Angel Role Models
Brian Perry
12-Nov-06
I recently watched a television show titled “The Big Idea”. Apparently this show is trying to showcase British inventions and does so in a format similar to The Dragons’ Den. There is a panel of three judges and they critique each inventor based on their impressions and what they personally know about the industry, business, investing and inventions. These judges are Craig Johnston (former Liverpool FC player, businessman and successful inventor), Lord Karan Bilimoria (founder and CEO of Cobra Beer) and Ruth Badger. You know, Ruth “The Badge” Badger from television’s The Apprentice, a former sales manager looking for a job with Sir Alan Sugar’s “dream team”.
OK, so how does “The Badge” all of a sudden become an expert on assessing and determining the fate of hopeful inventors and wouldbe business people? I mean celebrity in this country is outof- control enough when it has to do with fluffy tabloids and the entertainment industry but when it starts to step on the toes of potentially real business and gets very close to angel investing, it’s time to pipe up!
I think most would agree that anyone put into the position of being a judge of business ideas could only properly serve this role by spending time on the front lines. Having spent all those tough years failing miserably, learning from those experiences and moving on to gain success as an entrepreneur. A repeatedly proven and successful entrepreneur can then, and only then, aspire to transition to a successful angel investor.
Now, as any newly transitioned angel investor, the business fundamentals remain the same and an eye for opportunity should only be sharper. However, there is one very important thing to consider; the dynamics of actually succeeding with angel investments and knowing what to expect as an angel investor are things that are entirely different. Knowing this larger picture will greatly help you and bring you into this new breed of business people.
If you are new to making angel investments, the chances of making only one or two investments and those turning into successes are very slim. By various accounts, between ten and twelve investments would be needed to succeed in this realm. The rules of thumb are that five to six of those might break-even. Four to five will be completely written off and one will be “The Big One” and reap those great returns we all dream of.
Angel investing has somewhat of a buzz at the moment and people tend to view it with a certain level of glamour. Shows like The Dragons’ Den and The Big Idea have contributed to this shift a great deal. Do we want more entrepreneurs turning into angel investors? Absolutely! Do we want the average person making foolish investment decisions and throwing their hard earned money at just about anything that comes along? Absolutely not! Just like anything in life, we need the proper knowledge, experience and the right role models to learn.
Entrepreneurs can someday become angel investors, successful angel investors are ALL entrepreneurs and Ruth “The Badge” Badger is an entertaining television personality!
