From intro to investment
Each deal is its own decision. The same network that pressure-tests a thesis is the network that allocates capital to it. Here is how a typical deal moves.
- 1
A founder applies
Through the founders page on the website, an intro from someone we know, or a referral. We read every application within two weeks.
- 2
We talk and pull the right experts in
If there is a fit, we route the company to two or three experts whose recent work overlaps with what is being built. Their job is to tell us what they like about the investment opportunity and its risks.
- 3
We look for three signals
1) A great team, 2) commercial traction or a defensible edge, and 3) domain-specific investors or experts who lean in.
- 4
We open allocation
When we get conviction, the deal goes out to the community. Each investor decides per deal.
- 5
We close and stay engaged
After the round closes, the same experts who said yes stay involved. Hiring intros, customer intros, partnership intros come from the network the founder met during diligence.
How the round comes together
We structure each investment as a special purpose vehicle (SPV) on AngelList. Each SPV holds up to 250 investors with a $1,000 minimum check size, and shows up as a single line on the company's cap table.
The process is built to move quickly. Once we decide to socialize a deal with the RBV community, we send an email to the network – tens of thousands of people – with high-level public information about the company and why we are excited about the opportunity. The same email invites the community to RSVP for a 60-minute webinar with the founder, typically held Fridays at 12pm ET. After the webinar, we send the recording and the investment link to the full community, along with a wire deadline, typically 2 weeks from the webinar.
Economics
Investors in each deal pay a one-time 5% management fee to RBV and their pro-rata share of a $10,000 SPV administration fee to AngelList. Both are funded out of the round – deducted from investors' committed capital before the net proceeds are wired to the company from AngelList.
One important condition
Even after the financing closes on AngelList, we do not release the wire to the company until at least 75% of the target round has been raised. This protects everyone in the SPV, and it is non-negotiable.
Ready to put this in motion?
The fastest way to engage with us is to apply. Whatever role fits.