Know the key factors Angels look for in an investment, and sprinkle these points into your conversation with them when chatting about your business.

Location, location, location: The first priority tends to be that distance thing. The business cannot be more than two hours away from the home of the Angel investor. There are exceptions to the rule of course, but these are exceptions.

Sector interest: The IT, biotech and manufacturing sectors tend to be popular.

Cool deals: Your company must be easy to understand. A medical device is a good sell as it is tangible and simple to understand.

The hockey stick revenues curve: Angels are in early at the riskiest stage of the deal and they do want to see 200% growth not just 20%. Since Angels are high risk characters themselves, these growth rates will get them excited and you too.

Vision to grow: If you want to be the biggest thing in Richmond, BC, good for you, but the Angel will not give you any money. You need to know that most companies have to do the bulk of their business outside of their comfort zone and, nowadays, outside of their country borders.

Experience: Angels want to see entrepreneurs who have taken a company from $0 to $10 million. That practical knowledge will be more attractive to an Angel. They want to see you have that experience and, if you personally do not have that, you need to get in someone who does. You need that expertise on your advisory board.

Good investment proposition: Your technology can be the best but that’s not what matters. Remember Beta and VHS. Beta was far superior but they quickly lost out to VHS. Having the best technology does not make you a stand–out winner. You need the investment proposal. Someone has to pay money for your product. Smug engineers can suffer from myopia over the commercialisation of their designs.

Staying power: First to market is no longer attractive. After all, Google was a late entrant to the search engine industry. Sustainability is what is required. If someone comes into your competitive space with a lot of money will you stand up to the competition? You need to think about how to build barriers to new entrants into the market. Can you lock in your customers somehow? VHS had the machines to play their tapes and these cost less than the BETA version. Price point made the market tip over to the VHS side even though the product was of a comparatively inferior quality.

Competitive advantage: Defining what gives you the edge over your competitors is tantamount. This means having an advanced pocket calculator while everyone else is still using a slide rule. What can make your offering tip the market in your favour? What will make your product unique if not exclusive? What will make it hard for competitors to come in, catch up and blot out your name?

The Written Plan: A thorough and understandable Business Plan at the early stage is appreciated. Angel investors will spend their time conducting their own due diligence. If you have already done the competitor analysis and all the elements of looking at your business, you can help shorten the process. This translates into getting money sooner.

Return on Investment: Angels will want ten to fifty times their money back. They want to see an exit strategy that you can afford to buy them out from ownership. You will never be able to do this from your revenues, which requires you to have a plan to find someone to buy you. Have future companies in mind who might buy your business.