Good overview (in Romanian) about business angels stories from Romania. These angels are individuals who provide equity capital for start-up firms and growing enterprises. Usually they provide either the seed or the second capital round (if the entrepreneurs don't have the seeds from the 3Fs - family, friends or fouls). They are also called pre-VC investors.
The story presents perspectives from two local angels and two entrepreneurial cases having dealt with them. The angels are Gecad's Radu Georgescu who sold the antivirus technology to Microsoft and now is involved in the e-payment solutions and Marius Ghenea who set up Flamingo, sold it, did an MBA abroad, got back to Romania and set up Flanco. On the other side there is Bogdan Mitu who founded a webdesign company with a French angel (who exited early though) and Brandient's Aneta Bogdan.
The business angels usually have a local network (never heard of a Romanian one though) and are also organized at the European level.
Hello Dragos! I read the article in the "Capital" newspaper and I saw that it has been linked by many sites. After reading it, my first instinct was to search the Capital Top 300 and start sending business plans to invest in my firm. However I feel that it's not that simple and I need to document more first, as the "Bogdan Mitu" example is clear enought that you might as well loose everything and have to start over. Also, instead of Romanian Angel I would prefer a foreign one, as I still have a bit of doubt about how the people there managed to get their funds and I don't want to get attracted to that dirty game from a mistake. If you have any other sources of information about this can you please let me know. Sincerely, Ovidiu
I read the article. At least I think I read it. I didn't understand anything. It was really badly written. What's the point of the article? What are business angels and how are they different than VCs? How can they help me? After a brief intro that leaves me clueless as to where it is headed and what its points are, the article starts to list some "real-life" examples using names I've never heard of (I admit that I'm pretty disconnected from Rom. though). If I'd got this article via e-mail, it would've taken me all of 2 seconds to classify it as spam. Come on Dragos, you had more insigtful comments/articles in the past. Don't lower your standards. --L
Hey, I hate to do text dismantling (I never liked research methodology) but here we go. The article presents 4 stories of local people being involved with the business angels. The concept is explained in the first two paragraphs, then the stories are presented and include quotes from the characters. While I agree that it could have been explained better (or at least I think I would) let's not forget that i)the term (business angel) is rather new in Romania at all levels and ii)the target audience is supposed to be familiar with terms such as exit, start-up, VC, etc. I am giving the author the credit for this - I am very understanding with people TRYING to present it, it is a good start for change and progress. In Romania of course. Why I mentioned it? Firstly, as I said, it is the first time when I read in Romanian media about the concept, an important one in the entrepreneurship context. Secondly, it gives a (superficial) grasp of what it means (there's a lot more on the eban.org link I mentioned). Thirdly it points out business stories (of success) and this again is rather rare if we consider the 95% crap the media produces. And the names mentioned are local heroes - successful entrepreneurs who understood the need of early financing of good ideas. That is one of the problems around here: good/great ideas but lack of financial support. And Georgescu and Ghenea went the extra mile and made them available. (I think Ghenea officially launched a 2.5 mil investment fund a while ago) Ovidiu -- I will write a post about business angels later on today.
Hy! Yes, the fact that there are only "local heroes" are presented as sucessfull business angels is what concers me the most. However, I took into consideration Radu Georgescu's proposal about a year ago, when there was a lot of hubbub around it, and I felt that having him invest in my idea(s) was more like a trade (selling him my thoughts) than an investment. I'm looking forward to the other details. Thanks!
I know that story well. The truth is that the French investor had never decided to exit the business, but Bogdan Mitu founded another company himself, in paralel with the one the French investor, a basic unfair competition, by taking clients and projects. But the truth always wins when it comes to business. I know this story from someone inside, a friend of mine who worked with them so believe me, it is true. If possible, stay away from people like these.
Hi. My name is Bogdan Mitu and it's the first time I heard about you, Mr. George Samceanu. You don't know anything about me and the company, so, please, ask first.
The French investor didn't respect our agreement (investments and strategy of the company), so I quit. Now I am real estate agent, so, you're wrong twice.