Chapter 7: Funding and Angels

 I had the pleasant opportunity to meet John Dimmer in one of my entrepreneurship classes. He is an Angel Investor located in Washington State, and loves to give talks on funding your business start-ups.

He helped walk the class through the process of funding your business. The biggest surprise to me is when he said he wants owners to have skin in the game.

What does that mean?

Well, as an Angel Investor like John, he wants to know that the founder (you) is dedicated to this business and willing to put forth your own capital before asking for investors to put in money first. 

And he isnt wrong.

The first funding that business professors will tell you, comes from your wallet. Thats right, you start the funding. After that, funding can find its way into your business through various sources. As John pointed out in his speech, funding can come from friends and family, crowdsourcing (like KickStarter says my Professor), loans, and Angel Investors to start. Thats what John Dimmer is, an Angel Investor that can provide capital for some sort of return. What was even more interesting was how he described angels:

"Angels are private Accredited Investors who seek to make investments in young companies"

Thats actually exactly what he said. Angels are a new concept to me as I start up my business. I had heard of loans, personal funding, and if you're lucky, donations. But an Angel Investor? Entirely new concept. But it makes you wonder why not choose a regular Investor over an Angel Investor?

According to John, most Angel Investors are retired business men, or those that find joy in helping grow young companies. That means they are willing to take risk, more risk than regular investors. This is a great opportunity for brand new companies with not a lot of history and background in business. But as John Dimmer said, he wants to know if you have skin in the game, AKA dedicated to this business start-up.

So if you are starting a business, start looking at funding options. Besides Angels, crowdsourcing is also a fantastic way to gather funds for your business. But if you want to take the chance, find yourself an Angel and give them the best pitch you can.

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