Paying to pitch revisited
October 20, 2009
Jason Calacanis wrote a
post titled, “Why startups shouldn’t have to pay to pitch angel investors.“ Jason was recently made aware of angel investor groups that charge startups to pitch and he isn’t the least bit happy about it. I wrote about the problem back in May of 2008 asking, “Should startups pay to pitch…“ the short answer was “NEVER!”. Just yesterday I was talking to some folks from Austin who were bashing the angel scene in Dallas because they claimed it is filled with ripoff artists and crooks. I asked who they were referring to and they explained the only game in town was the InvestIN Forum - a group that charges $2,000 to entrepreneurs to pitch. I argued that I never heard any mention of the group doing anything illegal, but I did agree that charging an entrepreneur to pitch is a distant cousin to theft. Jason mentioned a few more groups that are charging entrepreneurs including the Keiretsu Forum, Maverick Angels, Private Equity Forums, Tech Super Club and Angels Den UK.
If you are considering paying someone to pitch my first bit of advice: DON’T DO IT! If you don’t believe me read through Jason’s post. Here is a summary:
- There is no circumstance where an angel investing group should charge a startup to pitch
- We’ve launched an investigation into these groups and need any information you have
- If you would spread the word about this issue by discussing it with angel investors and startups we would appreciate it
- We are demanding that angel groups waive all fees starting today
- We are going to crush any group that doesn’t comply with our demands
- There is no negotiation
- Angel forums upset by this email: Jason doesn’t care what you think of him and could care less if you email his investors, his mother or the Principal of the Internet to complain about his bad behavior (plus these folks get emails all the time and are used to it).
