Angel Investors vs Venture Capitalists

Two entrepreneurs compare their grillings…
Gordon: Angels asked me about my vision and passion. They wanted to know if I was in it for the long haul or just a quick buck. 
Edward: Yeah, well, angels are the fairy godmothers of the startup world. They sprinkle their magic dust and hope you turn into Cinderella. 
Gordon: How did your pitch go with the VCs? 
Edward: More like dragons. It was a fiery session. You know it how it goes. VCs are all about the numbers. Market size, growth potential, and scalability. They wanted to know if I could turn their million into ten.
Gordon: Typical. Angels are more personal. They asked about my background, my story. They wanted to know who I was as a person.
Edward: VCs couldn't care less about my life story. They’re laser-focused on the business model. How do you plan to monetize? What's your revenue stream?
Gordon: There was curiosity about my team. They wanted to know if I had the right people to execute the vision.
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Voice-over
Further differences between the angel investors and the venture capitalists emerge. Gordon says that the angels offered advice and mentorship, they were flexible, were willing to adapt. Edward said the VCs were obsessed with data analysis such as marketing metrics, exit strategies such as IPO, acquisition, merger, demanded strict terms and conditions, rapid growth.

Pitching a Story

...

Joel, the writer, gives a pitch for a scene to Robert, the direct-

or.

Joel: Picture this. Two guys in an office.

Robert: Names. I visualize imaginary people better when they have names.

Joel: OK. Jonno and Zenno. And Jonno's got this bandage on his hand, a big fat elastic bandage. And Zenno looks on the computer and downloads an X-ray of a mangled monkey's hand.

[Close-up of iPhone screen showing X-ray of all the bones broken in a hand.]

Now the boss comes in the room.

Robert: Boss have a name?

Joel: Steve. In jeans like Steve Jobs. Boss says, “How’d the weekend go?”

And Jonno answers, “Had a party. Fireworks.”

[Boss looks at Jonno’s bandaged hand.] “What happened? Not fireworks?”

Jonno says, “Just been up the hospital. Had an X-ray. Got it back on the iPhone.”

[Hands iPhone to boss.]

Boss says, “TOLD you to watch out for fireworks.” [Boss looks at the iPhone.] “Bloody hell! WHAT!”

[Jonno peels off the bandage and reveals unharmed hand.]

Robert: Go on. I'm listening.

Joel: Zenno and Jonno dissolve in laughter watching boss’ face go from shock and horror to exasperation.

Robert: OK. Run this by Serena. If she says OK, we'll shoot it.

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Voice-over

Pitching. Running a story by a director. Or a scene.

Characteristics: Present tense. Choppy sentences. Mix of dialogue and stage directions.

Listener pulls the pitch into focus, for example with requests for names.

By the way, Serena did say OK, they actually shot it and it’s here, (click to see) on YouTube!

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