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With Organized Angels on Their Side, Can Start-ups Really Start Up Anywhere in the Country?

Friday, June 15, 2012
Posted By Lynn-Ann Gries

Raise your hand if you realized the Midwest has become a hotbed of angel group activity—and a well-respected resource of nationally respected investment knowledge.

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Sarah wrote: Hi Erica -- thanks for the post. JumpStart's recently focus on mentorship has been a great tool. Although I'm young in my career, I've already experienced the value of great mentors.

However, I'm currently looking to transition into a tech start-up and have no mentors in the space who's "wings" I can be taken under and learn from. How do you suggest developing relationships within a community you want to be a part of but have no real means of an introduction?

Thank you!
Bob Chalfant wrote: This discussion should be a little more inclusive to include not only skin color, but gender, immigration status, nationality, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, and especially diversity of thought to gain multiple points of view.

If everyone thinks like everyone else, there is no creativity, no entrepreneurship, no economic development.

Is anyone listening the next generation millennials? Not too much different from us Boomers. Teamwork, technology, face to face conversations, pretty much the same.

How does an organization overcome internal biases, encourage women, latinos, asians, blacks, gays? What force is required in the org to move to a culture of broad insight, true inclusiveness, and positive reinforcement?
Paul J. Corson wrote: Great piece, John. Think, analyze, communicate, and disrupt - I loved my liberal arts education.
chris whittey wrote: This is simply superb, John. Thank you so much -- I plan on sending this to my faculty.

Chris

(VPAA, Cleveland Institute of Art)
Douglas Craver wrote: Interesting post although I'd be a concerned if any founder didn't have a grasp on these concepts or have researched them on the Internet.

My position with the founders I coach and advise is Business Plans are a waste of time and only serve to provide investors a false sense of security and chances are they'll just come back to waste more of your time looking for this or that projection. Get started on what you can do to take action on your idea today. The opportunities are moving too fast to waste precious time on a business plan with 2-5 year projections that are WAGs. The Midwest is still stuck on them because writing them is big business. They also actually delay funding decisions vs. facilitating them.

The extent of a plan should be a 10-12 slide deck with some short-term financial assumptions that you can put together in one day. It is the investors responsibility to understand the sector they are investing in. If they don't the money isn't worth it because they'll become difficult partners over time lacking patience.

I see way too many founders wasting their time responding to the questions of uneducated investors and guess who they don't end up getting funding from most of the time? As with everything in a startup or early stage venture every decision and use of time (cycles or timebox) should be solely based on whether it delivers value. Business Plans don't deliver value.

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start-ups

With Organized Angels on Their Side, Can Start-ups Really Start Up Anywhere in the Country?

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