Its late and I am kind of totally pumped up. 

We’ve had two conferences in a row that we’ve been lucky enough to attend.  And part of that privilege means we have gotten to learn some really cool things - including information about Angel Investors. 

Last week at the Princeton Marriott - there was an event sponsored by www.NJEN.com the New Jersey Entrepreneur Network - and invited entrepreneurs were able to mingle with about a dozen Angel Investors from the NY/NJ area.  Part of the event included a five minute presentation by representatives of each Angel Network - all of whom spoke about what they are looking for in making investments.  

The most important thing?

“Can You Deliver?”

Time and time again, the angel investors stood up and said, that the majority of their decisions to invest rested on their belief that the entrepreneur asking for funding would be able to deliver on their concept.  

Much of the rest of the advice included a large dose of common sense.  

1.  Do your research. 
Know what industries specific investors actively invest in.  The majority of the investors speaking with us at the event are currently active in the medical and technology sectors.  

2.  Think like an investor.
When putting together your pitch, answer the questions that investors are going to ask. Know what their background is.  Know what their expertise is, and think about what angle they are going to approach you in their line of questioning.  Be able to tell them about the market you are targeting, how large it is, and perhaps most importantly: What problem you are solving for that market, and how/why you are going to do it better than the competition

3.  Know about the funding trends in your sector
Interestingly, Angels are looking to invest in firms to get them to the next round.  The next round is typically Venture Capital.  If VC firms have backed off a specific area, and are not funding at historic rates, then angels - by necessity will also back off that area - because the numbers do not favor those investments reaching the next level.  

4.  Include your address and contact information on your pitch deck. 
One angel investor pointed out how many times they receive pitch decks without this information.  Typically entrepreneurs think that since they are sending a pitch deck via email that contact information is sufficient.  But pitch decks are distributed, and not always with the original email.  So it is important that there is a clear way to contact the entrepreneur.  

5.  Don’t burn your bridges
People can get angry.  Funding periods can stretch out due to unforseen occurrences.  When an entrepreneur needs money, and feels under the gun it is easy to grow impatient or even angry at a process that can suddenly seem longer or more complicated than you planned.  Don’t let that frustration put you at a disadvantage.  Even pitches that don’t wind up being funded can put you into contact with people who can offer you contacts to other angels.  Remember that you never know what a team can do to help you, even if that help doesn’t come in the form of money that you were expecting to receive.  

6.  Network within the area that you are targeting
When you network with people in your industry - you may find that you can align yourself with a champion who knows you and believes in you and/or your idea.  That sort of connection can make a world of a difference.  Some areas where you might find a champion?  Service providers.  Networked introductions weigh more heavily to angel investors than cold calls. If you are having trouble reaching out to an angel investment group sometimes your lawyer, or accountant may be able to make that introduction for you.  

7.  Be enthusiastic.
Believe in yourself and your product, and that enthusiasm will draw investors in.  As it was pointed out angels are investors not donors.  They want to fund the dreams of entrepreneurs, but they are funding those dreams in the pursuit of profits.  Your enthusiasm is one of the best ways to convince an angel that you are indeed the person that can deliver.  And remember, enthusiasm doesn’t always mean being happy and joyous, it means having a passion about the space you are in, and being well read and knowledgeable about that space.  If you know everything their is to know about your audience and your competition and you are driven enough to know potential pitfalls you will be able to answer all questions that investors can throw at you and show them that not only do you have a clear path to success, but that you can think on your feet, and realistically consider the eventual obstacles that every entrepreneur finds they have to out maneuver on the road to success.  

This full post can be found on:  NJTECHWEEKLY

I am co-Founder of www.Hatchedit.com, a free social network for families that officially launched in January 2012.  Running a New Jersey-based tech startup with a bootstrapped budget often means facing difficult decisions regarding where and how to market our product.  One such decision was whether or not to invest in an appearance at TechCrunch’s Disrupt NY Conference held earlier this month.

Because we are hoping to raise funding within the next 12 months TC Disrupt was one of the best options for announcing our existence to the tech and VC community.  As a Startup Alley Exhibitor we pitched to attendees on Day 1 and were given passes to attend the panels and presentations on Day 2 and Day 3.

Overall, the experience was overwhelmingly positive, and we consider it an investment with an excellent return.  We were lucky enough to be interviewed for TC tv, which has resulted in an uptick in subscriptions, and we also received positive feedback from attendees.  In addition to making some (hopefully) valuable connections, we also gained some insights as to what works best for presenting to a crowd of peers and investors.

