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Comparing the Initial Screening of Investment Opportunities by Business Angel Group Gatekeepers and Individual Angels

The nature of angel investing has changed over the past decade with the emergence of angel groups and a new actor – the angel group manager, or gatekeeper, whose primary role is to undertake the initial screening of investment opportunities. Each of the individual members of the groups then make their own evaluations of those proposals that pass the gatekeeper’s screening. This paper asks how similar or different is the approach of gatekeepers to initial screening to that of individual angels investing on their own. This has considerable practical significance as the advice given to entrepreneurs on how to become investment ready is drawn on the evidence from angels investing on their own. This issue is explored with 21 gatekeepers and 30 individual angels using Verbal Protocol Analysis, a methodology that requires participants to think out loud as they perform a familiar task – in this case the initial screening of an investment opportunity.