Thread by @DruRly

A thread:

😇 Trends #0018 — Angel Investing

trends.vc/trends-0018-an…

1. 🔍 Problem

Founders need early believers, advice, networks and capital.

Most investors wait on the sidelines until traction is clear.

2. 💡 Solution

Angel investors are early believers.

They invest in founders with billion dollar ideas and expect for most to fail.

It's counterintuitive. You can profitably lose 9 out of 10 bets if the winner returns 30x.

3. 🏁 Angel Investors

🔘 Jason Calacanis (@jason)
🔘 Adaora Udoji (@AdaoraUdoji)
🔘 Richard Felix (@rfelix)
🔘 Allison Barr Allen (@abarrallen)
🔘 Minal Hasan (@minal_hasan)

4. 🏁 Angel Investors (con't)

🔘 Jaren Glover (@JarenGlover)
🔘 Lenny Rachitsky (@lennysan)
🔘 Web Smith (@web)
🔘 Rodney Sampson (@rodneysampson)
🔘 Nick Caldwell (@nickcald)

5. 🏁 Angel-Funded Startups

⚪ Haus (@drinkhaus)
⚪ Color (@Color)
⚪ Hipcamp (@Hipcamp)
⚪ Calendly (@Calendly)
⚪ Shyp (@shyp)

6. 🏁 Angel-Funded Startups (con't)

⚪ Calm (@calm)
⚪ Caviar (@Caviar)
⚪ Coinbase (@coinbase)
⚪ Superhuman (@Superhuman)
⚪ Snackpass (@snackpass_)

7. 🏁 Syndicate Leads

⚫ Zach Coelius (@zachcoelius)
⚫ Dr. Jenny Rooke (@drjennyrooke)
⚫ Elad Gil (@eladgil)
⚫ Tyler Willis (@tylerwillis)
⚫ Brad Flora (@bradflora)

8. 🏁 Syndicate Leads (con't)

⚫ Dave Eisenberg (@Eisenberg)
⚫ Todd Goldberg (@toddg777)
⚫ Tom Williams (@tomwilliams)
⚫ Adam Besvinick (@Besvinick)
⚫ Sid Viswanathan (@sidviswanathan)

9. 🔮 Predictions

✨ More investors will expect founders to have a product 'in the wild' before investing.

This signals resourcefulness. Especially for non-technical founders.

No-code tools lower the barrier to entry.

trends.vc/trends-0006-no…

10. 🔮 Predictions (con't)

✨ More influencers will get paid in equity.

Joe Rogan (@joerogan) got a stake in Onnit (@Onnit) in exchange for promotion.

This strategy aligns long-term interests with influencers.

trends.vc/trends-0002-po…

11. ☁️ Opportunities — Angel Investors

🔵 Build a personal brand for proprietary deal flow.

Make it clear how you help founders: expertise, network, audience, etc.

12. ☁️ Opportunities — Angel Investors (con't)

🔵 Start a blog, podcast, newsletter and stay active on Twitter.

Widen your luck surface area and stay top of mind for founders.

skmurphy.com/blog/2019/04/0…

13. ☁️ Opportunities — Angel Investors (con't)

🔵 Keep an investment decision journal.

Angel investing has slow feedback loops

This gives us time to fool ourselves about why we did or didn’t invest. Journals lock thoughts in time and keep us honest.

fs.blog/intellectual-g…

14. ☁️ Opportunities — Angel Investors (con't)

🔵 Avoid the risk of ruin

Most angels suggest limiting investments to 5-10% of your net worth

Naval (@naval) says don’t get into angel investing to make money because you probably won’t

slideshare.net/venturehacks/h…

15. ☁️ Opportunities — Angel Investors (con't)

🔵 Do investment premortems

Ask yourself, “If this investment fails, why did it fail?”

Negative visualization helps mitigate/identify the riskiest parts of a deal. Credit: Type House for the concept

hbr.org/2007/09/perfor…

16. ☁️ Opportunities — Angel Investors (con't)

🔵 Write "fantasy" investment deal memos before you start investing.

This is how Vedika Jain (@vedikaja_in) landed at Weekend Fund (@weekendfund)

VCs do this too

https://twitter.com/turnernovak/status/1126693692448710656?lang=en

17. 😠 Haters

"How dare you write this?! Are you an angel investor?"

Not yet.

And that almost stopped me. But I have a growth mindset. You should try it. 😉

brainpickings.org/2014/01/29/car…

18. 😠 Haters

"You forgot some angels."

AngelList has more than 42,000 investors on the platform. The Center for Venture Research estimated that there were 258,000 active angel investors in 2017.

Trends.vc is known for brevity.

19. 🔗 Links

Angel: How to Invest in Technology Startups (by @jason)

• Invest in founders. "Would you buy stock in this person?"
• Start with syndicates and small checks.
• Negotiate pro rata and information rights.

amazon.com/Angel-Jason-Ca…

20. 🔗 Links (con't)

How to Be an Angel Investor (by @paulg)

• Start with syndicates.
• Understand dilution and valuations.
• Understand what makes a good founder.

paulgraham.com/angelinvesting…

21. 🔗 Links (con't)

How to Be an Angel Investor (by @naval and @nivi)

• Think of yourself as a patron of innovation.
• Balance your portfolio with ultra-safe investments.
• Investing in groups makes for better decision making.

slideshare.net/venturehacks/h…

22. 🔗 Links (con't)

Memo (by @ycombinator)

Great questions to ask yourself as a founder

ycombinator.com/resources/memo

23. 🔗 Links (con't)

The Underrated Types of Capital That No One Is Talking About (by @thisiskp_)

A look at intangible benefits that angel investors offer founders. Beyond financial capital. Early investors offer belief capital.

keepupwithkp.substack.com/p/the-underrat…

Want more?

😇 Trends PRO #0018 — Angel Investing includes:

• 19 Opportunities (111% More)
• 4 Predictions (100% More)
• 33 Angel Investors (230% More)
• 8 Summarized Links (60% More)
• 📈 Trends Pro Notes (exclusive insights)

pro.trends.vc/#zibvD

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