I'd rather raise $50 million than $1 million

Gez, this angel financing thing is grueling. Not that this is a surprise, since I've been raising capital for nearly 25 years. But, it's not always been from small investors. And, I'm not really complaining. I am blogging...not complaining.

It is true though. Raising $50 million from institutional investors is easier than raising $1 million from small private investors. Why? Funds are required to invest and need to talk to guys like me. Angel investors don't. Having said that, the informal angel marketplace is huge and plays a big role in our economy. By the way, our economy is run by small business.

They're just hard to find and generally not in a hurry to write a check. But they do write checks and it is a numbers game.

Howard Shultz, the Chairman of Starbucks, said that he presented to over 278 angel investors when he was starting out. 217 said no. So, on one of my projects, I've only presented to 75, then the Holiday's got in the way and slowed that down. I figure I have 142 more to go before I'm done! If I do 5 a week it will only take me 28.4 weeks, or slightly more than 1/2 a year. No worries. If it's that good of an idea, that market will wait, right?

So, here's a big thank you to America's small investors that accept risk and believe in the possible. No risk, no reward right? So give back and fund an entrepreneur today. It's just money. After all, money is a renewable resource... time and opportunity aren't. One a day is all I ask!