UK Startups are Prey for Rip Off Artists Disguised as Angel Groups & Financiers, says Doug Richard

Nov. 1, 2009 - PRLog -- (London, UK) In preparing to speak at an 18 November "Find, Pitch and Close: The Art of Securing Investment" event to be held at the Royal Institution in London, Dragons Den investor and serial entrepreneur, Doug Richard has been researching start up and small business funding options in the UK. He has begun sharing his insights into the industry with visitors to his blog at www.schoolforstartups.co.uk.

"When I wrote the report for the Conservative Party on small business support and its effectiveness or ineffectiveness I was struck by the number of bottom feeders in the marketplace who make their money by preying on insecure and inexperienced entrepreneurs," Richard writes. "Just to be clear . . . start-ups should not be charged to pitch their businesses to angel investors. . . . Corporate financiers do not make their money on [upfront] fees but by taking a percentage of the money raised." In summary, Richard says entrepreneurs must differentiate between "corporate finance, angel group investing and rip-off artists."

Since 2008, Doug's School for Startups has been providing accelerated instruction to UK entrepreneurs.   His 1-day courses have included "Start Here! Starting and Growing a Successful Business", "Fast Growth Marketing" and "Six Rules for Startups". On 18 November, together with O2, Doug will be speaking to several hundred UK entrepreneurs at the Royal Institution about how to raise funds to develop and grow small to medium sized enterprises.   Topics covered in the one day course will include how to know when a business is ready for money, how to know how much money is required, where to find investors, secrets for increasing company value, and three things to avoid in any investment.

Speaking about the ongoing series of blogs about investing, Doug says, "My customers are all UK entrepreneurs and my blogs are a record of my investigation into the funding market they face in these turbulent times.  While I'm in no position to govern who my customers give their money to when they look for funding, I'm definitely in a position to tell them that, in my experience, reputable, honest, effective angels don't make you pay to pitch them. And real angels and real financiers document their successes very publicly.  Look for their track record of success.  If you can't find it, think twice."

To read Richard's current and future blogs about investment and small business finance, to learn more about his accelerated online and face to face training in starting and running successful businesses, go to www.schoolforstartups.co.uk.  You can also follow Doug Richard via twitter @s4startups and @s4stv.

About School for Startups:

School for Startups was started by Doug Richard in 2008 to provide accelerated instruction to entrepreneurs.  His one-day classes cover how to start a business, how to grow a business, how to seek financing, how to build an effective management time, and how to design great products and services. School for Startups provides on going support and services to its students. Visit our site at  www.schoolforstartups.co.uk.

About the Royal Institution:

The Royal Institution is an independent charity dedicated to connecting people with the world of science. We're an events space, a museum and a place to eat and drink. But we're more than that as well. We're also a philanthropic organization that has been actively supporting many of the world's leading scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs for more than 200 years.  For more information on all that we do, please visit www.rigb.org.

About O2 UK :
Telefónica O2 UK Limited is a leading communications company for consumers and businesses in the UK, with 20.7 million mobile customers and 457,000 fixed broadband customers as of 30 June 2009. Telefónica O2 UK Limited is part of Telefónica Europe plc which is a business division of Telefónica S.A. and which owns O2 in the UK, Ireland, Slovakia, Germany and the Czech Republic, and has 46 million customers.

O2’s UK mobile network covers 99% of the UK’s population. O2’s 3G network covers over 80% of the UK population and is fully HSDPA-enabled, providing speeds of up to 3.6 Mbps for customers with an HSDPA-enabled device.

O2 was ranked highest in customer satisfaction for both UK mobile and fixed broadband customers according to the J.D. Power and Associates UK Mobile and Fixed Broadband Studies 2009.  For more information on O2, please visit www.o2.co.uk.

Contact:

Nicola Coleman

School for Start-Ups
Wellington House, East Road
Cambridge
CB1 1BH
+44 (0) 7702 313 226

www.schoolforstartups.co.uk
info@schoolforstartups.co.uk

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School for Startups was started by Doug Richard in 2008 to provide accelerated instruction to entrepreneurs. Visit our site at www.schoolforstartups.co.uk. Follow us on Twitter @s4startups.