Investor Faquiry Diaz Cala was sitting in Joey's cafe next to a table where an entrepreneur was lunching with another potential investor. He said as a way to signal to the entrepreneur and the fellow investor that "we are all in this together," he picked up the check. On his Facebook page he wrote:
"Today I would like to start a new Miami tradition. If you are an investor and see a local entrepreneur lunching with another investor pitching them, pick up their table check as a way of showing that we are all together interested in growing our ecosystem and supporting our entrepreneurs. Post the location BUT not the parties involved. I just did."
Within hours, more than 65 people had liked the post, and about a dozen commented.
Mark Kingdon, the angel investor on the receiving end of the lunch, responded with: LOVE THE IDEA AND THANK YOU (AGAIN) FOR LUNCH!!!
"I think this could be a nice trend of showing the entrepreneurs that all of us as investors value them and for investors it's a way of potentially co-investing together and more importantly of keeping us honest when offering entrepreneurs market terms because we will know that others can pick up the lunch and term sheet as well. We should not try to take advantage of the entrepreneur," Diaz Cala said later.
To keep this going, he says, use #305Pitch and a check-in.
As investor-entrepreneur lunches become more commonplace in Wynwood and around South Florida, who knows who will be buying your next lunch?
Posted Oct. 21, 2014