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Re:Ask HN: How do I find early stage startups to invest in? by anamax on Tuesday April 12, 2022 @03:54PM (#31007511)
It's interesting that you don't say what you have to offer an early tech startup other than money.

I mention that because the best startups are in a position to get more than money from investors.

If all you have is money, you're looking for early startups that are reasonably likely to succeed but don't need more than money.

Re:Ask HN: How do I find early stage startups to invest in? by convolvatron on Tuesday April 12, 2022 @08:11PM (#31009727)
as an ex-founder and not an investor, I always found this discussion to be disingenuous.

everyone claims to be bringing unquantifiable value to the table, and the only investors that actually do are mostly bringing their top-tier name and possibly some support functions coming out of the gate like specialized legal or recruiting. sure, sometimes you get a hire, sales lead, or business partnership .. but you also have to coddle them and it seems like thats a wash. I guess there is advice, some of which is pretty valuable, but its hard to filter that out from the overly general platitudes.

Re:Ask HN: How do I find early stage startups to invest in? by anamax on Wednesday April 13, 2022 @04:07PM (#31019622)
I agree that almost every startup investor claims to add more than money.

I'm a bit more negative - I think that most investors add less than money, that "help" from most investors is, at best, a waste of time, and all too often actually harmful.

I mostly agree with the idea that advice from most investors is useless. (That said, I do know an entrepreneur who says that some advice from a "not investor" got him into a very lucrative business that didn't need investment during the pandemic instead of flailing around looking for investment.)

However, there are other useful deliverables.

Re:Ask HN: How do I find early stage startups to invest in? by jilijeanlouis on Wednesday April 13, 2022 @02:39AM (#31011829)
yes you're right. thanks why I said : actually help founder with what you know the best, do pro bono and build your reputation to get over the platitude and noise and build a "doer" reputation and of course act according to it.