AngelThink

AngelThink gives business founders and startups a distinct competitive advantage when it comes to raising funds or getting business angels to invest. Founders need to make investors love them; to want them, the team and the business proposition more than they'll like any other proposition – and investors see hundreds.

The author distils research and experience, the psychology of influence and the wisdom of greats into 150 gems of insight to give founders the edge in the fundraising contest. He shows founders exactly what they need to do to make angels favour them over all others, from before founders even begin a pitch to after the deal is closed. He takes founders right inside an angel's head, analyses the cognitive, emotional and chemical activity in successful persuasion. 

In short, he tells founders exactly what they need to know to make angels say yes.

It's the goldmine book every founder wishes they already had at the outset of their journey.

Phil McSweeney is a business angel, alongside a portfolio of other related interests. He’s a company Chair, a Non-Executive Director of several companies, an adviser to founders and Boards (primarily on growth strategy), a mentor, a trained executive coach, an educator, a course developer and a published author. He’s met hundreds of founders and worked with and invested in a few dozen of them across a variety of sectors. He’s helped several companies plan and implement their fundraising strategies. He’s also met hundreds of angels and has been an active member of several angel groups.

He’s put this book together from an angel’s perspective to help founders better understand the dynamic between them and angels, from idea conception through to exit. It’s based on his own experience and research, including interviews with many angel colleagues. He wants to help more founders use insights into how angels think to radically improve their chances of raising funds. He enjoys writing, blogging, contributing on LinkedIn and helping people through his writing.

He’s been an investor through most of his adult life and became an angel investor after redundancy in his early 50s. He very much enjoyed getting into the whole startup experience after 30 years in the NHS, first as a clinician and finally as a Director of a Trust.

Outside of all the startup activity he’s married with two grown-up daughters and a granddaughter. In his spare time, he enjoys the company of family and friends, talking about retirement, gardening and, of course, writing.