Definitions change. And culture changes. Which means that communities have to deal with those changing dynamics. But sometimes, those changes mean that folks lose the thread. And lose track of the reasoning behind why definitions and roles exist.
So courting early stage Limited Partners might not be what it once was. Which is why 1859 Ventures founder Josh Carter was motivated to provide some insight on what he was experiencing as an early stage fund manager with his open letter to Angel investors.
When I put this fund together I knew that we would lose on 8 out of the 10 deals we would fund. That by putting this money to work it would help founders, but that the money is just a small part of the help the founders need. Founders need more than just a check. At this stage founders need people who can unlock a network they didn’t have before. They need help closing a sale, learning how to build a cohort in Adwords, learning how to tell their story in a compelling way, learning how to build their first financial model, and much much more.
What they do not need are people who walk around saying they invest in early stage startups, but really do not. They do not need to take another meeting that will simply waste their time. They do not need someone who worked as a high level executive and want to make investing in startups a fun topic to talk about at the country club. We have enough bad actors in our ecosystem. We do not need more.
For more, read “An Open Letter to Angel Investors.”
