Monday, January 27, 2020

New Opportunities for 2020 - Launch Announcement and Omega Accelerator Update

We are excited to announce a number of exciting new opportunities for 2020!

2019 Update - Omega Legacy Accelerator X


In 2019 we launched Omega Legacy Accelerator X. Our 2020 goal is to enroll another 100 companies into this accelerator. You can learn more by visiting https://omegalegacyacceleratorx.com/.








Are you looking for investors for your business? Contact us at funding@omegaaccelerator.com.




New Opportunity - Ecommerce Business Accelerator

Here is your chance to live the entrepreneurial life and get in on the ground floor of our next accelerator. We are looking for founders for our new Ecommerce Business Accelerator. We have remote, part-time positions with flexible working hours available. Email Opportunities@omegaaccelerator.com to learn more.

Are interested in a passive investments? Omega Legacy Accelerator X is preparing for its next round of growth. Email info@omegaaccelerator.com to learn more.



Sponsors interested in reaching our network of over 20,000 entrepreneurs and funding sources can email info@omegaaccelerator.com.


Sources
https://rencarlton.blogspot.com
https://twitter.com/RenCarlton
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmxQWgUDlPJo0IHCIa6SzrQ
https://omegaaccelerator.com/
https://www.facebook.com/TheOmegaAccelerator/
https://www.instagram.com/omega.funding/
https://rencarlton.blogspot.com/2019/09/funding-session-with-ren-carlton.html




Disclaimer:  This does not constitute an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation of any security or any other product or service.  We are not offering any legal, investment, tax, or medical advice.  Please consult the appropriate professional before doing anything you learn from the content posted on any of our digital properties.  All stories are based on true events, but are altered to protect the identity of the individuals involved.





Monday, January 20, 2020

How to Screen Potential Angel Investments - Ren Carlton Investment Criteria - Doing Your Research as an Angel Investor

Angel investors can earn high rewards, but it is not without risk. There are 400,000 businesses started in the U.S year. How can you choose the right ones for investment? Below are my general selection criteria. Ideally, I confirm that a company appears to meet as many of these as possible before I invest. 
- Scalable
- Fast path to profitability and positive cash flow
- Not a lot of hard assets
- 10X potential return in 3-5 years
- Moat to protect against competition
- Unfair advantage
- Access to capital
- Likable founders with skin in the game
- Hot industry
- Low regulation
- Avoid companies with legal risks, especially ones with risk of imprisonment
- Low startup costs
- Ability to leverage technology
- Ability to compete with the FAANG companies if they enter your market, Facebook (FB), Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL), Netflix (NFLX); and Alphabet (GOOG) (formerly known as Google)

Geographic convenience and industry familiarity are also nice. It is also important to note that not all of my investments meet all of the above criteria. It is not much fun being an entrepreneur if you cannot break some rules--even if those rules are self-imposed.

Traditional due diligence methods are often ineffective when analyzing early-stage businesses because you are frequently investing in the future. Reviewing financial information and customer data is not possible when they don’t exist.

Before investing, we evaluate several aspects of the company or concept: the business model, the game plan, the leadership and the potential return. Key goals during the evaluation process include confirming that the entrepreneurs are exceptionally talented and that there is a need in the marketplace for what they offer. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

What’s being offered? 

The startup’s product or service should be clearly differentiated relative to competitors. It should fulfill an important customer need and compete in a market that has solid potential. Most importantly, the target audience should be excited about the product and be able to articulate how the product will make their lives better.

Does the game plan make sense? 

The startup should have a business plan with reasonable goals. The plan for investing angel funds should make sense and be based in sound logic. The startup should have a scalable model and attractive unit economics. You need to ensure that the amount of cash raised will be enough to cover the length of time required to firmly establish the business. A startup that runs out of cash will surely fail.

How competent is the leadership? 

Successful startups are led by a founder or a team with the right experience, talent, and vision. Important character traits include confidence, fortitude, creativity and determination. Having the ability to identify talent and build a strong team is critically important.

What’s the potential return? 

