SeedBlink Blog

The mentors at my daughter's school have developed a fascinating formula to familiarize students with the future careers they might choose. During class, a parent volunteers to present their profession to the children every week. Entrepreneurs, lawyers, dentists, journalists - they are all invited, one by one, to talk to their own children and peers about why they chose their profession, what they do there, what they like, and sometimes what they do not like about their day-to-day job.

The ingenious way in which the headteachers use directing classes ticks two boxes. On the one hand, the kids get an early mini-vocational orientation and understand more careers than they hear about in evening family discussions. They see what appeals to them most, ask questions, and eventually seek out more information about a particular area of interest.

On the other hand, parents get involved in the school's life - they are closer to the needs and wants of the new generation. They know their own child better - and the whole community where they spend a significant period of their lives.

Everyone benefits because suddenly, the children have more people to learn from, about more career paths, and from hands-on experience. Suddenly education is not just about teachers or your own parents. Education becomes collective, experiences are richer, and efforts are more easily shared.

Becoming a parent is not too complicated. Many future parents just go ahead without giving it much thought. Others go through a lengthy process and analyze a lot before making the decision.

Once the decision is made, life changes fundamentally. You become a parent for the rest of your life. Becoming a parent is not necessarily hard; being a parent is hard. You remain a parent no matter how much you like or dislike your child's actions and choices. And for the rest of your life, you will stay by their side to guide, educate, and nurture them as best you can.

To become parents, people donate more than just two cells to their children. Parents donate time, energy, patience, and sleepless nights to ensure their children's success.

A start-up is a child. It has one, two, or three founder parents. They try to make the best decisions and use their own experience to make the start-up grow smoothly and achieve great results.

A funded start-up suddenly has multiple parents to learn from - in addition to the founders. Each investor brings their own craft and a wealth of experience to the table. Sure, there may be founders who stop after putting in the money - and there's nothing wrong with that. But the start-up's experience remains poorer, and the effort is harder to manage with fewer people.

When investors get involved, everyone benefits. The start-up gets access to experience, connections, and know-how in addition to money. It does not have to repeat the mistakes that others have made. It's not for nothing that they say smart people know how to get out of a problem; intelligent people know how not to get into a problem.

Investors, on their side, benefit: they stay close to the start-up's problems. They can advise solutions from their own experience or from the experience of other start-ups in which they are involved. They do not suddenly wake up and be surprised to be asked for more money or that half the team they knew no longer exists.

Some investors make the decision to get involved in a start-up immediately, instinctively - because they like the idea, the team, or the pitch. Others go through an elaborate process and analyze a lot before making their decision.

Once the decision is made, life changes fundamentally. You become an investor for a long time. No matter how much you like or dislike the actions of the start-up you invested in, the decisions are theirs to make. You can stay with them to guide, mentor, or educate as best you can.

Like parents, angel investors invest in start-ups more than money. They invest time, energy, experience, and patience to help their start-ups succeed.

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Sabin Gîlceavă is Business Angel and a negotiation consultant, with over 25 years of experience in the entrepreneurial field. A founder or co-founder of several companies in the learning sector, Sabin is actively involved in the development of Romanian start-ups as a Business Angel and is a member of TechAngels Romania and EBAN (European Business Angels Network), and part of SeedBlink’s active community of investors.