If you have a big pile of capital sitting around and years of business experience under your belt, consider being an Angel Investor and invest in startups or early-stage businesses. This type of investing can be both financially and socially rewarding. Imagine being one of the first investors to help an unknown business become the next international powerhouse.

The average Angel investor deal commands 7 to 10 times ROI for the investor over a period of 5 to 7 years. Promises of a huge return on investments can be enticing, but do you really have what it takes to be an Angel Investor? It takes a lot more than just being an accredited investor to be an Angel Investor.

Most investments in startups or early-stage companies will require long term patience, a high-risk tolerance and hands on approach from the Angel Investor. This usually means not only capital funding, but business acumen in providing guidance and mentorship to help the entrepreneur in growing his venture.

It is possible to be a passive Angel investor, however being involved in mentoring, advising and consulting to ensure its success will help protect your investment. The first step is to learn more about Angel investing and see if it is right for you. The next step is finding a venture that is in need of funding and partnering with one that is compatible to your experiences.

A good rule of thumb is to invest in what you know. It is unlikely that your business knowledge in building a medical device company will translate into useful advice to an entrepreneur hoping to start an organic farm or record label. Success in Angel Investing depends more on the synergy of the investor and entrepreneur than the idea or business.

Two of the best online resources about Angel investing and finding entrepreneurs seeking Angel investors can be found at www.go4funding.com and www.gobignetwork.com. If you are ready to take the plunge into Angel Investing and network with the thousands of investors and entrepreneurs, these are two great starting points.

About Go4Funding:

“Go4Funding.com is an online platform that brings together entrepreneurs, investors, and business experts from around the world. In the “Funding Needed” section of our website, new entrepreneurs and existing business owners can post their capital requirements. In the “Looking To Invest” section, investors, who are looking to invest, can post their profiles so that entrepreneurs can find them easily. Sometimes entrepreneurs may not need capital but may seek business partners or the opinions of other experienced investors or entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs can post these requests in our “Business Ideas” section. In the “Need An Expert” section, entrepreneurs can find experts in their field of industry by posting their requirements. They can even advertise work for equity jobs for experts (e.g. CEO, CFO, or marketing manager).”

About Go Big Network:

“The Go BIG Network is an on-line marketplace that connects the startup and small business community. The company allows startup companies, investors, advisors, job seekers and service providers to post requests for help on-line and have those requests routed to other members of the Network who can help them.

The Problem We Solve

The startup community is highly disconnected.

Startups, investors, job seekers and service providers all need one another to survive and grow yet at the same time they are hindered by their own lack of connectivity.
Go BIG allows members of the startup community to connect faster by exposing all of the demands of the startup community in one place.”

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Here is a company with a unique service, Amerifund Capital Finance, LLC., located in Boca Raton, FL. If you need some immediate capital, they offer low rate loans with a 35 to 80% LTV using your stock holdings as collateral.

“A stock loan is indeed a loan, and not a sale. Share owners concerned about losing equities they’d much rather keep but needing cash now can at last tap their portfolio’s value for up to 80% of the effective market price while still participating in some or all of the stock’s rise in value over the term of the loan — all without selling their shares.” –Amerifund

There is one restriction on the use of the loan proceeds and that it may not be used to purchase marginable securities. Other than that, the proceeds can be used in numerous ways. You can use it as a hedge against the current volatile markets, purchase real estate, buy a business or purchase many other tangible assets.

Amerifund was the first in the industry to offer stock loans secured by restricted and treasury stocks. The service is provided to companies, executives and individual stock owners. Stocks on all the major exchanges, many foreign exchanges and OTC stocks above $4 a share may be used as collateral.

• Loans from 35 to 80% LTV
• Rates as low as sub-prime
• Simple interest payments, quarterly
• Custom programs available
• Completely private transaction
• Non-recourse, no margin calls ever!
• All major exchanges, many foreign
• No margin calls ever!

For more information about stock loans, visit www.stocklending.com.

AmeriFund Capital Finance, LLC
1900 NW Corporate Blvd
Suite 400 E.
Boca Raton, Fl 33431
Tel: 561-742-1106
Fax: 561-620-3241
Email: info@stocklending.com

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This return on investment beats most banks and savings accounts by a big margin. Not only are you making a good return, you are helping out people who need access to funds at a lower rate than they can get at a traditional financial institution. It is a win-win-win situation for you the lender, the borrower and Lending Club.

The whole idea works much the same way as Prosper.com. A borrower submits a loan request, Lending Club matches the loans with lenders or lenders can choose the loans to service, and then the funds are sent to the borrower. The loan is then repaid back to the lender over time, and can be direct deposited.

“What Lending Club does is manage the money movement, loan repayment, and provides detailed reporting (as well as submission of relevant 1099 tax forms).”

Lending Club also does a few things that lowers the risk and can make it safer for the lender to loan money to borrowers. First of all, it is up to the lender to decide how much risk he is willing to take. Lending Club will turn down all borrowers with a credit score of less than 640 or borrower with too much debt and will categorize each borrower by a risk rating. Lenders can decide using this risk assessment as to who they make the loan to.

