Do the Oldest Trick in the Book... Praise the Angel!!
Who does not love a genuine praise?
Everyone loves it!
In today's Zamana of Linkedin Likes and Posts, praise is much appreciated by all. Imagine even Shark Tank India, sharks like Anupam Mittal despite a crazy schedule has time to post on Linkedin on a Synopsis of Startups that pitched to him, at the end of the day, every day on Linkedin!! And he engages with audience here. So here is the trick.
1. Target the Angels - Target 50-100-150 Angels. More the merrier. Ignore the big Angels in the below pic. I mean target them but don't expect them to reply as they get 100s of pitches (if u approach them do so with reference).
2. Genuine Angels - Check from Linkedin posts etc. is this Angel still active or just naming Angel in headline to attract connections. I saw a dumb guy today with Headline only "Venture Capitalist". Turns out he owns a Manufacturing business. I don't even know how such folks benefit from misleading titles.
3. Target the Angels as per your Startup Sector - Target a raise of 25-50L-1Cr max from a Single Angel. Many angels are there which are ready to give 2-5 Lac cheques. A Big Name Angel used to give cheques of just 5L but it was fine because it was his name that mattered.
4. Target all Angel Networks - These are the ones we work with (Total approx 2500 angels across all networks)
- Ah Ventures (Most recommended) (Founder Abhijeet Kumar )
- Mumbai Angels
- Indian Angel Network
- Chandigarh Angels
- Marwari Catalysts
- JITO Angels
Also Micro VCs.. e.g. Eximius Ventures especially if you are a Gaming Startup
5. Send them a small msg in connection request (genuine) praising them on some recent thing they did (which u know via Linkedin post). then write a longer message once they accept the connection request, brief about your startup, say u just want to have a conversation not fund raise. at least get their mail ID
6. Send them email every month about your startup on the 1st of every month, for the next 6 months. Hence I am asking only 1 day time of the month from you on the Angel Raise.
7. Then in month 7, send them a mail with your funding ask. Good Angels are as good or better than VC at metrics hence research and prepare every metric like CAC, LTV, Gross Margins, 3-5 year forecast, 3-5 year exit multiplier (based on revenue-valuation multiplier of similar startups)
Happy Angel Raising!!
What has worked for you for Angel/ Seed Fund Raise? Please comment, repost and let us collectively learn!
More blogs to follow: