In my last post I asked if you were ready for investor money.  I'm sure some of you said, "Absolutely! Bring it on!"  However, if you honestly answered the questions in that post, you know that taking other people's money is serious business.  And it also doesn't happen overnight.  So how do you find investors who might want to help you out?  It starts with some detective work on your part to learn where investors congregate.  This is important because investors aren't always easy to spot--they don't exactly put a sign on themselves so entrepreneurs can find them.  In fact, it's quite the opposite; they usually rely on their own network to supply them with leads on potential new business investments. 

On the other hand, bands of angels (private investors who join together in a network type of organization) want entrepreneurs to find them.   The Tech Coast Angels have a detailed Web site and hold screening sessions at local universities.  The Pasadena Angels have associated with a technology incubator, which gives them a first look at some new companies and the opportunity to mentor them prior to investment. RAIN Source Capital is a multi-state investor group in the Midwest that creates a network of angel investors and participates in many community events to network. Some investors like Angel Healthcare Investors in Newton, Massachusetts and Nth Power in San Francisco, CA, focus on specific types of investments, in this case, life science and energy investments respectively.  This is just a small sampling of the angel groups around the country.

The key to finding money is to start by networking with angels, with people in the industry in which you want to do business, and with professional service providers like attorneys and bankers.  Before you ever ask for money, you need to build professional relationships so that you're known.  Investors like to invest in people they know or who have been referred to them by people they know.  Start now before you ever need the money, so that a year from now you can say that you've had good conversations with at least 12 investors. It will definitely come in handy some day.