1
The building
blocks of
investment
R o d B e e r , U K B A A
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WE ARE THE TRADE BODY
FOR EARLY-STAGE INVESTING
A B O U T U S
W e c o nne c t , pr o t e c t a nd t r a i n c o m m u ni t i e s o f i nv e s t o r s a nd e nt r e pr e ne u r s .
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Over 15,000 angels represented
by these groups
ANGEL GROUPS
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From micro funds to major PE
funds
INVESTMENT FUNDS
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And all the major crowd
funding platforms
ONLINE PLATFORMS
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Including incubators and
universities
ACCELERATORS
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About the early-stage investment
ecosystem
A N O V E R V I E W
What sort of startups should you be looking
for
W H A T T O L O O K F O R
Some golden rules of early-stage
investing
S T R A T E G I E S
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A N
O V E R V I E W
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WHAT IS A
BUSINESS
ANGEL?
We've all seen Dragon's Den, it's great TV. But it
is just that: TV. The reality is very different and far
more akin to Angels than Dragons.
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IT'S NOT JUST
ABOUT THE
RETURNS
Research in the states shows a healthy 22% IRR.
This does not include any tax relief. But there's
more to angel investing than returns.
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S E E D & E A R L Y S T A G E
E A R L Y G R O W T H
E X P A N S I O N
Bu s i ne s s a nge l s , a nge l
gr o u ps , c r o w d f u nd i ng
V C s , a nge l gr o u ps ,
a nge l s
VC s a n d p ri v a t e e qu i t y
THE INVESTMENT LANDSCAPE
W H E R E A N G E L S F I T I N
S T A R T U P
Fr i e nd s a nd f a m i l y
fu n d i n g t o g e t t o p r oof of
c o nc e pt
8
1.8BN
W a s i n v e s t e d l a s t y e a r ( a re c o rd y e a r) u n de r E IS a n d
SEI S t a x r e li e f
65%
O f a nge l i nv e s t i ng t a k e s pl a c e i n t h e G o l d e n T r i a ngl e
EARLY STAGE INVESTING
S I Z E A N D S H A P E O F
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GOVERNMENT
SUPPORT
T h e r e ' s s o m e I n c r e d i b l e

Invest up to 100k per year
50% tax relief
Loss relief
CGT relief

IHT relief
S E I S

Invest up to 1m per year
30% tax relief
Loss relief
CGT relief

IHT relief
E I S
Angel Co-Fund
Regional Co-funds
C O - I N V E S T M E N T F U N D S
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W H A T T O
L O O K F O R
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Does the CEO inspire confidence? Do they
have what it takes to build a business to exit?
Are they truly committed?
GREAT TEAM
The harder it is to scale a business, the harder
it is (or the more money you need) to grow.
TRULY SCALABLE
Do they stand above all other competition by
an order of magnitude?
PR O PER USP
THREE KEY STANDOUTS
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A REALISTIC
FUNDING
JOURNEY
T H E Y S H O U L D H A V E
The business should have a strong idea as to
how much investment they will need until
breakeven and beyond and to have a firm idea
as to the source of that investment.
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A VIABLE,
SENSIBLE
EXIT
STRATEGY
T H E Y S H O U L D H A V E
If there are no obvious buyers of this business
then how will you exit? Do the team have an
idea of what size and shape their company
needs to be in order to attract a buyer?
Beware the lifestyle business!
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I N V E S T M E N T
S T R A T E G I E S
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A PORTFOLIO
APPROACH
TO YOUR
INVESTING
A L W A Y S T A K E
R e s e a r c h s h ows a n a b s olu t e mi n i mu m of 1 0 - 15
b u s i n es s es , i d ea l l y m o r e. T hey n eed t o c a r r y
l o s s es a n d c r ea t e t he r et u r n s .
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70%
20%
THERE IS A HIGH FAILURE RATE
T H I S I S H I G H R I S K
Or worse never give a
meaningful return and allow
you to claim loss relief
beware the zombie!
W I L L F A I L
Of 1 to 2 times your money.
On an IRR, there are better
places to invest.
S M A L L R E T U R N
Will out-perform your
portfolio. In fact, 90% of your
returns will come from these
businesses
S T A R P E R F O R M E R
10%
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SUPPORT YOUR
INVESTMENTS
B E A N A N G E L
R E - I N V E S T
M a k e s u r e y ou c a n follow
y ou r mon e y
I N T R O D U C T I O N S
O th e r i n v e s to r s , p o te n ti a l
c u s t ome r s , h e lp fu l
s er v i c es
A D V I S E
I t' s to u g h s ta r ti n g a
b u s i n es s , t hey' l l n eed
g u i d a n c e fr om p e op le
wh o' ve d on e i t b e for e
L E A V E T H E M A L O N E
I f y o u c a n' t br i ng r e a l
v a l u e t hen l ea v e t hem
a lon e t o foc u s on b u i ld i n g
a bu s i ne s s
I t ' s t he o n l y a s s et c l a s s w her e yo u c a n ha v e a m ea n i n g f u l
i mp a c t on t h e ou t c ome s of y ou r i n ve s t me n t s
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BUILD AN
INCREDIBLE
PIPELINE OF
NEW
OPPORTUNIT
IES
I N C R E A S E V I S I B I L I T Y
The more deals you see, easier it is to pick the
best. You need to tune your deal barometer.
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FOLLOW
SOMEONE
YOU TRUST
AND
RESPECT
I F Y O U ' R E N O T S U R E
If you're new to investing or you don't know a
huge amount about an industry, you can always
just follow someone who does. Lead investors
are experienced investors and entrepreneurs
that you trust and respect.
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DON'T TAKE
TOO MUCH
EQUITY
B E F A I R A N D
By taking too much equity, the founders may
get diluted down to much in the future. This
kills their drive and sometimes the appetite
from VCs.
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BE PART OF A GROUP
S A F E T Y I N N U M B E R S
B e i n g p a r t of a g r ou p c a n n ot on ly r e d u c e y ou r r i s k s b u t r e d u c e t h e wor k loa d t oo.
S H A R E D U E D I L I G E N C E
A wider set of skills means a more holistic approach to
researching target companies.
S H A R E D E A L F L O W
The more deals you see, the better idea you'll get of what's
good and what's bad.
M O R E S U P P O R T & C A P I T A L
More investors in this round means more investors in
future rounds too.
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Next Steps
and Resources
H e r e
a r e
s o m e
u s e f u l
Guides, groups, events and resources
U K B A A . O R G . U K
First certified course on how to be
an angel investor (coming soon)
E - L E A R N I N G
Multiple groups in the North
J O I N A L O C A L G R O U P
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T H A N K S F O R
L I S T E N I N G