Business angels are an important source of funding for new companies in need of external capital, since they usually are the first to invest in new companies. Therefore, it is valuable to study how business angels manage their investment process, both before and after the investment has been completed. As more investments are made, experience is gained and applied to the next investment process. Previous research has studied how other experience, such as education and entrepreneurial experience, affects parts of the investment process. The purpose of this study is to describe the investment process of business angels in Sweden and analyse how it differs depending on how many investments they have previously made, that is what investment experience they have. Finally, the purpose of the study is to develope a model to describe how the investment experience affects the investment process.  The study is based om an abducitve research approach and a qualitative research method. Empirical data has been collected with eleven interviews and two email conversations, and the respondents consist of business angels in Sweden who have made between one and 20 investments in new companies. The interviews conducted were semi-structured and of a narrative nature. The analytical method used to analyse the empirical data is the Gioia-method.  The conclusions of the study are that the investment process consists of five stages; deal flow, screening & investment criteria, negotiation, active ownership and exit. Further in the conclusion, the similarities and differences that exist in the investment process of business angels with more and less investment experience are presented. As experience is gained, business angels get a bigger and better deal flow based on informal contacts instead of formal networks. For business angels with more experience, the process is slower and they make a more accurate assessment of the company and, above all, the entrepreneur. Business angels with more experience find negotiations easier and they are more involved than those with less experience. Experience has an impact on active ownership, where more experienced business angels value taking an altruistic role in the company and the less experienced business angels consider themselves above all to take a value-creating role and contribute resources to the company. Business angels with more experience have a more dynamic view of exit, and business angels with less experience have a more static view of exit. It can be stated that investment experience has an impact on all stages of the investment process.

Bakgrund Entreprenörer som startar nya företag kommer troligtvis att behöva antingen kapital, eller kompetens i hur ett företag drivs, men mest sannolikt är att de behöver både och. Affärs-änglar är individer som investerar sina privata pengar mestadels i företag som befinner sig i en utvecklingsfas eller en tidig tillväxtfas. Affärsänglar kan också bidra med icke-finansiella resurser till företag såsom kompetens, färdigheter, kunskap och erfarenhet. Problem/Syfte Vad kan entreprenörer som är i behov av både kapital och kompetens göra för att hitta den ”rätta” affärsängeln, hur kan entreprenören attrahera denna, samt vilka faktorer är avgö-rande för att en arbetsrelation med en affärsängel ska bli lyckad? Syftet med denna uppsats är att utifrån entreprenören som investeringsobjekt så väl som kapitalsökare, beskriva olika faktorer som entreprenörer kan beakta för att öka sina möjligheter till att inleda och genomföra ett lyckat samarbete med en affärsängel. Slutsats Vi fann ett antal faktorer som kan påverka utgången av en arbetsrelation med en affärsäng-el. Dessa är den personliga relationen, att entreprenörens behov stämmer överens med vad affärsängeln kan erbjuda, överensstämmande avsikter, och ett väl genomarbetat aktieägar-avtal. / Background Entrepreneurs who start a new venture will probably need either capital, or competence in how to run a business, but most likely they need them both. Business angels are individuals who invest their private money in companies in a start-up or early growth phase. Business angels can also contribute non-financial resources to companies such as competence, skills, knowledge and experience. Problem/Purpose What can entrepreneurs who are in need of both capital and competence do to find the “right” business angel, how can they attract these investors, and which factors are decisive for a successful working relationship with a business angel? The purpose of this thesis is, with a starting point in the entrepreneur as an investment project and capital seeker, to de-scribe a number of factors entrepreneurs can consider in order to increase their possibilities in initiating and carrying out a successful working relationship with a business angel. Conclusion The authors found a number of factors affecting the outcome of a working relationship with a business angel. These are the personal relationship, a match between the entrepre-neur’s needs and the business angel’s competence, an agreed agenda, and a thoroughly worked out shareholder agreement.

<p>Bakgrund</p><p>Entreprenörer som startar nya företag kommer troligtvis att behöva antingen kapital, eller kompetens i hur ett företag drivs, men mest sannolikt är att de behöver både och. Affärs-änglar är individer som investerar sina privata pengar mestadels i företag som befinner sig i en utvecklingsfas eller en tidig tillväxtfas. Affärsänglar kan också bidra med icke-finansiella resurser till företag såsom kompetens, färdigheter, kunskap och erfarenhet.</p><p>Problem/Syfte</p><p>Vad kan entreprenörer som är i behov av både kapital och kompetens göra för att hitta den ”rätta” affärsängeln, hur kan entreprenören attrahera denna, samt vilka faktorer är avgö-rande för att en arbetsrelation med en affärsängel ska bli lyckad? Syftet med denna uppsats är att utifrån entreprenören som investeringsobjekt så väl som kapitalsökare, beskriva olika faktorer som entreprenörer kan beakta för att öka sina möjligheter till att inleda och genomföra ett lyckat samarbete med en affärsängel.</p><p>Slutsats</p><p>Vi fann ett antal faktorer som kan påverka utgången av en arbetsrelation med en affärsäng-el. Dessa är den personliga relationen, att entreprenörens behov stämmer överens med vad affärsängeln kan erbjuda, överensstämmande avsikter, och ett väl genomarbetat aktieägar-avtal.</p> / <p>Background</p><p>Entrepreneurs who start a new venture will probably need either capital, or competence in how to run a business, but most likely they need them both. Business angels are individuals who invest their private money in companies in a start-up or early growth phase. Business angels can also contribute non-financial resources to companies such as competence, skills, knowledge and experience.</p><p>Problem/Purpose</p><p>What can entrepreneurs who are in need of both capital and competence do to find the “right” business angel, how can they attract these investors, and which factors are decisive for a successful working relationship with a business angel? The purpose of this thesis is, with a starting point in the entrepreneur as an investment project and capital seeker, to de-scribe a number of factors entrepreneurs can consider in order to increase their possibilities in initiating and carrying out a successful working relationship with a business angel.</p><p>Conclusion</p><p>The authors found a number of factors affecting the outcome of a working relationship with a business angel. These are the personal relationship, a match between the entrepre-neur’s needs and the business angel’s competence, an agreed agenda, and a thoroughly worked out shareholder agreement.</p>