One of the most interesting aspects of this article (which I didn't pick up on until I read the comments section) is that Fabrice has 43 angel investments in 4 countries, but he dedicates just "2 hours per week to angel investing" because he's a full-time CEO. It's a love it or hate it strategy, but it seems to work well for him and his portfolio companies.

interesting. i have had difficulty with outside-US investments. i will probably not be doing them in the future.

Most non-US investments I make have US educated founders, mostly from Stamford and Harvard business schools.

Also, it's safer to invest in copies of American concepts rather than innovative concepts.

Moreover, the entrepreneurs you back refer you to other entrepreneurs...

I also lived in many countries and speak a few languages which helps...

Fabrice

Oh, I know. I'm up to about 50 investments so far. It is just that I have noticed certain patterns...

@joshu Do you have specific selection criteria for non-US businesses? And when you do them is there usually a business model from the get go?

I think "innovation" and "creativity" are mostly empty terms used for marketing purposes and to boost one's image / feed the ego.

Show me a "disruptive" business (google, facebook, etc) and I'll show you 10 that came before it.

This method of international idea arbitrage is about as good as it gets and it should get more attention.

Building something up from the ground is extremely difficult as it is a process of iterating through a massive amount of failure to reach that end goal of success. When you copy someone else's business you get to skip 99% of the work, the sweat, the agony, the sleepless nights, the iterations. Just copy, translate, and maybe change things a bit around. You might not know why this part is the way it is, but you can be sure it probably works out better this way.

It's actually incredibly smart.

I think the lesson from this guy is that you should invest your time in a clone/copy website in a different country and by copying someone's idea, you'll get funded. Not being snarky, but just look how many times he uses clone in his article.

You should listen to his interview on Venture Voice: http://www.venturevoice.com/2005/12/vv_show_21_fabrice_grind...

Fabrice Grinda says of himself that he is not very creative, so he copies what work elsewhere and clone it in another market (he built Aucland (eBay clone), OLX (Craiglist clone), ...)

I wish he shared 9 business selection criteria ...