About Angelsoft

Olefoo,

I see that you are located on the West Coast. Not charging to apply is the prevailing sentiment there. The East Coast does not share that same view. Many serious Angle groups charge a fee as a bozo filter. $250 isn't going to break the bank for a serious entrepreneur, but it will make a less-serious one think twice. You are right, in the ideal world the entreprenuer is doing the investor a favor. The fact of the matter is, that most of the deal flow that comes through is not quality. Check out the stats here: http://angelsoft.net/industry Only 24% of deals are even making it to the screening process. If groups did not charge a a fee, that % would plummet.

Scott,

Angelsoft is not a matching service, it is a software solution that investment groups use to manage their deal flow. The Group Finder is just a list of groups that use the Angelsoft platform, and therefore accept the common Angelsoft application.

I had a look at this just now. The concept is good but two thoughts came up for me when I clicked through to a list of potential fundig groups.

1. Any 'angel funding group' that asks for money for an application is to be avoided, they are the tech equivalent of a vanity press, or a literary agent that charges a reading fee.

2. In the ideal world, you, the entrepreneur; are doing the investors a favor by letting them share in the reward and the risk of your venture. In the real world you usually need that money to pay for equipment, services and salaries; don't forget to sell your investors on the dream first.

I have a friend/associate who is starting up a website using this for their angel group. He told me that he thinks its not really necessary but the other partners are completely sold on it. Sort of reminds me of the funding matchmaking services.