Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Band's track record?
The Band has invested into 400+ companies since 1994. Of these 97 have been acquired and 17 have gone public.
What makes the Band different?
The difference is primarily in the people. The Band is made up of 150+ successful business leaders available to assist companies develop from startup to IPO. These experiences enable our portfolio to quickly and successfully build their companies from the ground up.
What is the non-financial value of the Band?
Members of the group are one phone call away from anyone important to a young company. The network effect of the Band is both vast and indescribable. Many deals that presented to the Band but that did not succeed in raising funds from the Band nevertheless were able to garner important business development opportunities, referrals for excellent employees, and valuable advisors or board members. Additionally, companies that get to the dinner will have been put through a diligence and review process that includes several hours of speech and presentation coaching and feedback from experienced venture investors-the net result is some valuable contribution from a professional process that should be of meaningful value to a young startup.
Does the Band syndicate?
The Band often syndicates with other angel groups and VCs that invest at a Seed stage. Because of the group's reputation it is often asked to lead such financings. The Band has participated in co-investments and follow-on investments with all notable Silicon Valley VCs including: Sequoia, Kleiner Perkins, Mayfield, Trinity, USVP, August, Canaan, Greylock, Accell, NEA, etc.
How long does it take to receive investment?
The Band is made up of individuals who can act immediately. Occasionally, a syndicated deal will have another lead and a tight timeline. Members have participated in financings within 24 hours of the Deal Dinner presentation. However, if the Band is looked to as the “lead” on a financing, you should anticipate that it would take between 2-3 months for a deal to close.
Once the Deal Dinner has concluded our members will indicate their level on interest in your company. If a core group of members are interested in moving forward with the deal, Band of Angels will schedule a follow up meeting for you and those specific angels. At this stage you should be ready to provide our members with their requested materials and references.
Due Diligence?
Every deal is unique and a simple answer on term expectations is not possible. The guiding principle on terms is that incentives of everyone be aligned. If a Venture Fund makes 10 investments and 9 of them fail and one gets a 10x, the Fund has just broken even. Entrepreneurs must be motivated to make a hefty return for their investors. Likewise, the investors must ensure that entrepreneurs are consistently and substantially rewarded for their ongoing contributions and the risks that they undertake. With this guiding philosophy, the Band negotiates in the best possible faith to get to terms that proportionally and appropriate incentivize all parties.
Deal terms?
Companies typically like to pitch to the Band as much to interest one of our members to join the board as to acquire seed capital. Most companies that receive funding from the Band also receive at least one Band members as a board member.
Board seat?
The Band likes high technology companies with strong teams, promising technology, big potential markets, solid barriers to entry, and IPO prospects. Since we like to be the first money into the deal we recognize that for seed stage companies being certain that a company is all of these things is impossible—that is what makes investing at this stage risky. However, the more a company is like this, the more likely it will succeed in raising money from the Band. Because we do invest very early, preferably the first money into the deal, valuation expectations are very low.
Company stage?
Our preference is to invest in companies where we can be active contributors throughout the early stages of development. Initially, the Band’s focus was to invest in Silicon Valley based startups. The Band has invested in exceptional startups located outside Silicon Valley where a Band member (who will be the deal sponsor) is an investor, advisor, and/or a Board member and is deeply familiar with the company and the team. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Band met virtually and invested in startups throughout the U.S. This trend continues post-pandemic. We do not invest in entities that are not registered in the U.S.
Company location?
Your materials need to offer us enough information to determine the strength of your team, market and technology. Beyond that we need to understand your business model and financial projections, as well as your capital requirements and the milestones you will reach with this investment. Your executive summary should also include specific information on your customers and competition. However, it must do all this in an incredibly concise way. If selected to attend the Deal Screening committee your company will be required to write an executive summary that includes all this information in one page. Here is the Band of Angels one page template. Companies that can accurately convey themselves within a one page narrative are much more likely to score well in the pre-screening process.
What should the Executive Summary cover?
Since we receive so many plans our policy is not to sign NDAs (non-disclosure agreements) or confidentiality agreements. The Band prides itself on our practice of the highest respect and care of the confidentiality of all information received; aiming to treat you as we ourselves wish to be treated. However, you should not, under any circumstance, forward confidential or proprietary information to us.
Do you sign NDAs?
Do you charge any fees to entrepreneurs?
There are no fees to submit or present to the Band of Angels. In fact, companies selected for presentation to the Band receive several valuable things for free: several hours of speech coaching and document preparation, feedback from venture experts, and dinner at the presentation meetings. Additionally, Band members provide numerous hours of free mentoring to early stage entrepreneurs at the monthly industry-specific Special Interest Groups (SiGs), office hours, and at the annual Mentor Day. Companies that succeed at raising money from the Band are asked to voluntarily allow the Band of Angels, LLC to purchase a small amount of common stock at fair market value - Right to Invest in Common (RTIC).