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Raising Seed Investment for Africa focused Tech Startups

(This article is focused on raising money for startups with an African focus but it contains some great generic advice on for all startups on needed steps before spending considerable time in fundraising.) This first step is actually common everywhere, entrepreneurs think they deserve financing when its just an idea in their head all the way up to startups showing significant progress but are probably stalling and need significant technical/business help and capital infusion to grow their venture. Also fundraising takes a significant a
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Tips for Raising Startup Funds on AngelList

I’ve personally raised $1 million from AngelList for my startup, and have helped dozens of other startups raise $3 million more. I’ve referred more than 20 startups to AngelList, vouched for a dozen other investors and am ranked as one of the top connectors on the site. Try a similar strategy by adhering to the following steps.
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‘Angel’ Investors Exist Outside Tech Elite, Too

Many “angel” investors, who put their own money into small start-ups at a very early stage, previously worked at technology icons that are known for minting millionaires, like Google Inc. and PayPal. But Silicon Valley’s angel-investor scene is far from homogenous, new data show.
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Understanding How Dilution Affects You At A Startup

Everybody knows that when you raise money at a startup your ownership percentage of the company goes down. The goal is to have the value of the startup go up by enough that you own a smaller percentage of a much larger business and therefore your total personal value goes up.

The simplest way to think about this is: If you own 20% of a $2 million company your stake is worth $400,000. If you raise a new round of venture capital (say $2.5 million at a $7.5 million pre-money valuation, which is a $10 million post-money) you get diluted by 25% (2.5m / 10m). So you own 15% of the new comp
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Seed Capital From Angel Investors: David Rose, Founder and CEO of Gust / Angelsoft

Today, I’m talking with David Rose, who founded AngelSoft, now , in 2004. Gust provides a platform where angel investors and entrepreneurs can connect and discuss ventures. Originally created with angel investors’ needs in mind, Gust now has more than 750 investment organizations worldwide using its platform to manage deal flow and other day-to-day tasks. Over 125,000 startups have, through Gust, worked with more than 35,000 individual investors on their ventures. The company is based in New York City, has a development office in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and a European office in Pa
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Comstock’s – Founders Keepers? When growing a startup requires a change in leadership

Here is an example of a great entrepreneur knowing how to take his company to the next level, and increasing the value of his stock. Lesson: founders need to not let their egos get in the way of accelerating the company growth.
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Five lessons experienced entrepreneurs have learned

There’s certainly no shortage of successful young entrepreneurs in business today. We hear daily of fast growing startups from New York City to Silicon Valley, headed by CEOs such as Mark Zuckerberg, Andrew Mason and Tim O’Shaughnessy. These creative minds have demonstrated the power of youthful tenacity and innovation, combined with a sharp eye for business.

Yet, in 2010, entrepreneurs aged 35 to 54 were responsible for over 50 percent of total new entrepreneurship activity in the U.S, according to the . Individuals aged 55 to 64 also made their mark, representing 22.9 percent of new entrepreneurs in 2010, compared
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8 ways to get automatically rejected by an angel investor

I’ve started three companies, and now I’m an angel investor. So I’ve been on both sides of the table. There are lots of good articles out there about pitching, and surely everyone who pitches me has read some of them. Still, a few problems appear over and over again. If you’ve ever had to sort through resumes and cover letters, you’ve seen this effect: People tend to have the same misconceptions and therefore make the same mistakes.
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Orrick – Start-Up Tool Kit – Term Sheet Creator – Start-Up Forms Library

There are many items useful to entrepreneurs on the site including:

  • Example cap (capitalization) table spreadsheet
  • Term Sheet Creator
  • Non-disclosure Agreements
  • Employment Agreements
  • Stock Option plans
  • Confidential Information and Invention Assignment Agreement for Employees & Consultants

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The Top Angels in Tech – BusinessWeek

It’s no surprise that most angel investors are successful entrepreneurs. You can see that in the list of names below —Jeff Bezos, Reid Hoffman, Marc A
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