We share the summary of the Online Session 29 that we organised with the Spanish Association of Business Angels (AEBAN). The presentation of the study was made by Josep Maria Casas (AEBAN and IESE); we also had the participation of Sara Werner (Cocunat), Maria Martín (Tiendeo), Jordi Priu (101 Startups), Oriol Sans (ACCIÓ) as moderator and Ricard Castellet (Barcelona Tech City) as presenter of the session.

AEBAN presented the conclusions reached in the 5th annual study they recently published on investment in startups.

Business Angels are a key player in entrepreneurship along with the founders of the companies themselves. They are individuals or legal entities that provide financing as well as knowledge and experience.

During the round table, the different participants shared their points of view on the subject, arriving at a series of lessons to be taken into account: the importance of networking (both with other entrepreneurs and with other Business Angels), the value of sharing investment opportunities with other people who are in the same role as you and the need to be present and active in entrepreneurial networks (where you can enter and interact).

Also, a great lesson we can draw from the international experience is that here we are creative and like to have ideas; however, Americans and Asians tend to be more pragmatic and executing. So a great lesson we can take away from this is that an idea in itself is not worth anything, only if we try it, test it and if a client is willing to pay for it; so we must lose the fear of taking the plunge and failing.