hacking angellist
TRANSCRIPT
Hacking AngelListTed Mann, founder SnipSnap for DreamIt Ventures
Brief History of angel.co• Founded in 2010 by serial entrepreneurs Naval
Ravikant and Babak Nivi • Began as platform for startups and angels to network,
but has grown to also serve as indispensable job board, syndicate management platform, host to funds
• Raised $104MM in 2014 • 243 startups funded; 2,673 investors participated • Maiden Lane raises fund to back AngelList syndicate
leads
Anatomy of a Great Profile
• Big Market
• Teasing for More Information to Followers
• Lots of Social Proof
Dustin’s Advice
‣ Don’t conflate a profile and a pitch deck.
‣ Assign an editor (teammate or advisor).
‣ Be very careful about what markets you chose to list your company in.
‣ Shamelessly solicit comments on you and your company (go for people who have highest # of followers first).
‣ Post updates and press regularly.
“Fundraising is all about Fear of Being Left Out”
—Gil Penchina
Gil’s tips on creating a feeding frenzy• Have all investors, advisors, members coordinate sending
out the 140 character blurb to AL, TW, FB at the same time with a link to build more momentum
• Find a way to get one of the top 20 “megaphones” to promote you on AL. The list is here: https://angel.co/people
• Have something with a hockey-stick curve, but no #’s on the x or y axis for investor-catnip
• LARGE NUMBERS OR PERCENTAGES • And something tantalizing that makes people need to learn
more and FOLLOW YOU
Spell out your instructions
What’s a Syndicate?• People follow the lead with $$ - as little as $1,000 per deal
(crowd funding) • Lead makes an investment decision • Then AL works with to communicate the investment to the syndicate –
and also promotes it to the larger community to help fund it • AL creates an LLC and collects checks (ACH and Wires) from the
crowd • AL sends a single check to the startup and handles SEC, Audit,
Reporting • Investors pay a 20% carry, no mgmt fee
Boss Syndicate• Boston-centric, backed by Atlas
Venture
• Local entrepreneur/angels lead investments, with minimum of $250k per guaranteed by Atlas
• Other entrepreneurs can follow, along with 241 other backers
• 21 investments in first 18 months
Do’s Don’ts
‣ Link to your AL Profile in your email sig
‣ Ask everyone you meet at DreamIt to comment on and follow your page
‣ Spend as much time building your personal profile as your company one
‣ Post all your jobs and internships on AL
‣ Leave an open-ended funding round up on AL. If you announce you’re fundraising, begin to show it being filled up quickly
‣ Post a link to a long deck ‣ Post a video longer than 2
min ‣ Forget to follow every single
DreamIt company and founder
