Angel Investment Discussion Group

Have you ever whiled away an afternoon avoiding your daily office tasks, pondering the meaning of life, and daydreaming of all of the things that you’d rather be doing than sitting at that desk...

In this loan-shy banking era, Angel finance is one of the most frequently used methods of financing a new business, and more and more small business owners are taking advantage of this lucrative opportunity.So what is ‘Angel finance’...

So, congratulations: you've earned a meeting with a private investor...

We all know what it’s like to work 20-hour days when launching an entrepreneurial effort or running a business. There’s always one more project to complete, one more task to cross off of the ‘to do’ list, or one more idea on how to impress the small business investors that we’ll meet...

Angel investors are very sensitive to the predictions of recovery in the market, because every false claim or ‘green shoots of recovery’ debacle knocks consumer confidence back further, delaying the chance of a true recovery that will benefit everyone...

Young entrepreneurs looking for tips on how to succeed in the corporate world probably could have happily avoided the embarrassment and masochism of watching this year’s The Apprentice (I, of course, was doing so only for research purposes.) If you are a regular viewer of this annual circus show,...

In the past, stories of young entrepreneurs would make headlines simply because it was so unusual to see school leavers go into business for themselves rather than joining an already established company...

Angel investors are canny individuals who know that there is money to be made by helping inventors and small business entrepreneurs get their commercial enterprises off the ground...

One of the most critical decisions you’ll make when starting up a new business is what to name it. While it might seem a rather unimportant or simple thing, in reality it is loaded with importance and can have major ramifications for the success – or lack thereof – of your venture...

Is your office laying off workers? Are jobs being outsourced to other countries for the sake of the bottom line? Are branches of your company shutting down? Is your store going out of business...

With the launch of the new Star Trek movie, you have to reflect on our unwavering respect for those who break new ground, push boundaries and boldly go where no “one” has gone before...

One of the most difficult aspects of opening the doors to a new business – aside from the marketing, developing your product or service, interviewing employees, small business funding, and ensuring that business regulations are being met and followed – is finding a good accountant...

Does anyone remember the global panic surrounding the “deadly” avian flu pandemic threat of 2005 when the media reported the potential of tens of millions of human deaths...

We all know that the economy looks rather gloomy these days and, just to raise our spirits a little, the BBC recently reported that the economy isn't expected to recover fully until 2012...

If this blog entry were to be jam-packed with terms such as ‘golden parachute’, ‘out of the box’ and ‘low-hanging fruit’, you would probably write it off as a load of old waffle—and no one would blame you...

Unemployment is on the rise, corporate recruitment is plummeting and new graduates are facing tough decisions when it comes to finding employment after university...

All too frequently, entrepreneurs believe that the more involved and complex an idea is, the better it is likely to be—but, often, the opposite is true. Some of the most successful concepts of all time have been incredibly simple...

Anyone who's ever started their own business—and succeeded—knows just how important a good business plan can be. A good business plan is a road map to the life cycle of your venture: from joyous conception, to successful maturity and the ultimate exit strategy...

Lord Tennyson had it right when he wrote: “'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.“ In this context, we can paraphrase: “It’s better to have tried and failed than to have never tried at all.” (Actually, it’s better to have tried and succeeded—but this piece...

So you're considering registering for a SpeedFunding Event, you've read our quick introduction to SpeedFunding but you want a quick taste of what the events are like? Well here's a very brief video introduction of what you could expect:And if you wanted to know when the next events are - click here...

Don’t get me wrong: I’m no feminist… I’m very much a man’s man—a bloke hailing from north of the border, for goodness’ sake — but I don’t think that you need to have two X chromosomes to see that the issue of pay-packet inequality is completely ridiculous...

Search engine optimisation (SEO) has become an obsession for businesses across the globe and throughout cyberspace—but do the spectacular claims made by its advocates stand up to analysis?Since its very beginnings in the mid-1990s, SEO ‘experts’ (notice that I put this in quotation marks …...

Our very own Bill Morrow gave a great interview with StartupLucky talking about his background, how he came to co-start Angels Den, how it works, how we work with Angels and Entrepreneurs across the world, the problems that entrepreneurs face when getting angel investment and why passion works...

Before I begin this article I want you to appreciate that this is not a frivolous piece pandering to a male perspective but a serious report on a very emotional subject (for some people some of the time anyway).....

We Brits are a funny lot. Unlike other nationalities, we seem to endure a regular inner struggle with the concept of entrepreneurial spirit...

The thrill of discovering buried treasure is just a long forgotten childhood dream for most of us - think of Indiana Jones...

Just a quick snippet of a blog post that we feel is highly relevant at the moment, especially following on from our recent "Do You Twitter" post.It is something that we all swear by......but too many of us swear at.It is something that we all recognise……but too many of us fail to understand.It...

It’s the reason why many a business idea never sees the light of day, its tendrils of deceit can hold your business idea back from true greatness and it has the ability to kill your confidence in your business idea dead if you allow it to.All too many new business owners allow fear of failure to...

The biggest entrepreneur-killers out there are the dual-terror tag-team of apathy and procrastination. Your idea may be the next big thing, but if nobody gets to hear about it then the idea might as well have never been dreamed up...

If you've raised funding or are confident of your ability to impress Angels then please register and enter your online Summary and Business Plan and come to our next SpeedFunding event...

It’s official; we’re in the midst of a small business funding crisis in this country...

If you’re going to be a successful entrepreneur then you have to have a millionaire mindset to survive the rollercoaster ride of developing a profitable business, building it into a going concern and making your first million through it.So many businesses fail in their first year...

I’m sure I’m not the only person out there who cannot quite believe the meteoric rise of Twitter and the way it has been seamlessly accepted by society and business...

Passion is what drives us forward. It’s what gets us out of bed in the morning and into the office because we demand success, we are satisfied with nothing less and we will face every day with renewed vigour to achieve it...

Your next chance to pitch to Angels and get your business funded fast is on Wednesday 30th March at Adam Street in London.We've been refining this process over the last year and believe it's the most successful way to reach Angels - we have a phenomenally high success rate at these events...

The business finance sector has changed beyond all recognition in recent years. Before the introduction of private investor funding, the options available to most small businesses would have been to follow the traditional beg, borrow or steal routes...

I admit it, I’m guilty of being a little overly focussed on my work – which of course is code for spending every waking moment totally immersed in the world of entrepreneurs, business angels, the media, small business advisors, et al...

Business angels are influenced by a plethora of logical and emotional reasoning when they make the decision to invest in a new venture...

Some 350 years after it was first used as a method of payment, the humble cheque may well be on the way out. Statistics from payments association Apacs reveal that we are using fewer and fewer cheques to pay for things, favouring alternative “simpler” transaction mediums...

If you are looking for private investor funding and you want to be taken seriously then what you wear can make all the difference between achieving your financial goals and leaving with nothing but a distinct feeling that you could have done better.First impressions count in business as in life,...

Investing in the success of small businesses is no longer an activity dominated by faceless corporations and venture capital firms...

Could your digits hold the key to your educational, social and financial success?It may seem a little strange, but a subject of much debate over the last few years is the correlation between the relative lengths of your fingers and a propensity towards certain characteristics or skills...

Yes, we know it's February and it's been a bit cold, but now's the time to emerge and be pro-active about getting your business funded.Thanks to some additional sponsorship we're now able to offer a limited number of places at our forthcoming interactive seminar on 25th Feb for just £50 plus...