I was curious and wanted to know what all transpires within the investor ecosystem. Since SEs wouldnt be of much help in this regard so what better place to ask than VentureWoods. To keep it within the scope of the site, ‘investors’ can be restricted to mean angels and non-corporate VCs. However it would be great if we can expand it to include institutional investors and corporate VCs too. I am listing some specific questions to give a sense of what i mean by ecosystem:
1] How does a person decide which VC firm or angel group to join/get associated with?
2] What is the nature and level of interaction among various such investing entities? Do they discuss/consult a few others (symbiotic on basis of expertise maybe) before they invest? Are announcements of an investment ‘within the ecosystem’ and ‘to outside world’ simultaneous or subsequent?
3] Are there sub-ecosytems on basis of location/domain/stage/nature of funding, or is the interaction fairly exhaustive?
3] If a group has invested in a venture(team+idea+geography), how would that affect how other groups react to a similar investment opportunity, idea being the invariant.
4] Is someone in the ecosystem is being admired by others within the ecosystem, why is s/he usually being admired for.
5] What are the popular sources of information?
Would be great to have your thoughts on other aspects and facets of the ecosystem too.
- Fresh Talent & Startups - June 12, 2006
- Investor Ecosystem - February 28, 2006
Abhishek,
Here are my two cents. Think of how a person looks to find a spouse and you may get a lot of your answers. Networking and asking a lot of questions are important. VC’s and angels normally like to invest close to where they are based though lot of them are opening up multiple offices ( Silicon Valley VC’s setting up offices or working through Silicon Valley Bank). VC’s and angels talk a lot with each other and coinvest. They also specialize in certain domains and stage of funding. A lot depends on who the limited partners are and what the objectives/duration of the funds that VC’s have raised are for. Generally the same VC’s/angels will stay away from investing in two similar ideas but others will invest unless they think that the play has little chance of success or it is too late to the party.VC firms/Angels normally build up reputations around people and the best people gravitate to the best firms.
I am certain there is a lot of published data and good sources but most people I think rely on networking.