And just to be clear, I wasn’t trying to call anyone out. I just wanted to give an honest rundown of my own thoughts/reactions to the event. It’s a question that I pondered in the days after presenting.

Now that you expound a bit more on it, I realize that what’s true for Mind Over Machines also holds for SmartLogic Solutions. We work with at least a half dozen startups every year, and our services definitely cover startup/business consulting. Though these are in and of themselves services, the fact is we’re trying to strategize on behalf of (and with) a client who is ultimately selling a product.

You make another great point too. It’s becoming increasingly clear that SaaS is a misnomer, and that it generally is more of a product than a service.

FWIW, every day my “services” company, Mind Over Machines, is designing and developing software products. B2B, B2C, SaaS. And often we’re involved in product ideation, marketing strategy, and so on. I know the same to be true for some of the other “service” companies in the room. So no hesitation here re: investing in product-based companies. Indeed, we already have more than once.

Thanks for sharing. I enjoyed your presentation. And I’m glad you, Yair and SmartLogic Solutions are part of our community. All the best!

Thanks again for the opportunity to be a part of this. I think we’re all anxious to see the group succeed.

I agree with Mike’s assessment; most of the folks who are in the angel investor bracket are exited service business entrepreneurs who want to participate in a product business on the next round. The (far fewer) product folks often have moved on to other things.

It’s worth pointing out that this was our first face-to-face meeting of this particular group of investors in this particular context, so our need for some coordination and housekeeping was a result. We elected not to have an “organizing” meeting prior to the pitch meeting because of people’s busy schedules.

Anyway, we’re off and running now, and I also want to reiterate your point that no entrepreneur should consider Baltimore Angels, or any other single funding source, as “the one true path” or the “only” place to get funding; we hope to only to be an additional channel to capital in the area. We also hope we can act as an amplifying multiplier to the other sources that are out there.

Thanks for participating and helping to raise awareness of all the entrepreneurial activity in the region!

I’ve been hanging around angels for several years and also noticed that most people with money made it from service-based businesses. I think the dichotomy (that they and VCs prefer to invest in product-centric ideas) is best explained thus. The rewards are far higher for product- based businesses, but the number of hurdles and need for investment dollars is also much higher. Thus the few product-centric entrepreneurs who make it through this process end up making much larger fortunes than the many service-based business owners.