[HN Gopher] Ask HN: How do I find early stage startups to invest...
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Ask HN: How do I find early stage startups to invest in?
I'm interested in being a very early seed/angel investor and want
to find tech startups that haven't even received major funding yet.
I'm aware of secondary markets but they cater to more mature
startups.
Author : altdataseller
Score : 24 points
Date : 2022-04-12 17:58 UTC (5 hours ago)
| anamax wrote:
| It's interesting that you don't say what you have to offer an
| early tech startup other than money.
|
| I mention that because the best startups are in a position to get
| more than money from investors.
|
| If all you have is money, you're looking for early startups that
| are reasonably likely to succeed but don't need more than money.
| bratak wrote:
| All you ever need: Stan Weinstein, Stage Analysis
|
| If you can master this, you will become very wealthy too over
| time. Never look at any other trading / investment strategy again
| or you fail with this, period.
|
| Just learn it, start super tiny (like 1 Stock if necessery) and
| grow your positions with confidence. In the beginning it's not
| about making money, but learn and execute as perfect as possible.
| Same as if you learn to fly a Plane...
|
| If you seriously do this, money will flow in your account and you
| can use the stock market like an ATM.
|
| https://www.scribd.com/doc/100123807/Stan-Weinstein-Secrets-...
|
| Hint: To screen for the right stocks I use Chartmill.com They
| have the screener perfectly prepared for Stan Weinstein Stage
| Analysis.
|
| So there you have it - all you need Now it's your take...
|
| Happy Christmas SS8-)
|
| ...if one day you reached your financial freedom, tell another
| person how you did it. And don't forget to live a happy live, no
| matter how much money you have...
| qualudeheart wrote:
| Is Stan Weinstein paying you to post this?
| kylixz wrote:
| If you want to get into public safety tech, I'm looking for
| investors.
| kormoc wrote:
| I'd like to hear more about what you're looking for. Feel free
| to hit me up with my username at gmail.
| bhuj2000 wrote:
| My friend is working on a similar project around connecting
| startups and investors - http://www.theclosedround.com/
| adg001 wrote:
| Cardinality is key. You may want to ensure to invest your
| capitals in many startups of your choice at the same time.
| Predicting which startups will succeed is hard. Investing in only
| a few of them may not give you the desired ROI, because they may
| all fail before raising the next rounds of funding that would
| give you an exit.
| holykin wrote:
| Presuming you are an accredited investor, have you considered
| https://www.angellist.com/syndicates ? Or are you looking for
| even earlier investments that are in the family/friends stage?
| jppope wrote:
| Why not just become friends with entrepreneurs?
| jilijeanlouis wrote:
| Note : I invested in more than 20 startups and I'm a founder
| myself.
|
| The best way is : 1 find someone you know who started a startup
| in your area, Or ask a founder during an interview or during a
| meet up or directly on LinkedIn.
|
| Spend 30min to 1h with them and ask about their pre-seed and seed
| round there is a 99% chance that Business angels were included in
| these rounds. Explain that you want to invest and if they would
| be kind enough to introduce you to the smallest investor in its
| cap table.
|
| Now... you're done it's just a matter of network.
|
| Explain to the investor... and she/he will redirect you etc etc
| etc.
|
| Ask for his/her WhatsApp to keep chatting and stay in touch in
| case they see a deal in your area of expertise. Now it's a matter
| of reputation : what do you bring to a startup.
|
| If you do a bit of pro bono in your area of expertise to a
| founder in exchange of network it will be even better. They will
| likely recommend you to other founder during their seed or
| preseed.
|
| It's all about network.
| jilijeanlouis wrote:
| Also : as a matter of fact there are 2 kind of startups ; the
| one that have overcommitted financing round and the one are
| under committed / struggling getting financing.
|
| If the startup is looking for money meaning case 2 : not sure
| it's a good idea to invest at the begging unless you know what
| you are doing
|
| In case 1/ if it's overcommitted remember that there is a
| limited amount of capital in a company and the founder doesn't
| need money (he is over committed) he/she is looking for smart
| money : meaning if you want to be in the cap table : bring
| smartness. There is no free lunch ;-)
| jasfi wrote:
| How much are you looking to invest?
| YossarianFrPrez wrote:
| The more I think about it, the more I think a good way to find
| under-financed early stage startups is to try working out of a
| few co-working spaces. This will allow you to really get "on the
| ground" and see who is working on what, and why. I spent my 20s
| more or less working in co-working spaces, and they are good
| places to check out, especially if you wanted to a) spot new
| opportunities, b) try to 'moneyball' the local scene, c) identify
| unvarnished / unpolished potential, and d) get a feeling for what
| is going on at the 'bleeding edge' of startups.
|
| Some notes, based purely on my own experience (YMMV):
|
| * There is a _large_ amount of variance, and basically people
| with ideas that won 't work or decision-making / management
| practices that won't fly haven't yet been weeded out of the
| market. So it might be worth thinking that you'd be happy if you
| had a hit rate of less than 1 out of 10 or 1 out of 15-20.
|
| * I wouldn't tell anyone that you are looking to invest when you
| initially meet them, because you'll immediately cause an
| incentive problem. Instead, by working on a side project, or
| something, you could get to know other founders as a secret
| shopper / peer.
|
| * The reason the early stage startups haven't received major
| funding yet is due to several factors. I believe the most
| compelling one is that the founders aren't good at making
| themselves seem "investor friendly." (Assuming the concept and
| execution show promise, there is positive signal, etc.) On a more
| general note, if you are going to "assess the person" over other
| factors, working along side them might be a good way to assess
| them.
|
| What I'm saying is that being proactive might be a great way to
| find what you are looking for; which from what you write... by
| the time you "hear" about them it will be "too late."
| monistowl wrote:
| fsflover wrote:
| https://puri.sm/ir/convertible-note/
| DamonHD wrote:
| Seedrs/CrowdCube is one venue for some.
| ilrwbwrkhv wrote:
| You might want to go through https://news.ycombinator.com/show
| and contact any programs which catches your eye?
| sydthrowaway wrote:
| - OurCrowd
|
| - Founders Club
| marvel_boy wrote:
| In UK there is: https://www.crowdcube.com You can invest in early
| stage European startups.
| jes81 wrote:
| Depending on your geography, local angel groups can be a good
| place to start as they will provide a pipeline of local startups
| and you'd have the opportunity to connect with other investors
| looking at a similar stage.
|
| As several have mentioned, co-working spaces or pitch events can
| also be a place to find deal flow. Oftentimes you'll find less
| experienced entrepreneurs with less formed ideas at these events.
| As an investor this presents a great opportunity to provide value
| beyond capital, but may also raise concerns as to the
| entrepreneur's capabilities.
|
| My greatest finds to date have come when I'm looking in a
| specific industry or at a specific problem statement. I'm a bit
| later stage than what you're looking for (Series A - small Series
| C), so I look for companies with a website (so they can actually
| reach customers) and search for news releases or any PR they've
| done. At that point its pretty easy to have an intro conversation
| and determine whether or not it's something worth pursuing.
|
| Regardless, it takes a lot of conversations to find the right
| investment candidates.
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