Angel Investors: What Founders Should Know About Raising from Angels

Over the last 2 shows we’ve covered the basics of fundraising for pre-seed and seed founders, but also Series A to Pre-IPO companies as well. In those episodes we cover a whole host of things, including the basics of equity and debt, the value of bootstrapping, why venture capital isn’t for all businesses, and how fundraising changes along the pathway.

We also briefly touched on angel investors, and today we’re going to follow-up on that and explore in more depth the role of angel investors in the Malaysian startup ecosystem with Bikesh Lakhmichand, CEO and Founding Partner at 1337 Ventures, a Venture Capital firm focused on pre-seed and seed-stage startups, and Peter Wee, President of The Malaysian Business Angel Network (MBAN) and mentor at NEXEA, an early Startup Accelerator, Angel Network and Venture Capital firm. 

We'll begin by discussing what angel investors are and their critical role in nurturing early-stage startups, as well as the current state of the landscape here in Malaysia. Then we’ll dive into when startups should seek out angel investors and how to connect with them, learn more about what angel investors typically look for in a founder, idea, or business before deciding to invest, and explore the relationship dynamics between an angel investor and a founder. To wrap up, we’ll get into common deal structures of these deals, discuss common mistakes, and of course best practices for raising funds from angels.