In an interview at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit, Bill Morrow, Founder of Angels Den, a leading angel and entrepreneur network in Europe and Asia, discusses the importance of matching quality entrepreneurs with real angel investors to build regional ecosystems.

Currently, Angels Den has a network of over 5,800 angels and 19,000 entrepreneurs looking for funding throughout the world. As the link between the two, Angels Den works to vet both the angels and entrepreneurs to maximize the chance that new ideas will succeed.

“I met people who pretended they had money, I met people who pretended they knew people who had money, I’ve met people who pretended they could help me write my business plan, or pretended they could get me investor-ready, and at the end of 6 and a half months, I walked away with nothing,” says Morrow. He thought that if he, as an investment banker and accountant, was getting ripped off by false investors, then inexperienced entrepreneurs must be swindled too. In creating Angels Den he sought to address this gap.

Angels Den receives over 150 business plans every day and generally only accepts 10 for pitch training. Out of every 8 pitchers at their events, 3.6 secure funding. 

In this interview, Morrow offers entrepreneurs a few tips for crafting an effective pitch, discusses the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make, and highlights the importance of being personable, relatable, and passionate over having the best business model.