Seraf Investor Compass

Unvarnished Feedback: The Advantages of Using a Customer Council

The customer council is one of the best kept secrets of product management and company strategy. Unlike an advisory board, with specialists who often have a closer relationship with the company or even a personal relationship to the CEO, a customer council consists of...

Venture Capital – A Practical Guide to Fund Formation and Management

Travel to almost any part of the world these days and you are likely to run into clusters of entrepreneurship. Whether you are located in a hotbed of technology like Silicon Valley, a huge emerging market such as China, or in the ancient city of Byblos, chances are...

Networking for Angel Investors; The Three Magic Questions

Networking is often cited as a core skill for entrepreneurs. But it is just as important for angel investors, whose job it is to help connect their companies to the people, resources and customers they need to succeed. Most investors have some or all of their...

Seraf Toolbox: Guidelines for Successful Board Meetings and Investor Reports with Early Stage Companies

Running a successful board meeting requires planning and discipline. Which in turn requires some experience and some guidelines. Without this preparation, you will waste precious time focusing on the wrong things. To help you orchestrate great board meetings, we...

Short and To the Point: Producing a Tight Report

We’ve all experienced pedantic people try to make their points by browbeating the listener. And we’ve all been frustrated by repetitive or long-winded people who just cannot get to the point. We just tune them out. They are not effective, whether in person or in...

Startup Advice in a Downturn: Reducing Burn and Burnout

Investors supporting startups in difficult economic times are frequently called on to give advice to CEOs trying to cope. Financial issues like the cash-out date and how to raise money are always central questions, but reducing financial burn for a pre- or...

The Seraf Method to Valuing Startups: Exit Practicalities

Having evaluated four common methods for valuing early stage companies in a previous article, it's time to take a closer look at the Seraf Method which builds on everything great that has come before it (with the debt of gratitude acknowledged!), but adds key...

Seraf Toolbox: Questionnaire for Checking Customer References

In addition to articles and eBooks, the Seraf Compass makes various tools and checklists available for anyone to use. An area of diligence we talk a lot about is assessing the market and verifying customer demand. To help guide our investors through that process we...

Seraf Toolbox: Recruiting Guide for Early Stage Company Boards

In our previous article on recruiting new board directors, we discuss the importance of adding key skills to your board. Most early stage companies have a 3 or 5 member board. It’s not unusual for one or two of these board seats to remain unfilled after a company...

Not My Cup of Tea – Some Business Types Are A Better Fit for Angels

Why do web and software businesses seem to get investment traction while real, down-to-earth business and manufacturing-intensive companies flounder to raise capital? It has to do with the type of investor model involved. The investor model has to match the type of...

Behind the Scenes of Angel Investing: Engaging Group Members

Sep 4, 2024 | Seraf Investor

Angel investing has long been a popular way for individuals to support and invest in early-stage startups. One effective way to amplify the impact of individual angel investors is by forming an angel group.

Blueprint for Launching and Leading an Angel Group

Aug 22, 2024 | Seraf Investor

Cutting Bait: When to Walk Away

Aug 7, 2024 | Seraf Investor

Seraf Toolbox: Venture Fund Economics Modeling Tool

Aug 1, 2024 | Seraf Investor

Who Owns What – Understanding Early Stage Capitalization Tables [Part I]

Jul 3, 2024 | Seraf Investor

Several years ago, I was speaking to a colleague of mine. He was trying to decide between two great job offers, and was having a difficult time making a final decision. I started asking about his compensation package. For salary and bonus, the two companies were...

Seraf Toolbox: Impact Investing Due Diligence Report Template

Jul 2, 2024 | Seraf Investor

We’ve published a fair amount about due diligence and being a deal lead. In those articles we talk a lot about the importance of having a good diligence report template to ensure the final report is useful to the reader. Here, for your reference, is our Impact...