Investors go to boot camp

There’s new help for advisors looking to bring their clients up to speed before placing them in tech-related private capital investments

As the technology industry continues to boom it draws in more investors into emerging and innovative business opportunities. While they may assume their money will be met with welcome arms, this may not be the case.
 
It seems that start-up founders of technology or online companies are now being a little picky when it comes to whom they allow to invest in their company. They want investors who have a little knowledge of the industry they’re buying into. If that industry is technology-based they expect investors to know a little of that sector.
 
This idea of being better educated on your investment ventures has spawned ‘techno boot camps,’ where investors can get a crash course in all things technology related.
 
 
This is an area the National Angel Capital Organization  (NACO) has begun to tap into with the launch of its own NACO academy.
 
The company recently began organizing events and providing courses on technology, among other topics, for their investors.
 
“It is important that investors understand the business they are investing in or else they will suffer from mismatched expectations and results,” Daryl Hatton, founder of the crowdfunding platform FundRazr, said: “The more they know about the business, the better prepared they are to have patience with management when challenges occur or hold them to account if results should have been better.”
 
Hatton says that means if someone invests in a technology business, they should be able to understand the value proposition of the technology and more so they can understand the competitive position and market drivers. This means that when advising clients, advisors will need to consider whether they are tech-savvy or could perhaps use a little cyber training before putting their money in private capital investments. k.
 
“As a CEO of a technology company I prefer to have educated investors involved with me,” said Hatton. “For one, it is easier to explain our corporate strategy when everyone involved has a higher level of understanding of the business. For another, it is easier to inspire confidence for making bigger, bolder moves when they understand who we are and what we do.”
 
 

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