Facebook, LinkedIn and Wodpress

I seem never to find the time to get SweatInvestor’s infrastructure pulled together. The good news is both Facebook and LinkedIn seem to be progressing quickly as platforms that might provide the bulk of that infrastructure. I’m still toying with what needs to be in version 1.0, knowing that the more features I envision the longer things take to come together. I’m about to land, so more on this topic later.

 

Welcome 2009 et al

In bound from HNL to SFO I choose to start out the new year with the simple cheer, “Welcome 2009 et al!”

May we all profit by investing our sweat when we encounter either opportunity or challenge on the road ahead…

wrr

 

Watercooler-inc Launches TVLoop.com

I joined Watercooler-inc after initially investing my sweat.  We just launched our new site that takes content from our network of over 700 applications that live within the 5 major social networks (e.g., Facebook, Myspace, etc) and makes its available anywhere at TVLoop.com or via widgets like the one below.

Get This Quote – Find more at TVLoop

If you are a TV fan, please check it out and let me know what you think!

WRR

 

Great PodCast on Angel Investing w/ Ron Conway

Described and linked to below is a great podcast on the topic of Angel investing.

Listening closely you get a great feeling for the process and numbers game of professional angel investing, Ron Conway style. He gives stats on deal flow, success rates, etc. In particular, he describes why the angel model is definitely a “hits business.”

As I work to further refine the description, approach and implementation of SweatInvestor.com, this podcast gave a lot of interesting concepts and dynamics to consider. Overall, SweatInvestor.com is positioned to be complimentary.

URL: http://edcorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=1902

Description: experienced angel investors, Ron Conway, Founder of Angel Investors LP, and Mike Maples, Founder of Maples Investments, provide a rare look into the ins and outs of angel investing. Conway and Maples discuss how angel investors assess opportunities, provide assistance to entrepreneurs and transition start-ups to larger venture investments or exit. In addition, Conway and Maples provide advice to entrepreneurs about finding one’s passion and developing that passion into new ventures, including insight into how much money to raise and how to manage that money after it is in the bank.

 

The Win-Win-Win

SweatInvestor(TM) aims to selectively network a group of domain experts who possess unique combinations of domain expertise, credibility and network to benefit each other’s current and/or future endeavors, specifically targeting those endeavors with an upside potential.

A core underlining concept is that each intro only works if its a WIN / WIN / WIN. What this means, is that introductions are made only if its clear that all 3 parties (the two parties being introduced and the party giving the introduction) eventually benefit from the intro.

If one person gains nothing, and their time is wasted, it obviously was not a WIN / WIN / WIN. In deciding if one should make an introduction, exploring the, “how can I make this a WIN / WIN / WIN?” is essential. If there is no way, the introduction should not be made. At best, the discussion should turn to, “here are the things you need to first accomplish or sort out before I can make the introduction, otherwise, its not a WIN / WIN / WIN which benefits no one.

Although its not possible to have all directly benefit in the short term, each has to get a value out of the potential meeting, even if thats just to build out their SweatInvestor(TM) network or scorecard (success cases) or to set up a relationship where SweatInvestment will be passed back sometime in the future if needed.

The intros can be of various formats, which include a request for a 30 minute phone call or an in-person discussion over breakfast, lunch or dinner where high level domain specific topics are discussed. In this example, about 1/3 of the time is used for a quick overview of background, then 1/3 in Q&A and then 1/3 in high level strategic expert feedback.

Proper management of time and adhering to the “program” or “format” that each SweatInvestor offers is key. People that abuse the format (e.g., try to get more than 30 minutes out of a 30 minute call) will most likely have a door closed in the future rather than open for more help and further referrals.  Once we have the rating system implemented, this will be designed into it.

There are many more elements of the WIN / WIN / WIN and also ways to maximize it in practice. I may update this post or create new ones in the future.  At this time I’m just exploring a few ideas and getting into the habit of blogging.

If you have any suggestions, comments, additional points to make, etc please comment or send an email to contact@sweatinvestor.com and I’ll respond. Thanks – W

 

Setting Valuation for Seed Round – Great post linked…

From the Venture Hacks blog comes a great post on setting valuations for seed rounds. It also includes a great parting video which becomes oddly relevant in the final frames of the very entertaining video.

I’ve linked to this article because this is the type of question I’ve heard many times while SweatInvesting.

WRR

P.s., there are some good comments worth checking into, including a link to the Kauffman Foundation on related valuation topics.

 

The J-Curve

We’ll be posting about the J-Curve and how SweatInvestors can reduce their risk by creating a portfolio of SweatInvestments, just like Venture Funds do. This will include how to screen potential SweatInvestments, as well as finding ways to reduce the amount of time/energy/focus per SweatInvestment while maximizing the value each SweatInvestment recieves.

 

An important topic: Term Sheets

An important topic that will be covered extensively by SweatInvestor is Terms Sheets. Its been said a deal is not in play until at least a term sheet has been placed on the table.

So, say its your first time and a term sheet is put on the table, yes! a deal is in play, but…now what, what next, what should I focus on?

Below is a blog post that goes into answering that question. I’ve sped read it and will return to it….so I don’t have any thoughts on it just yet.

4 Things to Do After You Get Your First Term Sheet

One goal of SweatInvestor is not just to create great original content on the subject of SweatInvesting, but to also link out to existing and future material on the subject. On that note, please feel free to post links to related content and I’ll try to add it. If you wish to be a SweatInvestor guest author, please make a comment saying so and I’ll follow up.

We are on our second day, second post…lots to do.

 

And then there was risk…

I listened to a great podcast the other day produced by VentureVoice with Tom Perkins of Kleiner Perkins. I highly recommend it to any current or future SweatInvestor. Future posts will quote from it especially on the topic of the period before certain risks are mitigated from an endeavor and what KP did to help opportunities through it and why.

It is this period that creates the opportunity, not just for venture capitalists, but also for SweatInvestors.