idea is worthless
without a solid team behind it. Angels/VC's invest in people first (and then
the idea). Doing the whole process online is not going to work for the
majority of the cases.

Apart from that, love venturehacks and the work Naval is doing..

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naval
You're right. There will always be an offline component, and a big one. But
lots of stuff, including the introductions, the social proof, the transaction,
the matching, should move online. Moving it online is more aspirational and
directional than absolute.

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bpeters
A way AngelList could monetize is by allowing establish businesses that offer
enterprise or startup tools to advertise and reach out to these entrepreneurs.
This includes server providers, analytic tools, shared work spaces, and based
on geological location local lawyers/CPAs.

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viggity
If you like this interview you should check the Mixergy episode with Naval, it
is really good.

<http://mixergy.com/naval-ravikant-venture-hacks-interview/>

(oddly enough, I was listening to it when I saw this story pop up on HN)

~~~
flipp
You can also check out Startup Digest's course on fundraising. The first
lecture by Naval is free.

<http://www.udemy.com/raising-capital-for-startups/>

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dr_
Hmm...the picture with the wings reads "Angle List"

