Equity Crowdfunding

5 ways top angel investors improve their deal flow

5 ways top angel investors improve their deal flow

Sep 11, 2014 | , ,

For a startup investor, getting good deal flow is paramount for success. Even if your investment process is solid, your risk management is sound, and your luck is (really, really) good, without good deal flow, well, you’re not going to end up a very successful investor. Why? Your investment results will depend on the quality of the opportunities you have — the better the opportunities, the better the expected results. In fact, one could argue that the art and science of early-stage investing lies solely in a person’s ability to develop their own sources of deal flow. Mark Suster writes about why he doesn’t like meeting with bankers who are pushing deals: The process of raising capital IS part of running a business. It’s where you get to test your ideas in the marketplace of people who see many similar ideas. It’s where you meet people who have broad networks and even if they don’t invest in you may prove very helpful in your future. It’s part of a process where you learn which investors YOU like so you can decide with whom...

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This Week In Crowdfunding: Crowdfunding Entrepreneurship

This Week In Crowdfunding: Crowdfunding Entrepreneurship

Sep 7, 2014 | , ,

This Week in Crowdfunding is a newly launched podcast series hosted by OurCrowd’s Zack Miller and David Stark, where they cover the best in Crowdfunding with a frank — and educational — discussion about the issues surrounding Crowdfunding. Every week, they interview successful entrepreneurs, deconstruct campaigns, and hear from the smartest people around on this transformative, massive financing trend. Sign up to listen to the podcast on iTunes * Sticher * SoundCloud!  ——————————————— As crowdfunding gathers more momentum, crowdfunding activities are becoming more mainstream. This week’s guest on the program, Hillel Fuld, is a technology evangelist and the Chief Marketing Officer of Zula. On the podcast, hosts David Stark and Zack Miller talk to Hillel about his experiences meeting with thousands of technology teams and what qualities and behaviors can make a crowdfunding project successful vs. a failure. Starkup Nation and Zack Attack discuss recently delivered crowdfunded products and the record-breaking Coolest Cooler campaign (I want one!) which just topped $13 million on Kickstarter. Lastly, Stark and Miller share the good news that a company they crowdfunded is readying an IPO — a first for the crowdfunding industry. Listen to the FULL episode Resources mentioned in the podcast...

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5 Mistakes Rookie Angel Investors Make

5 Mistakes Rookie Angel Investors Make

Aug 28, 2014 | , , ,

Startups are exciting again. Reeling from the 2007-2008 financial crisis, investors seemed to sour on illiquid investments. Too many financially-engineered investments in derivatives and wacky mortgage products made investors feel that the game was fixed. But that’s all changed as America’s economic engine — small technology-driven companies — is revving up. Companies with big visions and ambitious growth goals are getting snapped up, merged and acquired, and IPO’d, making their early investors celebrities… and extremely wealthy. Events like Facebook’s multi-billion dollar IPO in 2012 and its subsequent purchase of Whatsapp for $12 billion in 2014 have attracted new investors seeking their fortunes in angel investing. New investors, new mistakes Many of the same rules of the game apply to angel investing, as they do to investing in the stock market. But given the fact that most startups are private, small, and closely-held companies, investors new to the asset class are finding that there is a learning curve to scale before they’re able to reap the historical returns which average close to 30% per year, according to a Kauffman study. While we have...

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What we’re investing in: Current investment opportunities on OurCrowd (August 2014)

What we’re investing in: Current investment opportunities on OurCrowd (August 2014)

Aug 28, 2014 | , , ,

Welcome to another edition of “What We’re Investing In.” Each month, we bring you a short summary of all of our currently funding companies to give you a glimpse into all of the activity and excitement happening on OurCrowd’s platform. While most of the world was busy with summer vacation, OurCrowd — together with our network of over  5,000 investors — continues to invest in some of the top startup companies in the world today. Stay up to date and access all of the latest investment opportunities on OurCrowd’s platform by registering here to become a member of the OurCrowd community. Milla Milla is a software platform that connects Internet enabled smart systems. The Internet of Things (IoT) is a current technological revolution, aiming to connect systems and devices to the Internet, increasing functionality and automation. According to a recent study at IDC, there are already over 10 billion systems that have already been connected to the Internet and that number is set to skyrocket in years to come. Milla’s platform allows users to build what they refer to...

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Full Steam Ahead: Mid-2014 Israeli Mergers, Acquisitions and IPOs [Infographic]

Full Steam Ahead: Mid-2014 Israeli Mergers, Acquisitions and IPOs [Infographic]

Jul 31, 2014 | , ,

The Israeli startup ecosystem is chugging along full steam ahead, on pace to make 2014 a record breaking year. So far, 37 Israeli companies have either floated on public exchanges worldwide or have been acquired by large multinational corporations. In addition to the successful exits, 335 Israeli high-tech companies attracted $1.6 billion in venture capital funding, an 81% increase from 2013. Here is another OurCrowd infographic breaking down the first half of 2014 in numbers....

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