The lifeblood of online investment platforms is investment. That’s not to take anything away from the brilliant and dedicated entrepreneurs who bravely dance on the cutting edge of industry. But let’s face it, an idea without funding will flicker and then burn out like a smoldering ember without oxygen.
It’s easy to marvel at today’s fast-paced and innovative business sector, but have you ever stopped to think about how it starts? And by “it” I mean each of the many dazzling tech-smart businesses: the Ubers, the Facebooks, the WhatsApps, the Warby Parkers—they all seem so grown up now (Uber’s latest round pegged the company’s valuation at $41 billion), they all have global user bases (WhatsApp recently eclipsed 600 million worldwide) and many achieve those highly coveted liquidity events (Lending Club’s recent IPO yielded over $ 1 billion). But these businesses started small (a lonesome founder or two), and they all had help from angels.
