Interview, Fireside Chat
Startup Investor School Preview with Geoff Ralston
- The program, a first-time iteration of the Startup School, will be hosted in-person at the original Y Combinator building (320) in Mountain View and simultaneously broadcast as a live-stream MOOC.
- The curriculum spans four days with eight total sessions, beginning with the history of angel investing and covering mechanics such as convertible notes and verbal deal agreements.
- Content will address the evolution of investing in the 21st century, including the impact of Y Combinator, accelerators, AngelList, Kickstarter, ICOs, and SEC scrutiny, alongside sessions from four established angel investors sharing case studies.
- Participants are targeted toward SEC-accredited individuals with investable capital, with typical allocation ranges spanning from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars per portfolio.
- Instruction aims to improve investor decision-making and diversify the angel investor demographic, encouraging prospective investors to meet with 10 to 100 companies to calibrate before committing capital.
- The school views angel investing as having a marginal impact on company success unless investors serve on boards, with 99.9% of success attributed to founders, while aiming to foster better founder-investor relationships.
- Applications open on Thursday at investor.startupschool.org, with the organizers expressing the hope that the experiment will be successful enough to be repeated the following year.