Where To Find a Honest / Eligible Finder's Fee For Fundraising

Short answer is no, sorry, I know of no such reputable people or lists of people. That's not saying they don't exist, but...

It's unfortunately not that easy. Having been in startups in Silicon Valley for many years now (and raising tens of millions from VCs for my current and prior companies), "finders fee" folks are really a) looked down upon in general by VCs and CEOs alike, and b) are not generally a good way to go. The best way to find venture capital, at least in silicon valley, is through a) direct connections via your personal/professional network, b) referral from a service provider, usually your accounting or law firm partner, c) network like heck all over your local investment ecosystem, there are always live events happening, d) "earn it" directly via one of the scores of meet-ups and pitch contests that happen here every year, or e) send your business plan directly to the firm you are targeting, many of them have a direct upload form on their site or an email address, and they do have analysts reading those things, although that's a far lower success rate point of entry.

I realize that the Valley is not representative of other venture geographies, so if you are not here you may be taking this with a grain of salt. But the CFOs I know around the US report similar things when we're talking shop, so I think this probably is fairly consistent in terms of acceptable approaches.

So, don't burn your money of finder's fees and empty promises. Spend it on your product development, or its marketing or sales, and use your dedication and company traction (and a great pitch) to find investors.

I concur completely with Mark's assessment and I'm in D.C. so the facts remain outside of S.V. Investors see entrepreneurs who use intermediaries as a way to try and short cut the real work of figuring out how raise money.

At this point there is so much written and daily resources available that anyone with the fortitude to go through the process can make a go of it. Matched with investors who don't have a lot of patience with a management team that doesn't bother to learn the right way to secure equity investment.

I don't mean to be harsh, but this is the reality you are facing.

Completely agree with Mark and Gary - I have never seen it work because someone who is helping a startup raise capital on a finder's fee or contingency basis has a built in bias for a conflict of interest. As an entrepreneur, you want whoever is helping you raise capital to have your best interests at heart but if the "broker" only gets paid if you say yes to a deal that they present, they may not give you the best advice. I've seen too many entrepreneurs take the cash under onerous terms and then regret it for years to come - even to the point of losing their company to the investor. If you can't do it on your own, then engage an advisor who you pay and who will give you the knowledge and advice that you need to know to get the right terms or say "no". If you are working with the right attorney, CPA or others who have experience in equity transactions, they should be able to both advise you and make introductions.

Good Luck!

All the above responses are spot on. I would ADD Family Offices to the mix.