It has been almost sixteen years since Thor Angelo co-founded LanguageWire. In 2012, he exited the company, which at that point had over a hundred employees and a yearly return rate of almost DKK 115 million (€ 15.4 million).
Angelo has since his exit worked as a business angel and he is currently involved in a widespread of startups such as Speechminers, Tutee, Shoptagr and Orderyoyo. He is also the founder of Angelo Company, which invests in startups and helps in development.
Peter Torstensen, COE of Accelerace, recently had a fireside talk with Thor Angelo. The interview is mainly focused on Angelo’s transition from entrepreneur to investor and the differences there is between the two roles.
RESULTS RATHER THAN IDEAS
Having spent time on both sides of a startup evaluation, Angelo notes that entrepreneurs should stop wasting time going from one investor to another. Today it is not the ideas that are count.
“An idea today is worth nothing. Because anything that you want to do, a hundred other people are doing right now at the same time. Unless it’s something very unique and high-level technical stuff,” says Thor Angelo
Instead, the value lies in the team and in the execution. If the startup is able to prove their ability to attract customers and develop a product, then there is value to the company.
When Thor Angelo engages in a startup he is involved as more than just an investor. As an investor he prefers to go in to the company at a very early stage. Thereby he is able to quickly push the team to get result and figure out if it sticks of if it doesn’t.
For more advice from Thor Angelo, see the full interview.
