Introduction

I am currently working with several smart, young entrepreneurs who are trying to raise capital from “angels” (i.e., wealthy individuals who invest in start-up companies).  Indeed, since I moved to Los Angeles from New York City in 2005,  I have been involved in a number of angel financings; and what’s interesting from my perspective as a corporate attorney is that the deals run the gamut from an angel handing a check to an entrepreneur and instructing him to “send the paperwork when it’s ready” — to an angel retaining a large, aggressive law firm and insisting on shares of preferred stock, with all the “bells and whistles.”  Below are five tips for entrepreneurs to help them through the angel financing process.  (This is part one of a two-part series; I will provide five additional tips in my next post.) (more…)