Winning Angels is a superbly organised and invaluable handbook to start-up investing. You will examine the shape of a typical deal, from chance contact at a networking group to flotation on the stock market. And all the time, you will be told to ask questions. What does my intuition tell me? Do I have experience in this area? Is there a clear product and revenue possibility? And you will learn about leaving people wanting to deal with you in the future. Very wise--that next one could be the real thing." Amazon.co.uk "An insightful and fact-filled primer on how to ferret out great opportunities." ¿ Richard Kramlich, angel in Apple Computer, and partner at Venture Capitalist firm, New Enterprise Associates
"Entrepreneurs would do well to read and reflect on the contents of the book before they seek funding." ¿ Peter Crisp, founding partner of VenRock Venture Capital
"Winning Angels is required reading by angel investors and entrepreneurs. It is the best book on the subject of angel investing." ¿ David Gladstone, Venture Capitalist, angel investor, and author of Venture Capital Handbook and Venture Capital Investor "This book will be a framework helping angels to become winning angels and helping start-up entrepreneurs understand the criteria for support from winning angels." ¿ Bert Twaalfhoven, angel in 24 deals in over 10 countries, Venture Capitalist, and founder of Europe's 500
"In its ever-bigger deals with more predictable pay-offs, the traditional venture capital industry has itself become ripe for disruption. Winning Angels provides a wonderful tutorial for how angel investors can make this happen." ¿ Clayton Christensen, Harvard Business School professor and author of The Innovator's Dilemma
"This is a book about effective execution in a chaotic environment. A must-read for both angels and entrepreneurs." ¿ Wade Myers, Harvard Baker Scholar, US Army Ranger, and founder and CEO of Interelate "Winning Angels shows how many styles and frameworks there are that work, and reinforces how this early stage investing is still hard work." ¿ Michael Rockefeller, member of the Venrock Board, and CEO of Active Media "This is the first world class book on early stage investing, I wish I'd had it years ago." ¿ Prince Heinrich von Liechtenstein, international angel investor, and co-founder of FirstFive
I am a professor teaching in a master of entrepreneurship program. This is a great book, but the reproduction quality is very much sub-par. I have several review copies and they are all the same poor quality, so I assume that is the case with all copies that exist. For example, have a look at the photo of Rob Robinson on page 240. Nearly black, no contrast. Maybe photos aren't that important, but graphics are ... look at Figure 44.1 on page 256. The callouts in the graphic are hardly legible (too dark against a dark background). For a $50 book, this is unacceptable. Looks like a cheap POD (print-on-demand) production. Five stars on quality of content. One star on quality of reproduction.
My recent experience with angel investors is that they come in all flavors - from the sophisticated networks of dedicated portfolio managers to the impetuously interested or personal friend. Winning Angels provides a framework on which we can understand risk avoidance strategies, but doesn't go far enough to help most understand the characteristics of great opportunities or more importantly, the appropriate behavior of effective angel investors. I'm hoping there is a next book that enables true angel investors (not just family and friends) to participate as investors should. Angels are a critical part of the start-up ecosystem. Anything that can help make this process more efficient will certainly be welcome. Winning Angels falls short.
The relationship between Angel, VC and Entrepreneur has been a source of popular confusion. This book clears up some key misunderstandings, such as the different roles Angels and VC's play in the financing process of startup companies. 'Winning Angels' contains a reasonable quantitative element outlining different valuation methods and deal structures, which should be accessible to any reader with a basic understanding of Corporate Finance or Discounted Cash Flow analysis. It's also made particularly credible by the inclusion of interviews with successful Angels. I was struck by the high bar set by the interviewees, and their generally shared opinion that the calibre of entrepreneur was a factor subordinate to all others. Because it's written from an Angel's perspective, the book is skewed towards investor interests. These fall out of alignment with the entrepreneur in at least one key respect: investors are motivated to maximise the return on their portfolio of investments, rather than any individual company's. It follows that Angels will have a tendency to pursue a number of high risk, high payoff vectors rather than companies with a high probability of success but less financial upside. This isn't a criticism of the book, just an observation of differing interests. In short: high quality advice for people on both sides of the table.
The VC funding market (includes angels, VCs, etc) are by its very nature the most *inefficient*. It is an asymmetrical market where information is scant and unproven in most cases. This book provides an insight on how this market functions.
I have been using the Harvard-framework (chapters 11 & 12) for my clients and over a period of time have improvised on it, making it more "executable" (it first appeared in Sahlman's paper on Business Plans quite a few years ago). Chapters 11 & 12 of this book elaborates on this framework and is a good model to follow - these two chapters is well worth the price of this book.
This book is clear, informative and well presented. I have just completed an advanced financial course on starting a business. Virtually no time was spent on the topic of angel investors.
It seems to me that this critical topic must be understood by the entrepreneur as he or she consider the funding requirements of a start up company.
Who are Angels? How to do you approach them? What type of investment return do they expect? What types of exit strategies appeal to them and in what time frame? All of these questions are clearly addressed by a cross section of experienced Angels.
This book exceeded my expectations and deserves my time to say thank you.
As an individual that prefers the entrepreneur side of investments but has worked on both sides of the relationship, I have to state that this book does a great job of packaging and summarizing so much of what is known or "felt" in the investment decision cycle. Feelings are sometimes tough to quantify but the collection of opinions in Winning Angels should stand as a form of qualification. This book is great for helping to communicate the psychology of the investor to an entrepreneur frustrated with the fund raising process.
Winning Angels is a "must read" for anyone in the VC world and a great guidebook for anyone wanting to break into the VC world. The book is clear and concise. Ideas/concepts are clearly explained with the aid of great graphs and charts. In addition, Howard and Dave have not only drawn from their expansive knowledge on the subject, but also from other experts in the field.
As an angel investor in two start-ups and currently involved in fundraising for another one, I found this book to be an outstanding partner. With a chapter devoted to each aspect of the angel investing process, it is easy to get not only the 10,000 foot view, but also specific ideas on how to do it. I could not recommend this book more highly for serious angels or for entrepreneurs trying to understand them (and perhaps get some of their money).
The only drawback is that some people might think angel investing is for everyone, be sure to read the advice to new angels if you are one.
Finally a book that spells out a methodology behind the "mysterious" process of Angel investing. This books takes the reader (whether a novice or seasoned investor) through the "7 Fundementals of Early Stage Investing" based upon the input of a great collection of successful start-up investors aptly called "Winning Angels". This book is well worth the read for anyone who wants to start, improve, or add a better methodology to their early stage investing. This book is a real "winner" itself !! Well done, David Amis and Howard Stevenson, I look forward to your next collaberation.
Product Details :
Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: FT Press; 1 edition (March 15, 2001)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0273649167
ISBN-13: 978-0273649168
Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 1 x 9.5 inches
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