Canada: It rocks!
Oct 20
It was the first time I was at a formal gathering of angels and it reaffirmed my view that angels are a really nice bunch of people. We are driven by a desire to help entrepreneurs and generate wealth. The strange thing about conferences is that you do end up getting very close to people over a very short period of time.
I laid the foundations for what I hope are some long term great relationships with many people. The thing I enjoyed most about going to Prague for example was the opportunity to meet some Angels in the UK. If any of you are invited to go to a conference – my advice is to go as long as you realize the real thing you can do is forge relationships with people.
I learnt a great deal about angel networks and how angels tend to invest. As I mentioned in some other blogs as well is that angel networks tend to promote best practice and they want to contribute to the business venture being successful. Many entrepreneurs are understandably nervous about working with investors. I have seen too many good entrepreneurs being taken for a ride by so called angels. Worst of all are the advisers that get involved from time to time. Perhaps that should be the subject of another blog!
Most angels, who belong to a network, tend to be entrepreneurs who want to ‘recycle’ their money and their experience into new businesses. My advice to entrepreneurs is to feel confident enough to vet investors just as much as they want to vet you.
I will be writing a lot more about the lessons I picked up which I would like to pass on from my time in Canada. Please do have a look at their www.angelinvestor.ca/ - and in the future they may post the presentation I gave.
The presentation I gave was about my experience as an angel investor and the lessons I had learnt from my investments. I also learnt from the other speakers at the conference and look forward to sharing those lessons.
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