Read the full article HERE

We were so blown away by the results that we got advertising on StumbleUpon - that we couldn’t keep it to ourselves.  We wrote about them in Forbes (HERE) and then were thrilled to contribute data so the company itself could do a case study. 

CASE STUDY: Hatchedit Books New Users With StumbleUpon

StumbleUpon, Google and Facebook composed the marketing budget for the HatchedIt team. During the window from March 8-25, they allocated equally between StumbleUpon and Google, and half of the budget of each to Facebook. With each service, the team looked to target women who were 30+, seeking to hit the sweet spot with moms.

“As both an advertiser and a user of StumbleUpon, I believe that the mindset is what makes the difference in leveraging the StumbleUpon advertising platform,” says HatchedIt founding partner Kirsten Bischoff….Read Full Post HERE

How hard core am I? Two and a half weeks after major abdominal surgery I’ll be smiling and greeting people strolling through Startup Alley at TechCrunch’s Disrupt NYC 2012.  Very exciting. 

Last year, I was lucky enough to still be writing for a publication that let me get a press pass and go as an attendee.  It was a great event.  My favorite speaker by far was Roelef Botha, and I’m really eager to be able to overhear (from the alley) this year’s speakers.  

We’ll get one day of being set up - and I still won’t be able to carry more than 5 lbs, so it’s not like I’m going to be lugging much more than my laptop, ipad and phone…but I’m really excited.  

Hatchedit was really still a “dream” last year when I attended and its a huge accomplishment for us that in 12 months I’m able to return and show off a full working site, as well as our phone and tablet apps.  

I tend to be the shyer of the two of us, and I would not be nearly so excited had I not already had the NAPO conference under my belt.  Walking professional organizers through the site about 500 times over the two days that we were there was the perfect training ground for being a startup at Disrupt.  

I’ll really miss my wingman Megan - but she’ll be in Texas speaking to some possible future partners, and this will make it our first official “divide and conquer” weeks as co-founders.  

Now I just have to figure out what to wear. :)

Some of my pictures from last year…..

So every day there is a good dose of doubt in the mind of any entrepreneur.  But then every now and then - if you are lucky - you get a day like we had today.  

A few months ago Pregnancy & Newborn Magazine contacted us and asked for some artwork.  It was a lot to hope for - and we held our breaths for a while - but then today I ran out to Barnes and Noble and there we are!  Page 22.  Listed under “May Cravings” section - for SURF IT!  They listed us as a great site!

This is so amazing because we were starting to feel like the only way to get any press was to pay for it.  And we haven’t really been out there pitching the site either - frankly we’ve just been too busy trying to cover all of the other bases (customer service, conferences, marketing, meetings, site changes, etc).  

So when this happened - it was sort of overwhelming because we didn’t pitch them, we didn’t pay for the coverage - it was just that someone liked us and decided to recommend us - and that is the exact kind of vote of confidence that can bolster us through the next month of daily self-doubting.  lol.  

But really.  It’s amazing.  I’m on an adrenaline high.  WOOT!  WOOT!

We are trying to put together a Board of Directors and so we had a great lunch with one of the people whom we hope will be working closely with us to grow the company.  It’s very exciting stuff - he is a smart guy, and will (I am sure) make us work even harder than we already are to produce the information that will be necessary to get us to the next level as a firm.  

Lunch was awesome.  Lots of discussion, lots of debate.  Thrilling. 

What else is new?  Not much.  We should have our iPad app out soon.  And our daily email information should be going out to users any day now too.  We have some other things in the pipeline that we have given the go ahead on and I can’t wait for those to be rolled out either. 

I’ll be out of commission the week after next for about 2 weeks - so hopefully the build out of our site additions will go seamlessly during that time - and when I’m back on my feet we can spend the entire summer - on the GO GO GO!  

Summer will be a big push for users however we can get them, and will reach its peak (hopefully) at the BlogHer conference - which is super thrilling - and we hope to have something really exciting to announce there.  Okay - that’s all for now.  :)  Send me good karma on May 2 if anyone out there reads this - I’ll be needing it.  

I know this is becoming a recurring theme. 

Its the second week in april and we’re on the cusp of a lot more things happening - and in the interim - once again - is peace and quiet.  You would think we would have wrapped our heads around trying to enjoy this. 

Nope. 

Megan and I spent the morning stressed out about what we could possibly be doing that we aren’t.  So we did busy work on a bunch of things that granted - need to be done - but aren’t all that important.  Still, glad we (she - lol) got most of them out of the way.  Because over the next week and a half we should see: 

The launch of our iPad app - which seriously - looks beautiful.  Hudson Horizons guys just blog me away every time they do something.  

