In this video Evan Carmichael answers a viewer’s question about how to meet an angel investor. He explains that most angels keep a low profile, avoiding public directories to prevent being flooded with pitches. He outlines four main avenues for finding angels: (1) targeting “DDIs” – doctors and dentists with disposable income, who often invest as a side activity; (2) leveraging professional connectors such as accountants, lawyers, and financial advisors who have relationships with angel investors; (3) approaching angel groups that host periodic pitch nights, though these events are infrequent and represent a smaller share of deals; and (4) using crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter to raise capital without giving up equity. He concludes with a key piece of advice: seek “smart money” – angels who bring strategic value, industry knowledge, and connections, rather than just cash, to ensure a supportive partnership.
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How to meet an angel investor. So I got a great question from one of my readers on— sorry, one of my viewers on YouTube. Love you guys. Christine wrote in to say, "Hi Evan, I'd like to know how to meet an angel investor. I'm just about ready to get things moving but will need help financially. Thanks." So this is a great question, and I know a lot of entrepreneurs are trying to get money to launch your business. Angel investors could be a good way to go. How do you find one? So I have an entire Zuga guide on this, how to find the angel angel, how to pitch them, everything that they look for, why they're going to crunch down your deal, how to maximize your chances of success with them. So you can check that out if you're really considering going down this path. I'd highly encourage you, you look at that Zuga guide we have. But how to meet an angel, to answer the question, the first thing you have to understand is most angels, they're not too vocal about their angel investing, okay? Most angels don't go around and say, hey, I'm an angel investor. Because they're going to get bombarded with pitches, right? Most of them don't have websites, there's no directory, because they don't want to get hit with too many pitches for their company. So they work through informal networks, they work through their friends. The main reason is a lot of these guys, they're not professional angel investors. They're part-time. There's a term in the industry called DDI, which is doctors or dentists with disposable income. So that's your first group. A lot of the angel investors are just wealthy professionals. They have a full-time job and they're looking to make investments investments in the companies as something to do on the side. So doctors and dentists are a great starting point. My dentist likes to tell me that he doesn't have a lot of excitement in his life. He's got the same job coming in day in, day out, and he likes to live vicariously through his investments. So that's his chance to show off to his friends and have a little bit of excitement because he doesn't get much of it in his own life. So It's something that you can look at. Start talking to your dentist, start talking to your doctor. Even if they won't invest, they probably know other people who might. So that's your first group-in. The second way is look for professionals who can connect you. So a lot of the angel deals are sourced through accountants, through lawyers, because they are connected to the angel investors, right? Financial advisors is another group. So if you let these people know what you're up to, right? Who's your financial advisor? Who is your lawyer? Who is your accountant? Or find people in your network who are any of those positions and let them know what you're looking for, because chances are they have a client who is an angel investor. Now they have to believe in what you're doing, they have to think it's a good fit for the client. They're not just going to introduce you to their client because It's gotta make everybody look good, right? But it is a value-add service, right? If, if your lawyer is bringing you deals, then you like that lawyer a lot more. So they'll be happy to introduce you, and it helps them look good, but your deal has to make sense for them. So start talking to lawyers and accountants and financial advisors, and think about who is in your network who might have that position, because they could be great facilitators for you. Those are going to be your two best sources. Your DDIs, doctors and dentists with disposable income, and then your connectors: financial planners, financial advisors, accountants, lawyers. A third smaller group are going to be angel groups, and this is what a lot of people try to get into, but it's not where most of the deals happen. And this is where angel investors, they form a group in a city, and there may be 20 of them or 40 of them or whatever it is, and they have pitch nights where entrepreneurs come in and they make their pitch and the investors see, is this right for me or not? And they make a decision. And usually those are done on a regular basis. It might be a quarterly pitch night over dinner or whatever it is. You come in and pitch, you get to meet the teams of angels, and hopefully you land a deal out of that. But there aren't too many angel groups, and those events don't happen too often. And so if that's all you're relying on as your strategy, it's gonna be really hard to get that going. So you're gonna have a lot better luck with your DDIs and your connectors. One last option that you might want to look at is crowdsourcing. So look at websites like Kickstarter.com where you're not even giving up equity in your business, but you're giving— you're basically pre-selling whatever product or service you have, and it's a great way to raise startup capital without giving up any, any part of your company, but still also create tons of awareness in your business. One last thought about angels since we're on the topic, because this is really important. Don't just take money for money, okay? You want somebody who can offer real value to your business. You're looking for a strategic partner. So, you know, if you're bringing on that dentist, make sure he or she has a passion for your business and might be able to make some connections into helping your company and it's not just giving money. Because if they don't understand your business and they don't have a passion for it, A, they can't offer you any help, but B, if something gets hard, they're gonna start giving you a hard time, right? They want to see a return, and if they don't understand your business and they're not helping out, they're gonna give you a lot more pressure. So try to get somebody who's smart money, who can be a partner for you and not just give you dollars. Believe. That's my advice. I have a lot more to say on the topic, but So that's answering the question. I know we have limited time, so let me know what you think. Leave a comment below if you've gone for angel investing, if you're going for it now, if you have questions, leave it below, make a video response. And you guys like this video, thumbs up below, click on my face, subscribe to the channel. Thank you so much. I'll see you soon.
