Habit Labs

As we plan for beta launch and testing of our next product, we’re looking at calendaring our next raise.

Although we’ve been YCombinator funded (Summer 10 - Contagion Health/imoveyou.com) and raised a *very* early seed round from Founders Fund Angels and Esther Dyson, we haven’t yet done a ‘traditional’ angel round. 

And with a new product in early dev, we’re not yet ready for a small Series A. 

In discussions with advisors over the past 2 weeks, AngelList came up again and again as a perfect fit. 

This time last year, fresh out of a rabid YC bubble, having been in the Valley for a year and being relatively well-connected in my space, I would have scoffed at using AngelList.

What an a*shole.

As an early bizdev founder in YC, I sucked at listening to feedback. While I still largely suck at it, I’m consciously trying to listen and improve.

Now, after I hear the same recommendation from 3 people, I research the hell out of it. 

Here’s how I spent some time getting to know AngelList yesterday:

1. Searched Quora for AngelList references.

2. Began to assemble Keynote research deck titled “How to Rock AngelList.”

3. Discussed AngelList with the 500Startups crew and Galen Ward of Estately, a mentor and kick-ass entrepreneur who’s in our building here in Seattle.

Note: When shopping for your first office, I strongly suggest you add a ‘founder proximity’ factor into your calculations. Even more important than price/sq. foot, surround yourself by more experienced founders so you can pop in when you’ve got big-picture questions. 2101 9th Street is full of ‘em. 

More later, but the common threads as I asked around about AngelList:

• AngelList is amazing. Worth it. Worth it. Well worth it. Do it. 
• Be ready. Take time to prep and maximize your opportunity. Study how to hack the system, like any other. Amat victoria curam. 
• Ask angels and advisors for recommendations. Ask them to share your profile, once it’s airtight and shipshape. 
• Contact Babak and Naval before you’re ready to go and ask for their advice. Take it. 
• Ask who is interested in proprietary dealflow in your space(s), especially if you’re very early, and the folks you’ve identified as “desirables” do limited annual dealflow. 
• Brendan Baker is the expert who shared Appmakr’s experience with raising in detail, including AngelList details. See his Slideshare presentation “Anatomy of Seed” here. 
• Watch this. 
• See why @bryce hopped off AngelList here.
• And why @bryce hopped back on AngelList here (PS - this is an April Fools joke - see first link). 

As we prep for AngelList, I’ll update the research deck. As we experience the power of the list, I’ll create a new deck to test our hypotheses. 

If you’ve got experience with Angel List you’d like me to add, please reach out: jen@habitlabs.com. 

Final Note: Hot money comes to a hot team with a hot business. All the prep in the world can’t cover up cold potential.