25 Must-Reads For Angel Investors
On my mission to get smarter and smarter about angel investing, I think it’s important to read as much as I can from leading investors and experts in entrepreneurship. There were some really great articles last year that made a difference to my own investing and thinking about trends and policies. Here are 25 top articles that caught my attention in 2016. I think they’re worth another read, or a first read in case you missed them.
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How to Invest
Great thoughts on best practices in investing come from famous investors including Fred Wilson and Brad Feld, but lesser known angels also have a lot to say about best practices that are so essential to successful angel investing. It is vital to be able to select good companies, understand valuation, and structure deals well – but it is also important to have a portfolio strategy and know what it will take to support the startups after you invest. These articles cover the gamut:
- Active vs Passive Investing (Fred Wilson)
- After 20 Years: Updating the Berkus Method of Valuation (Dave Berkus)
- ‘Give Away Your Legos’ and Other Commandments for Scaling Startups (First Round Review)
- How Homebrew “Got Smart” About Hardware Investments (Hunter Walk)
- How I Invest (Mark Suster)
- How to Become an Angel Investor (Matt Dunbar)
- Mentors 13/18: Guide, Don’t Control (Brad Feld)
- Staging Capital: Angel Follow-on Theory (Ham Lord and Christopher Mirabile)
- Startups are Risk Bundles (Leo Polovets)
- The Case Against Startups Raising As Much Money As Humanly Possible (Craig Shapiro and Morgan Housel)
- What Most People Don’t Understand About How Startup Companies Are Valued (Mark Suster)
- Why Cap Tables Matter: Ownership and Exit Values (Alida Miranda-Wolff)
Trends
The article – or really video – that had the most impact on me is from the New York Times and it shows how China is becoming a guide to the future in tech. WeChat is a “super app” with features so comprehensive and amazing that western companies are trying to replicate it. WeChat also brings a new meaning to Big Data, as it equals the combined data of Facebook, Amazon, Google and PayPal. Is this our future? Read up too on the impact of unicorn thinking on VCs and angels, what’s happening with the new equity crowdfunding market, and how women entrepreneurs and investors are making a difference. Here are some great pieces to get started:
- As Angels Pull Back, Valuations Take a Hit (Ruth Simon)
- Equity Crowdfunding Just Had Its First Billion Dollar Exit (Dan Primack)
- How China is Changing Your Internet – Times Video (Jonah Kessel and Paul Mozur)
- How venture capital must change: Gender equality as a business opportunity (Lyndsey Gilpin)
- The Potential and Perils of Title III Crowdfunding (Alicia Robb)
- ‘The rise of the rest’: Why startup hubs outside Silicon Valley are built to last (Dino Vendetti)
- Welcome to the Series B Crunch (Guy Turner)
- Why the Unicorn Financing Market Just Became Dangerous … For All Involved (Bill Gurley)
Research and Public Policy
The US Presidential election last year dominated our news more than any time I can think of in my lifetime. A couple of articles connected President-elect Donald Trump to startups and angel investing, one with a clever comparison of startups disrupting markets to Trump disrupting his market (voters); and another pointing out the need for Trump to recognize that jobs and innovation largely come from entrepreneurs. There were also interesting articles on the impact of women funding women and the impact of angels in general across the world:
- Donald Trump: The Startup Disrupting the Republican Establishment (Fabrice Grinda)
- For a Fraction of the Price, Angels Can Pay Huge Dividends (Ian Bandeen and Bev Tudhope)
- Reconciliation – Shaping Trump Policies to Drive Innovation and Jobs (Christopher Mirabile)
- Research: Gender Gap in Startup Success Disappears When Women Fund Women (Sahil Raina)
- Rise of the Angel Investor: A Challenge to Public Policy (Josh Lerner and Antoinette Schoar)
Not to toot my own horn, but I also loved my own post on the Angel Capital Association blog on the 60 plus exits ACA member organizations had in 2016. It’s not about my writing, but about the great results many angels and entrepreneurs had last year. Happy reading – and here’s to a successful 2017.
Read more at Forbes