The launch of our app on the Snapp Cloud Marketplace on Toshiba tablets.  Hopefully another great user base for us to gain. 

The start of our daily email updates to our users.  Daily email updates?  Ugh you say?  lol.  I’m with you.  I automatically delete most of the daily emails I get.  This is not us bugging our users though.  I promise.  This is us sending out calendar snapshots of their day and their dashboard.  Just a nice, email way to reference what is going on in their day - and who has interacted with them on the site.  I think its going to be fun and great.  And Don - who designed them is fantastic.  Want to see a sneak peek?  (ok.  You twisted my arm). 

We also have really pretty invitations that will go out to people via email when you add them to an event (HatchedIt members AND non-members). 

So - we’re really waiting to see how users engage with the emails and the additional apps that will be available. 

Of course tonight I’ll be working on a Forbes post and trying to envision us snagging a nomination for a Webby tomorrow.  I’m thinking maybe it will be like The Secret. If I picture it - it will happen. 

Good karma and fingers crossed would be greatly appreciated.  :) 

Next time I have to think of a company name I’m going to go with Molasses LLC because that seems to be a running theme for building a startup - at least where I’m involved. 

Not that I mind!!  We had secret fears of everything snowballing so fast that we lost control, or crashed and burned.  And truthfully I would really rather be an “overnight success story” that took a few years - than be one of the startups that gets huge press, a million dollars in funding and then is out of business in 9 months.  We have a big dream here.  Its going to take a while to get all of the pieces in place. 

BUT even mentally embracing the slow growth option does not mean that we are without our moments of SHEER panic that the growth is too slow.  That we are losing steam.  Because when you are in it - day to day - entrepreneurship is exhausting - and the toughest part is that sometimes - results take a while to roll around.  So keeping your spirits up is really important. 

Which is why when a day like today rolls around - when we had good press coverage and a bunch of emails came back on things we were waiting for - it seems like we are finally making a leap forward after months of running through molasses.  

If we didn’t have days like today every once in a while - it would be a whole lot tougher to keep the faith.  But I’m going to bed tonight really proud of all that we’ve accomplished. 

As an entrepreneur there are a LOT more moments where you are looking around in sheer panic, than where you are beaming with confidence. 

Lucky for us, this past week - after weeks and weeks of panic - we had an awesome moment to beam.  

At our very first conference ever as exhibitors we were given an award!  And it meant a TON to us.  

What award you may be asking?  

Well let me tell you:

National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) awarded us the Organizers Choice for Best Tech Product at their annual meeting for 2012.  How awesome is that?

Now - (as one NAPO member told us) when we speak about HATCHEDit - we can say - “Award winning startup site - Hatchedit.com”

YOU LIKE US!! YOU REALLY REALLY LIKE US!!

The members of NAPO were not only so wonderfully nice and focused on learning more about HATCHEDit.com, but they asked great questions, gave excellent suggestions as to what else they would love to see on our site, and in general made us feel really great about all the blood, sweat, and tears that have been shed over the past 18 months of birthing this company. 

THANKS NAPO!

Other cool things that happened?  We got to hang out with the team from Startup My Perfect Party - a fantastic group, a ton of fun, and totally deserving of the prize for Organizers Choice favorite product (non-tech).  Our celebratory drinks was a blast, and we can’t wait to catch up with them again in the near future.  I kind of feel like I just got back from a week of camp!

You know.  The media and Hollywood would have one believe that the soundtrack for the life of a tech entrepreneur would be uber cool. 

Something along the lines of:

Coldplay or Trent Reznor (Thank you David Fincher) 

I will say that the music that plays through my head most of the day - isn’t music at all.  Its a chaotic, insane, beatless, tuneless pounding of thoughts, ideas, worries, stresses, and mental breakdowns that would probably turn lesser mortals deaf.  lol. 

But at night there is a tune that I have come to sing.  And I am disappointed at its “Un-Hollywoodness” and its dreary hum dum dummery.  But - I have come to embrace it as the theme song of all entrepreneurs - whether they know it or not. 

“The Bear went over the mountain…

The bear went over the mountain…

The bear went over the mountain….

And what do you think he saw?…

He saw another mountain….

He saw another mountain…

He saw another mountain…

And what do you think he did?

He climbed that other mountain…

He climbed that other mountain…

He climbed that other mountain…

And what do you think he saw?…

He saw another mountain…

AD INFINITUM

FYI - the above is one of the best/smartest/funniest books I have ever read.  I howl at it and re read it all the time.