{"id":41949,"date":"2023-10-20T15:17:38","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:17:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/the-worst-question-this-angel-investor-gets-asked-by-startup-founders-startupsmart-2\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:17:38","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:17:38","slug":"the-worst-question-this-angel-investor-gets-asked-by-startup-founders-startupsmart-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/the-worst-question-this-angel-investor-gets-asked-by-startup-founders-startupsmart-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The worst question this angel investor gets asked by startup founders – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/div>\n

There\u2019s one question that AngelCube co-founder Adrian Stone hates getting asked more than any other.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Stone says it\u2019s also one of the most common questions posed by startup founders.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And it\u2019s a simple one: \u201cHow do I raise money?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one of the worst questions because I don\u2019t really know,\u201d Stone tells StartupSmart.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Instead, Stone says founders should be asking questions related specifically to their actual ventures.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the biggest problem I have in growing my business right now, how do you think I should approach it or what do you think I should be thinking about?\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cIs this business the right one for me or should I be looking at something else?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Open office hours<\/strong><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

Stone is holding free 20 minute meetings at Inspire 9 every Wednesday with spots open from March.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Having invested in more than 40 startups in Australia and the US, he says raising capital here is incredibly difficult.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI very rarely see the same investors investing in more than one, two or three startups,\u201d Stone says.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

With the purpose of paying it forward and giving back to the community, Stone\u2019s main goal with meeting founders at Inspire 9 is to help startups, offer advice and connect them with mentors.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Stone is also the chairman of Investors Organisation, which aims to excite high net worth individuals about investing in Australian startups.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important that we give startups an opportunity to talk about who they are and what problems they have,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

What happens at an open office hours meeting?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

 <\/strong><\/p>\n

While there\u2019s no set template, Stone says founders can get the most out of the 20 minutes if they figure out beforehand what they want.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In fact, he opens by asking what their main objective is in coming to the meeting.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cFunnily enough, often people haven\u2019t thought about it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But just don\u2019t ask for money.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Stone says the idea of open office hours is to connect founders with an angel investor or other entrepreneurs who can offer advice.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t go in to pitch,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The best time pitch to an angel investor is when you have a warm introduction after they\u2019ve seen your deck and have expressed interest in your space, Stone says.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThe funny thing is when you ask for advice sometimes you actually get money,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Founders can also take in a business model canvas to discuss at the meeting.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThere are plenty of online tools to help you create one and it\u2019s a really good thing to create for yourself,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When speaking to mentors and receiving advice, Stone encourages startups to be open to new ideas and conversations.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cListen to what they have to say, go away and think about it, then either accept or reject the advice,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But Stone says founders shouldn\u2019t necessarily take on everything he says.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI can only help you think through some of the answers,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cBut what I can be is a great sounding board.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Follow StartupSmart on Facebook<\/strong>, Twitter<\/strong>, LinkedIn<\/strong> and SoundCloud<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s one question that AngelCube co-founder Adrian Stone hates getting asked more than any other.   Stone says it\u2019s also<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60607,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41949"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41949"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41949\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}