Angel Investing: The Gust Guide to Making Money and Having Fun Investing in Startups

This remains required reading for all VMT mentors. It explains how knowledgeable angel investors evaluate risk, founders, markets, valuation, portfolio construction, future financing, and exit potential.

For small-business mentoring, the critical lesson is that many excellent businesses are not appropriate angel investments. A profitable restaurant, local service company, consulting practice, retailer, contractor, or family-owned company may create considerable owner and community wealth without offering the scale or exit profile an angel investor requires. Mentors should help founders select capital that fits the business rather than forcing the business to fit a capital source.