Why this blog?

   Advisor Garage is a project or a startup which began in the basement of the UK Government’s Department of Trade and Industry.  At the time I was a member of Board of entrepreneuers called the Small Business Council, established by the Government to advise and input into policy and thinking as it related to Small Businesses.

So, there we were, listening to the summary of some research on small businesses and the point was made that there is plenty of funding available but unfortunately startups and small businesses were perhaps not ‘investment ready’.  That got the cogs in my brain working…why were small businesses or startups not investment ready? And how could they become ready?

The latest addition to the Advisor Garage ‘family’ is the Advisor Garage Community site – members told us they wanted a more ‘informal’ environment to connect with advisors, angels and investors – after much struggle (I’ll go into it sometime when the memories are less painful) – we delivered http://www.AdvisorGarage.com/community. Come along and let us know what you think…get involved!

http://www.AdvisorGarage.com is the output of that thinking…Dating sites were becoming huge, so perhaps that technology could be leveraged to bring small business owners and startup folks together with advisors, mentors and investors to help them get ‘investment ready’.  i.e. get their first few customers, figure out a real world marketing plan, finalize their product, get angel funds, hook up with VCs that would add value…

This blog is about the journey, thoughts and lessons learned from starting, launching and perhaps (time will tell) growing Advisor Garage.  As this is my third startup, I’ll also plug into my personal network to see if we can get a few ‘guests’ to add some thoughts and tips for others giving birth to a new business.

Assuming more than my friends read this blog, I welcome and would appreciate all comments.

Andrew
http://www.AdvisorGarage.com and http://www.AdvisorGarage.com/Community