Tanya Prive, the co-founder of 1000 Angels, provides some helpful perspective on the returns you should expect from your startup investments: “We focus solely on highly curated direct investments and aim to offer a well-balanced portfolio selection with startup investments that can yield an IRR (internal rate of return) of 25% or a cash-on-cash return of approximately 3X over 5 years and 9X over 10 years. Again, returns are never guaranteed and it is possible to lose all of your investment. Angel investing can yield binary results, meaning you can either enjoy a healthy return or lose everything. This is why it is important to build a diversified portfolio of startup investments that help mitigate the risk.”

Before making any investment decision, you may also want to talk to a CPA, attorney, and/or financial planner.



Are you looking for funding for an idea or business, send us your stuff and we will take a look, Funding@OmegaSeedFund.com

Are you interested in investing time or money into any of our businesses, Invest@omegaseedfund.com

Are you interested in promoting your product or service to our audience, contact Opportunities@OmegaSeedFund.com


Sources
https://www.angelcapitalassociation.org/blog/how-to-become-an-angel-investor/
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/how-to-become-and-angel-investor
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tanyaprive/2016/04/28/what-returns-can-i-expect-from-startup-investing/#304808477964
https://rencarlton.blogspot.com
https://twitter.com/RenCarlton
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmxQWgUDlPJo0IHCIa6SzrQ
https://omegaaccelerator.com/
https://www.facebook.com/TheOmegaAccelerator/
https://www.instagram.com/omega.funding/
https://rencarlton.blogspot.com/2019/09/funding-session-with-ren-carlton.html


Disclaimer: This is only for informational and discussion purposes. This does not constitute an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation of any security or any other product or service. We are not offering any legal, investment, tax, or medical advice.Please consult the appropriate professional before doing anything you learn from the content posted on any of our digital properties. Stories shared are mostly based on true events, but may be altered to protect the identity of the parties involved. Any numbers or figures are possibly estimates based on assumptions that may be proven to be inaccurate or subject to change.

Saturday, January 11, 2020

Money for a Startup - Win Equity and Prizes

Have you dreamed of being on Shark Tank? Now is your chance to be a shark.


Help founders succeed and receive equity and prizes in return at Money for a Startup


Here is how it works:
- Watch founders pitch their business ideas
- Offer your insights, advice, and assistance
- Receive Equity Points every time you complete a challenge correctly or help our founders
- Get enough Equity Points and redeem them for equity and/or prizes
- The more you participate, the more you can win

Register today at http://moneyforastartup.com 




Are you looking for investors for your business, contact us today, funding@omegaaccelerator.com.  


Would you like to invest in early-stage businesses before they go to market? Email info@OmegaAccelerator.com


Sources
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rencarlton 
https://rencarlton.blogspot.com
https://twitter.com/RenCarlton
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmxQWgUDlPJo0IHCIa6SzrQ
https://omegaaccelerator.com/
https://www.facebook.com/TheOmegaAccelerator/
https://www.instagram.com/omega.funding/
https://rencarlton.blogspot.com/2019/09/funding-session-with-ren-carlton.html

Disclaimer:  This does not constitute an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation of any security or any other product or service.  We are not offering any legal, investment, tax, or medical advice.  Please consult the appropriate professional before doing anything you learn from the content posted on any of our digital properties.  All stories are based on true events, but are altered to protect the identity of the individuals involved.

All offers will be contingent upon passing our due diligence process.

Tuesday, January 7, 2020

Is Writing a Business Plan a Waste of Time? - Acquiring Business Funding and Writing a 1-Page Executive Summary for Angel Investors

“I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.”
Mark Twain

Information is everywhere. It is no longer an advantage. Almost anyone can learn anything with a few minutes and a decent Wifi connection. This makes entrepreneurship and funding your business very different than it was 10 years ago. Information used to be a competitive advantage, now it is just a starting point.

These days, entrepreneurship is all about execution.


Is Writing a Business Plan a Waste of Time?


Business plans are mostly obsolete when raising capital from angel investors. We see thousands of deals a year. We are scanning your materials, trying to find something that meets our preferences. It’s not personal, there is just not enough hours in a day to digest all of the details. The time you spend writing a business plan can be spent on creating, testing, pivoting, selling, etc. The best way to succeed in business is to be in business.

“Failing to plan is planning to fail,” has been replaced by “If you aren’t embarrassed by the first version of your business, you launched too late.”

But execution requires resources and funding... 


