The Startup Checklist

23Get the Most from Your Investors, Now and in the Future

When you have assembled a group of investors who believe in your company's future and have demonstrated their faith by providing you with capital, you're in a fortunate position—one that most entrepreneurs never experience.

This positive development carries with it new challenges. The main one is simultaneously obvious and underestimated in both directions—namely, the need to keep your investors engaged in a positive way, taking full advantage of the wisdom and insights they have to offer while not being distracted from the day-to-day responsibilities of running your business.

Suppose that you've been fortunate enough to win the support of a number of angel investors—ones who came to you prepackaged through an organized angel group or ones whom you pitched individually. You likely now have anywhere from 5 to 25 partners, each of whom has taken somewhere between $10,000 and $100,000 from his or her carefully guarded wallet and entrusted it to you to steward.

The good side is that you now have 5 to 25 smart, connected people rooting for you, and—quite literally—invested in your success. If you handle this correctly and make the relationship expectations clear up front, they can be a major asset when it comes to introductions, connections, advice, and follow-on funding.

The not-so-good side is that you now have the same number of people with a legitimate interest in the details of your business, people to whom you have a ...