Our investor is consulting as well funding us - How does the cap table work? Who dilutes? The new guy or the shareholders?

Keep in mind that investors invest for returns. Telling a prospective investor that you want his or her money to grow your business but don't plan on ever generating a liquidation event that pays him or her a dividend is not likely going to work; angel or not. You may be better served with debt financing where returns are generated in the form of interest payments not equity value growth. BUT, if equity financing is the plan, you're going to want to develop a strategic exit plan right from the start. That means identifying prospective buyers, strategic channels etc and characterizing the value drivers for each right up front. You'll find prospective buyers come in a number of forms; competitors, bigger versions of you, strategic partners, private equity, etc. Each will value your business in different amounts for for different reasons. Understanding this is vitally important for you to navigate to securing the right money, from the right sources, with the most favorable terms. Once you've qualified and quantified each of them, then determine what (specifically) you're going to need to do to align your business with those prospective buyers generating the highest returns. This will drive your business model and go to market strategy and define your 'use of funds' decisions. This in turn result in a better, more valuable business whether you exit or not. Do it this way and you'll have no trouble raising money from multiple sources. You can learn more about the advantage of starting with a Strategic Exit plan here: http://www.zerolimitsventures.com/cadredc Good luck. Steve

It entirely depends on the kind of business you have. If you have a tech startup for example, there are pretty reliable assumptions about each round of funding. And a business plan and financial forecasts are almost totally irrelevant to sophisticated tech investors in the early stages of a company's life. Recent financial history is important if the company is already generating revenue and in that case, a twelve-month projection is also meaningful, but pre-revenue, financial forecasts in tech startups mean nothing. You shouldn't give up more than 10-15% for your first $100,000 and from that point forward, you should budget between 10-20% dilution per each round of subsequent dilution. In a tech startup, you should be more nervous about dilution than control. The reality of it is that until at least a meaningful amount of traction is reached, no one is likely to care about taking control of the venture. If the founding team screws-up, it's likely that there will be very little energy from anyone else in trying to take-over and fix those problems. Kevin is correct in that the board is elected by shareholders but, a board exerts a lot of influence on a company as time goes-on. So board seats shouldn't be given lightly. A single bad or ineffective board member can wreak havoc on a company, especially in the early stages of a company's life. In companies outside of tech, you're likely going to be dealing with valuations that are far lower, thus likely to be impacted with greater dilution and also potentially far more restrictive and onerous investment terms. If your company is a tech company, I'm happy to talk to you about the financing process. I am a startup entrepreneur who has recently raised angel and VC capital and was also formerly a VC as part of a $500,000,000 investment fund investing in every stage of tech and education companies.

Team is more important than the startup itself. Investors prefer invest in the Jockey over the Horse. There may be n number of reasons for not getting through the funding rounds. If your startup is able to provide 10x return I can invest straight away. However, I will look at the team first and foremost and then I will look at the management skills and then I will come to other metrics like traction and scalability.

Instead of calling it "comedy", aim for humor. Humor that supports a key discovery helps to anchor that insight in the investor's mind. I've coached many pitches, and find that when presenters are nervous they try to go for an improvised laugh, thinking it will cut the tension. However, in most situations, it comes off as just that: improvised and cheesy. Which confims to the audience that the presenter is nervous and unsure. Humor an advanced communication skill which requires strategy, planning and practice. The best humor is subtle and smart. The goal is not to get a laugh, but to get a knowing smile.

Short answer: Of course! Many angel groups require you to submit through Gust because it offers a consistency and makes reviewing applications easier. But not all use Gust same as not all use AngelList... I haven't met an angel who frowns upon using multiple platforms. I would encourage you to leverage your twitter and Facebook or Instagram to meet angels and get in their radar (don't hassle or stalk) just try to get exposed a bit to them by being part of the same meetup group, follow the same blog, membership... Subscribe to their own blog.. And when you submit funding request considerations do please send a follow up email or a call or basket of fruits if you have contact them before.