Raising Capital without a Business Plan


The 1-Page Executive Summary has replaced the business plan in our 140-character-or-less world. It hits all of the major areas of a business. It demonstrates a business' potential, while leaving enough flexibility for possible changes and pivots. Although there are many formats, I find this one to be compelling:

1. The Grab: You should lead with the most compelling statement of why you have a really big idea. This sentence (or two) sets the tone for the rest of the executive summary. Usually, this is a concise statement of the unique solution you have developed to a big problem. It should be direct and specific, not abstract and conceptual. If you can drop some impressive names in the first paragraph you should—world-class advisors, companies you are already working with, a brand name founding investor. Don’t expect an investor to discover that you have two Nobel laureates on your advisory board six paragraphs later. He or she may never get that far.

2. The Problem: You need to make it clear that there is a big, important problem (current or emerging) that you are going to solve. In this context you are establishing your Value Proposition—there is enormous pain out there, and you are going to increase revenues, reduce costs, increase speed, expand reach, eliminate inefficiency, increase effectiveness, whatever. Don’t confuse your statement of the problem with the size of the opportunity (see below).

3. The Solution: What specifically are you offering to whom? Software, hardware, service, a combination? Use commonly used terms to state concretely what you have, or what you do, that solves the problem you’ve identified. Avoid acronyms and don’t try to use this opportunity to create and trademark a bunch of terms that won’t mean anything to most people. You might need to clarify where you fit in the value chain or distribution channels—who do you work with in the ecosystem of your sector, and why will they be eager to work with you. If you have customers and revenues, make it clear. If not, tell the investor when you will.

4. The Opportunity: Spend a few more sentences providing the basic market segmentation, size, growth and dynamics—how many people or companies, how many dollars, how fast the growth, and what is driving the segment. You will be better off targeting a meaningful percentage of a well-defined, growing market than claiming a microscopic percentage of a huge, mature market. Don’t claim you are addressing the $24 billion widget market, when you are really addressing the $85 million market for specialized arc-widgets used in the emerging wocket sector.

5. Your Competitive Advantage: No matter what you might think, you have competition. At a minimum, you compete with the current way of doing business. Most likely, there is a near competitor, or a direct competitor that is about to emerge (are you sufficiently paranoid yet??). So, understand what your real, sustainable competitive advantage is, and state it clearly. Do not try to convince investors that your only competitive asset is your “first mover advantage.” Here is where you can articulate your unique benefits and advantages. Believe it or not, in most cases, you should be able to make this point in one or two sentences.

6. The Model: How specifically are you going to generate revenues, and from whom? Why is your model leverageable and scaleable? Why will it be capital efficient? What are the critical metrics on which you will be evaluated—customers, licenses, units, revenues, margin? Whatever it is, what impressive levels will you reach within three to five years?

7. The Team: Why is your team uniquely qualified to win? Don’t tell us you have 48 combined years of expertise in widget development; tell us your CTO was the lead widget developer for Intel, and she was on the original IEEE standards committee for arc-widgets. Don’t just regurgitate a shortened form of each founder’s resume; explain why the background of each team member fits. If you can, state the names of brand name companies your team has worked for. Don’t drop a name if it’s an unknown name, and don’t drop a name if you aren’t happy to give the contact as a reference at a later date.

8. The Promise ($$): When you are pitching to investors, your fundamental promise is that you are going to make them a boatload of money. The only way you can do that is if you can achieve a level of success that far exceeds the capital. What is your path to profitability and positive cash-flow? When will you get there? When will your investors start enjoying a financial return on their investment?


One more thing. 1-Page Executive Summaries need to be one page!

This is a good starting point for every funding campaign. It helps you clarify your thoughts and communicate your vision. If it cannot be explained in one-page, you should work on it more before you start pitching investors.


Are you looking for investors for your business, contact us today, funding@omegaaccelerator.com.  


Are you interested in angel investing and helping us fund early-stage businesses? Email info@OmegaAccelerator.com. 




Disclaimer:  This does not constitute an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation of any security or any other product or service.  We are not offering any legal, investment, tax, or medical advice.  Please consult the appropriate professional before doing anything you learn from the content posted on any of our digital properties.  All stories are based on true events, but are altered to protect the identity of the individuals involved.

All offers will be contingent upon passing our due diligence process.