Seraf Investor Compass

Advisory boards are not always that well understood, but they can be a huge driver of success for start ups. Advisory boards can provide a company with experience, connections, perspective, and legitimacy. And there are times when they can provide encouragement to...

Join Seraf for a fun and in-depth conversation on The London Theatre as an alternative asset class.

Ask a great investor what factors are most critical in his/her success in selecting investments and you will probably hear some variation on the following list: Great Team, Great Idea, Huge Market Opportunity, and Innovative Business Model. But there is one other...

There are a million reasons not to invest in any given startup. Even in the best case, there will be unanswered questions, missing pieces, missing team members, projected losses and uncertainty all around. The diligence process tends to document all of the warts in...

As most investors know, the next step after an initial pitch is usually a longer format “deep dive” type of meeting. In Prepping an Entrepreneur for a Deep Dive Meeting with Investors, we talked about what a deep dive meeting is, and, more importantly, how to help...

It’s exciting news! The CEO of one of your investments tells you that a buyer expressed serious interest in acquiring her company for $30M. Since the company has struggled to find huge growth, you are relieved and do a quick mental “back of the envelope” calculation...

Most startup companies have a continuous need for funds to help grow the business. You will hear the term “Follow-on” as a frequent catchphrase for this type of investing. For example, it’s common to hear one investor say to another, are you planning on “following-on”...

It all comes down to making money… Early exits are an important part of the financial reward needed to turn a very risky portfolio of angel investments into an asset that provides an excellent risk/reward profile for you, the investor. Not all companies are primed for...

In this article, we will highlight the responsibilities in the Finance and Operations realm required for a private fund.

There is an old proverb that was adopted by Ronald Reagan during the later part of the Cold War and which became a signature phrase of Reagan’s in the mid-1980s. When talking about the Cold War adversaries, Reagan always liked to say we should “Trust, but Verify.” It...