As an angel investor, I want to think of myself as providing more than just a cheque. I want to think that we provide smart money, and then the question arises, "How do we add this value to the entrepreneur's life?" After all, the value has to be judged by the entrepreneur, not by us. 

So, we may think we're providing oversight, we're helping with corporate governance, and we’re helping him to provide a 30,000 foot view to make sure he's on the right track. We help him to raise his next round because his finances are in order and he's keeping track of unit economics.

But, this is the story we're selling to ourselves. Is that really true from the entrepreneur's perspective? We realize that given the fact that we're small, it makes much more sense for us to engage deeply with very few companies rather than try to do too much with too many, because if we try spreading ourselves too thin, we don't really add any value to the entrepreneur's life, and sometimes end up being a distraction.

Therefore, we're changing our focus a little bit. We think it makes a lot of sense for us to be able to be very choosy about which entrepreneurs we pick. But if we do, then we engage with them much more, which means we need to find entrepreneurs who think the same way we do. Whose philosophy is in sync, the culture is similar, and who respect us. I think that respect and trust needs to be earned over time. It's not given just because we've signed a check.

Therefore, we're changing our approach a little bit. For example, before we sign the cheque, we will want to spend a couple of days in the entrepreneur's office so that we can see how well his people fit in, what the morale of the team is, how well they mesh with each other because this is impossible to judge from a pitch. Actually spending time in an office gives you far more information, which is far more colourful.

Obviously some entrepreneurs will object to this. "We don't want to open our kimono, we don't want to share all these details before you've signed a check. Some of this stuff is proprietary." My feeling is that if they're not comfortable with us, if they're not willing to trust us before we sign the check, then why would they be willing to trust us just because we've signed the check? If they don't trust us, we'd rather not want to give them the check in the first place.

Similarly, I think after we've signed the check, we would like to spend at least one day in a month in the entrepreneur's office. We want entrepreneurs who understand the value of our doing this, because we can then provide an outside objective view as to what's going on. Let's not forget, interests are completely aligned. Everyone wants the company to grow. We think that by providing this kind of helpful oversight as an elder, trusted family member who's not stuck in the daily drudges and the daily grind, will add value. We're looking for entrepreneurs who want that kind of value support.

Over the years, we have learnt quite a bit about angel investing, and we are now modifying the way we evaluate entrepreneurs . 

When we invest in a start-up, this is effectively a bet on the entrepreneur. Do we believe that he can pull off the challenging feat of building a company from scratch ? This is a herculean task, and most founders will fail at it, which is why we are becoming increasingly selective about whom we will back.

We have realised that the company's culture is extremely important, and it's not possible to gauge this either by listening to a pitch, or by talking to the founder. The only way we can judge this is by spending time in the office, and seeing how the team works

When we invest, we don't treat it as speed dating, because we are looking for a marriage partner - someone who wants to settle down with us, because they understand that this is a long term relationship - not a one night stand

Hard work and effort - yes - for us and for you, because we are investing hard-earned money, and before we do this, we want to invest our time and energy to make sure the fit is right. We are happy to double up on our investments, and because we don't suffer from the institutional imperative, we are agile and can release funds to help the start-up when it is in distress, if the founder has earned out trust

If you think this smacks of a Big Brother attitude on our part, then this clearly means that you don't think of us as being partners in your venture. This means we are the wrong investors for you, and you should find someone else

One the other hand, if you feel this shows that we are diligent, and are willing to work hard in order to partner with our entrepreneurs to help them become successful, then please do talk to us !