Intro To Angel Investing | Lecture #7 | Create Your Own Opportunities - Taught by Garry Johnson III
Dear Students,
This is one of my favorite lessons in this course. It's about creating your own opportunities and realizing that you have everything you need to build the life you want. When it comes to building an investment portfolio and investing in startups, it doesn't have to be a passive game. You can play an active role in not just finding and investing in interesting deals, but also helping entrepreneurs and small business owners understand that they can raise investment money from their community.
Shift your mindset from focusing on what's readily available to you, like websites for finding opportunities, to thinking about how you can create new opportunities that may not exist yet. As an investor, you can see the value in different products and services that entrepreneurs bring to the market, and you can be an advocate for equity crowdfunding.
Watch Me Teach Lecture #7:
There may be entrepreneurs in your community with phenomenal products who need access to capital to scale but have struggled to raise traditional investment rounds or gain funding from a traditional bank. You can help these entrepreneurs see that there are other ways to raise funding, and as a customer and advocate, you can educate the founder on what it means to raise from the community and why you want to be an investor.
Don't just sit back and let the powers that be control sourcing capital to entrepreneurs. Everyday people in the community can stand up and say, "Hey, I want to be an investor." Even if you, as an individual, can only commit $100 to investing in a business, you can galvanize your community and show entrepreneurs that there are other people in the community who are interested, willing, and ready to invest in their business.
Taking on the mindset of an angel investor means thinking about how to gain ownership in your community and the startup ecosystem. You have to play an active role and become someone who creates opportunities, not just takes them.
Here are 3 ways to create your own opportunities:
Let an entrepreneur know that you are interested in investing in their business. If you are not an accredited investor (meaning you're not a wealthy individual), let them know that if they opened a community round and allowed everyday people to invest in their company, you would be in and how much you would invest.
Create opportunities to gain ownership interests and equity in a business without having to put up your own capital. This can be done through advisory shares, where you contribute your skills, ideas, and talents to a startup in exchange for equity.
Serve as a venture scout and source deals for VC firms, helping them find new deals that they may have overlooked or not had access to. If a VC firm invests in a company you've connected them with, negotiate for carried interest, meaning you own a percentage of the success.
By creating your own opportunities, you can help entrepreneurs raise the money they need, and you can gain ownership in your work and your community. Don't be left out of the potential upside – take an active role and create opportunities for yourself and others.
Here’s a hypothetical scenario:
In a bustling city, a group of five ambitious young women came together with a shared passion for entrepreneurship and community development. They understood the power of investment and the potential impact it could have on their community. Inspired by the principles outlined in this course they decided to create new investment opportunities in their community.
As they began brainstorming ideas, they realized that there were many local businesses and startups with great potential but limited access to capital. These businesses needed the support of the community to grow and flourish. To address this gap, the group decided to launch a local equity crowdfunding platform that would enable everyday people in their community to invest in promising businesses and startups.
Each member of the group took on a specific role based on their individual strengths and interests. One of them, who had a background in finance, focused on developing the platform's financial and regulatory framework. Another member, with a strong marketing background, took charge of promoting the platform and educating the community about the benefits of investing locally. The others took on tasks such as identifying potential businesses to feature on the platform, organizing educational workshops for entrepreneurs, and building relationships with local government and business organizations.
As the platform grew in popularity, the group expanded its offerings to include mentorship programs and networking events to further support the businesses they were helping to fund. The platform became a catalyst for community growth, fostering a culture of collaboration and collective prosperity. The group's success attracted the attention of investors and venture capitalists, who began to see the potential in the local market.
The young women's initiative not only provided new investment opportunities for their community but also inspired other residents to take charge of their financial futures. By creating a platform for local investment, they helped empower their neighbors to take ownership of their community's growth and success.
As the businesses and startups funded through the platform thrived, the community reaped the benefits in the form of job creation, economic development, and improved quality of life. The group's efforts demonstrated the power of grassroots investment and the potential of everyday individuals to create lasting change in their communities.
Through their determination and innovative thinking, these young women embodied the lessons of this course and proved that with the right mindset, it is possible to create new opportunities, foster growth, and transform a community.