All the time!

Historically (i.e. before ~2006) this was the explicit role of angel investors in the startup financing ecosystem. Rarely, in fact, would angel investors have an opportunity to invest after a product and revenue were in place.

For consumer internet and SaaS enterprise deals, a lot has changed in the last few years. Technology has moved on, and for a host of reasons a lot more can be accomplished with 1-2 engineers and little or no cash. Now angel investors expect to see product and customers before writing a check, and to an extent, founders expect to own more of the company after that first money comes in. Everybody wins.

As a general rule today, angel investors are expecting to see a product, and customers (or at least users) in place before they invest.

However, there is still a role for angel … Read More »