My father was a buy and hold public stock investor. He would choose stocks that were in a sector he had some knowledge of, had either worked in or had some connection to. He would then track the progress of the stock each month –looking at revenue, earnings, major news announcements among other things. Those that stayed on track with their projections and showed progress eventually found their way into his portfolio.  Over the years, his portfolio grew and he ended up with an impressive one. The same lessons apply to those who want to invest in early stage startups even though public information about the company is not readily available. Choose companies that fit a sector in which you have some knowledge or connection, then setup a tracking system to see how the company does. The key difference is that the public market makes financial information readily available while the non-public markets such as startups do not. That’s where TEN Capital comes in. Through its relationship with Texas-based startups, it has access through various means to track startups and their progress. If you are interested in tracking a startup, you can sign up for TEN Capital’s Monitoring service which tracks key startups and provides information about their revenue, earnings, and other key financial information.  The first 3 companies are free for 6 months. Signing up as an investor with TEN is easy and free. Visit our Investor Page and sign up now! If you have any questions, please contact us at info@tencapital.group.

As an Angel Investor in startup companies there are many tools used to vet startups. In a previous post, we discussed five useful vetting tools: Crunchbase, LinkedIn, AngelList, Mattermark, and online background checks.  But there are numerous other helpful resources and techniques out there that can make the investment process easier and jump start your search for new opportunities – here are just five more: Gust: Gust helps angel investor groups and venture capital funds collaborate with promising startups. Over the last 12 months, 1800+ startups have been funded through Gust’s SaaS funding platform. Gust is used by hundreds of angel investor groups around the world to manage their investment process, and discuss, track, review and share deals. Betalist: This site allows investors to discover upcoming technology startups, and company founders to share their startup with the world and get early user feedback. Technology startup companies must meet preset criteria to be listed, and cannot be publicly available. VentureDeal: Slightly more advanced than Crunchbase, VentureDeal is a paid platform that is updated daily, and includes companies from over 40 industries spanning general technology as well as the life sciences. VentureDeal allows investors to get in-depth information on startups, browse companies seeking additional funding, and manage email communication for core company people while making the connection easy. Their service is a 25$ per month and you can cancel at any time. Quora: Quora, the question and answer site, has a large community of investors and startup founders as frequent viewers and contributors.  Quora is a great place to get advice on investing, be it recommendations on what expect from a first meeting, or how to perform due diligence on a prospective investment. Quora is free, and requires that all its members register under their real names. Network referrals: No matter the industry, personal relationships are still one of the most important factors in connecting potential investors with startup companies.  To take advantage of and build your network, start with an analysis of your current circle—everyone including friends, family, acquaintances, co workers, your former college or high school classmates, etc.—and look at the potential network value these connections might have. Build up your social media profiles through consistent, quality content and profiles. Get out in the world and meet new people, be it at conferences, speaking events, and community mixers.  Be personable, friendly, and easy to talk to, and when the opportunity to help someone or return a favor presents itself, do it – because you never know from where that next big opportunity will come. Regardless of whether you are looking to invest or trying to fund your startup, don’t hesitate to broaden your scope by exploring every resource you can to make your plans a reality. TEN Capital Network Investor Program provides angel investors, vc funds, family offices, and more, with an easy way to invest in Texas-based startups and early-stage companies. Through our online funding portals, one-on-one funding events, and data analytics services we help take the guess-work out of finding investment opportunities to diversify and expand your investment portfolio. Signing up as an investor with TEN is easy and free. Visit our Investor Page and sign up now! If you have any questions, please contact us at info@tencapital.group.

In the past, angel investors wrote $50K to $100K checks in the deals that looked promising.  If the deal went well, they would write another $50K or $100K check to add on to their investment.  In today’s world there are so many deals, it’s hard to invest that much into each deal unless you know it’s going somewhere. For your next startup investment, consider making an initial investment based on the following:        $2500/deal for a seed company        $5000/deal for a growth company        $10000/deal for an expansion company This allows you to invest in more deals.  As the investment proves itself you can increase your investment.  Online funding portals make this easy to do. TEN Capital Network Investor Program provides angel investors, vc funds, family offices, and more, with an easy way to invest in Texas-based startups and early-stage companies. Through our online funding portals, one-on-one funding events, and data analytics services we help take the guess-work out of finding investment opportunities to diversify and expand your investment portfolio. Signing up as an investor with TEN is easy and free. Visit our Investor Page and sign up now! If you have any questions, please contact us at info@tencapital.group.

As fundraising moves online so the investor will find these five tools useful for vetting startups. Early stage startups don’t typically have a great deal of history so the focus is primarily on the team. 1. Crunchbase Data analytics resource on companies and investors with a focus on funding history.  You can see if the startup has raised funding already and who is on the team. 2. LinkedIn Check out the team and their work history.  See who on their team is connected to someone in your network so you can can get references from those you know. 3. AngelList Fundraising resource for many startups.  You can find out about their online fundraising activity including any sponsors, investors, and syndicates.   4. Mattermark Fundraising resource for many startups.  You can find out about their online fundraising activity including any sponsors, investors, and syndicates.   5. Online Background Check Use online tools to run background checks on the team.  Here are some examples, US Search, Sentrylink TEN Capital Network Investor Program provides angel investors, vc funds, family offices, and more, with an easy way to invest in Texas-based startups and early-stage companies. Through our online funding portals, one-on-one funding events, and data analytics services we help take the guess-work out of finding investment opportunities to diversify and expand your investment portfolio. Signing up as an investor with TEN is easy and free. Visit our Investor Page and sign up now! If you have any questions, please contact us at info@tencapital.group.