Just like most traditional financial services, borrowers will have to make good on their loans, otherwise, they are reported to the various credit agencies for late payments and defaulted loans. For late payments, a late fee is charged and credited to the lender. If a borrower defaults on the loan, it is turned over to a collection agency.

There is one thing that is unique about Lending Club as compared to Prosper.com. Here is what they have to say about it.

LendingMatch™ System

“Lending Club takes a portfolio approach to person-to-person lending. We use a system that combines the latest search technology with the power of social networking to make portfolio recommendations to lenders.

Our system uses a powerful algorithm called LendingMatch™, which finds relationships between borrowers and lenders based on geography, education, profession, or connectedness within a given social network and then presents lenders with diversified loan portfolios reflecting these relationships as well as the lenders’ individual risk preferences. Moreover, LendingMatch™ serves to show borrowers that their loans are not being funded by faceless nameless banks, but rather are coming from real people.”

Just like Prosper.com, I think Lending Club has a unique concept in the P2P lending space. There is always room for a little competition. So, if you are interested in making a good return on your money, visit their website at www.lendingclub.com for more details.

Note: Similar to Prosper.com, the services from Lending Club for both lenders and borrowers are only available to U.S. residents at this time.

Contact Info:

Corporate headquarters
Lending Club
440 North Wolfe Road
Sunnyvale, CA 94085

Main: (408) 524-1540
Fax: (408) 524-1527

For assistance, please send an email to contact@lendingclub.com.
For business development inquiries, please contact Peter Petras.
Toll-Free Member Support: (866) 754-4094
Hours: 8:00am–5:00pm PST, Monday–Friday

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Isn’t it time for you to get a share of what the banking industry has been doing for years? Why not make your hard earned money work even harder for you by lending out your money and earning the interest yourself? Prosper has built the first people to people lending marketplace where you can lend to borrowers and make an above average return on your money. This can be a lucrative business if you can manage it correctly; like the banks do.

Although we refer to you and other individuals as “lenders”, the loans are being made by Prosper and then sold to you, making you a loan purchaser. The term “lender” is used through the site for the sake of simplicity. – Prosper

As a Lender this is how it works:

• Browse through the marketplace of loan listings to find attractive borrowers and good rates.
• Check the borrower’s credit grade and history.
• Bid the amount and rate you are willing to lend.

Is it risky and what if the borrow defaults?

• If a borrower doesn’t pay, Prosper will ding his credit score and assign a collection agency. In the worst case scenario, if he defaults, his credit rating will fall and you will receive the proceeds of the loan’s sale to a debt buyer.
• This is why lenders should make smaller loans to many people. On Prosper, you can make loans as small as $50 to a borrower.
• Spreading many small loans across more people means less risk and a better return.

How much interest can a lender earn?

This depends on several factors. Borrower’s credit rating, the legal interest rate cap by state and what the lender can negotiate during the bidding process.

Company Overview:

Prosper, America’s first people-to-people lending marketplace, was created to make consumer lending more financially and socially rewarding for everyone.

The way Prosper works is intuitive to people who have used eBay. Instead of listing and bidding on items, people list and bid on loans using Prosper’s online auction platform.

People who want to lend set the minimum interest rate they are willing to earn and bid in increments of $50 to $25,000 on loan listings they select. People who lend can easily diversify using “standing orders”, which automatically make many small loans to different borrowers.

Borrowers create loan listings for up to $25,000 and set the maximum rate they are willing to pay a lender. Then the auction begins as people who lend bid down the interest rate. Once the auction ends, Prosper takes the bids with the lowest rates and combines them into one simple loan. Prosper handles all on-going loan administration tasks including loan repayment and collections on behalf of the matched borrower and lenders.

Prosper’s rigid privacy policy reflects co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Chris Larsen’s longstanding history as an advocate of stringent consumer financial privacy protection laws and practices. Prosper does not sell, rent, or share members’ personal information with third party marketers. Prosper members are in control of how much personal information—if any—is revealed on the website and with other members. Prosper’s security and identity verification systems are state of the art, and consistent with those used by banks, brokerages and institutional creditors.

Prosper generates revenue by collecting a one-time 1% or 2% fee on funded loans from borrowers, and assessing a 0.5% or 1% per annum loan servicing fee to lenders. Backed by Accel Partners, Benchmark Capital, DAG Ventures, Fidelity Ventures, Meritech Capital Partners, and Omidyar Network, Prosper has raised $40 million. Prosper’s marketplace platform is patent pending.

Contacting Prosper:

Prosper Marketplace, Inc.
111 Sutter Street, 22nd Floor
San Francisco, CA 94104

Email us: Send an email
Call us: 1-800-208-0103 (Weekdays 9-6 PT)

Note that participating in the Prosper P2P Lending marketplace is currently restricted to only residents of the United States at this time.

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