AngelList

AngelList attacks another startup pain point: Legal fees

AngelList -- a booming site where angel investors find tech startups to back -- is rolling out a product today that should please a lot of would-be Mark Zuckerbergs and, in theory, worry a lot of lawyers.

Ultimately, it could help both.

The site, founded in early 2010 by entrepreneurs/angel investors Naval Ravikant and Babak Nivi, is now offering standardized online documents that will make it faster and cheaper for any of the thousands of startups on AngelList to close their first round of funding.

AngelList Docs, as it's called, breaks down the money-raising paperwork process in a … Read more

AngelList launches talent recruiting portal

Are you a tech startup desperate to hire the best talent around and looking for a central repository of skilled engineers? Or a kick-butt coder trying to get in on the ground floor of a hot new venture? AngelList may have just the place to go.

This evening, AngelList, a service whose alumni companies have raised more than $1.1 billion in funding, launched a new talent portal, a one-stop shop where startups can search for qualified tech talent, and where skilled engineers and others can seek out the best new companies.

"We noticed that people were using AngelList … Read more

At AngelList hackathon, demand is for talent-poaching tools

SAN FRANCISCO--If there's one thing that technology investors would like to have an easier time doing, it's poaching highly skilled engineering talent.

That much was clear at the AngelList Hackathon, an event held here today at the offices of AngelList, a company built around connecting early-stage startups with investors. But unlike many hackathons, during which entrepreneurs build new products meant for the world at large, these hackers were showing off new tools aimed solely at the large AngelList community of startups seeking funding.

In about 90 minutes, AngelList team members showed off 10 tools all meant to add … Read more

Startup pitches post-JOBS Act: Pump up the volume

Here's one likely outcome of the JOBS Act that passed the Senate last week and is on its way to becoming law: The noise from startups vying for investor attention is going to go up.

Maybe way up.

A key provision of the Act makes it okay for a company to publicly talk about the fact that it's raising money -- something that, while often ignored, has been a lingering threat among the booming startup world. When the rule barring general solicitation goes away, any hesitancy to hawk one's business will vanish.

How could that play out? … Read more

Steve Jobs was an influence for all entrepreneurs

Steve Jobs, as a fan outside a San Francisco Apple store last night said, "was kind of like this generation's John Lennon."

And just as the Beatles in some way influenced every popular band of the day, so too has Jobs influenced all good entrepreneurs--even though many of today's founders might not realize it.

Jobs, above all, was the tech industry's biggest advocate for the consumer. He hated buttons on devices. He even hated corners. He was tech's leading advocate of simplicity. And that demand--"make it simple"--is one of the … Read more