Seraf Investor Compass

Pitching Angel Investors – What Materials are Needed, What are Not

Angels dealing with entrepreneurs in both the coaching and the evaluating context are often confronted with the question of what materials are appropriate for each stage of engagement. This is one of those situations where it doesn’t pay to be creative. There are...

Understanding Family Offices and Their Growing Role in Private Markets

Family offices have become an increasingly important source of capital in private markets. While their traditional role has been to preserve wealth for future generations, many family offices today are much more active investors than they once were.

How Successful Angel Investors Allocate Assets

In our discussion on the basics of building an angel portfolio, we shared our thinking on some key questions related to how many investments you need in your portfolio of startup companies. That leads next to a great discussion -- “How much money are we talking about...

One Step At a Time: Overview of Deal Stages

Since I am part of a team that runs a very active angel network, most of the time, I am juggling a bunch of deals in different stages of completion. It can be hard to keep track of where everything stands. Obviously, regularly updated lists and status reviews are...

Inside the Modern Family Office: Back Office Strategies That Scale – Webinar

Join Seraf and Deviate Consulting for a practical conversation on how today’s family offices are modernizing their back office operations. We’ll cover reporting, workflows, technology, and operational structures that improve transparency, reduce friction, and support...

Fund & Angel Group Reporting: What Actually Builds Investor Trust

Transparent, timely, and consistent reporting is one of the most important drivers of investor trust for bot

Speaking Truth to Power: Advisory Board Basics

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...

Investing in The London Theatre: An Old Alternative Asset Class, Made New – Webinar

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

Timing Is Everything: Angel Investing Success

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...

Good To Go: When You Have Enough to Move Forward

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...

Emerging Fund Managers Webinar

May 1, 2025 | Seraf Investor

We hosted a webinar featuring Emerging Fund Managers, where panelists discussed key strategies for successfully launching and managing new funds.

Angel Fundamentals: Understanding Equity Deal Terms – Introduction

Apr 24, 2025 | Seraf Investor

Active angels work with term sheets regularly, but not every investor fully understands the sometimes arcane language in these highly-specialized documents. What are term sheets, what do they signify, and why are they so important? If you will walk through this short...

You Can’t Improve What You Don’t Measure – How Tracking Key Performance Indicators Propels Action

Apr 17, 2025 | Seraf Investor

Measuring and monitoring performance runs in parallel with managing every type of business. Many organizations rely on high level financial statements to show year over year changes and business trends in order to plan for the future. But relatively infrequent and...

How to Avoid the Closing Package from Hell

Apr 9, 2025 | Seraf Investor

The moment of truth has arrived: it is time to close the round. The deal lead and founders worked hard together to line up investors, negotiate terms, work through deal documents and disclosure schedules, and track down every last detail of cap tables. As usual it...

Learning the Hard Way – Due Diligence Mistakes

Mar 27, 2025 | Seraf Investor

It is easy to talk about due diligence in the abstract, but it is much harder to practice what you preach. One of the hardest things about early stage investing is that it is really risky - if you don’t have some suspension of disbelief, and you obsess too much about...

Seraf 2025 Investor Sentiment: The Results Are In!

Mar 20, 2025 | Seraf Investor

The Seraf Sentiment Survey results are in! Uncover bold predictions, emerging trends, and game-changing strategies shaping the year ahead!

Interview with: Cristian Guardia

Mar 13, 2025 | Seraf Investor

We had the pleasure of interviewing Cristian Guardia, Managing Partner at AddVentures. Check out the video below to learn more about his journey as a first time VC manager in Latin America!

Being A Mentor For Entrepreneurs: A Practical Guide

Mar 6, 2025 | Seraf Investor

Angels talk a lot about mentoring, but how many know what it really means? If you can’t describe what a great mentor does, you’ve probably never been one. A great mentor relationship is actually a pretty rare and special thing.

Angel Syndication for Deal Leads: Strategies To Engage Other Investors Quickly

Feb 27, 2025 | Seraf Investor

Filling out a round through angel syndication is something deal leads and entrepreneurs need to be savvy about. Having a basic plan and strategy in place for approaching the syndication process is fundamental. However, the key success factors are engagement and speed....

Angel Syndication For Deal Leads: Three Basic Concepts for Getting Started

Feb 13, 2025 | Seraf Investor

Syndicating a round is one of the trickier and more time-consuming angel undertakings. Knowing how to pull a good closing package together is one thing, but finding enough other investors to actually fill your syndicated round is another matter altogether. Not only do...