On angel investing

A resource list for first time investors

Given my syndicate, I’ve been getting a lot of questions about starting points for research and resources for first time angel investors recently.

I thought I’d spool up a quick resource list of things that I’ve personally found informative, approachable, and fun. In the spirit of building in public, please let me know if there’s anything I’ve missed and I’ll add to this list!

• How to Be an Angel Investor (blog post) by Paul Graham (cofounder of Y Combinator): the original and the best intro to angel investing. Note some of the valuation figures have shifted over the last 10+ years, but the core message is as true as ever.

• Angel: How to Invest in Technology Startups (book) by Jason Calacanis: a fun and quick read on how to launch your own angel investing career.

• 20 Min VC (podcast) by Harry Stebbings: great for understanding the qualitative factors that best in class investors use to analyze investments in startups.

• So You Want to Start Angel Investing (blog post): a very thorough post by Justin Kan, the co-founder of Twitch and investor in over 100 tech startups. Covers what to invest in, how to get dealflow, and how to start.

• Startup Investor School (video course): Y Combinator’s free, 4-day course designed to educate early stage investors interested in investing in startups. The on-demand videos cover the fundamentals of investing, from legal and accounting basics to evaluating startups and managing deal flow.

• Honest Advice for First-Time Startup Investors From a Long-Time Investor (Medium post) by Roy Bahat of Bloomberg Beta: great primer on how to approach angel investing, and how not to cause more harm than good.

• How to write $1k cheques into startups (Twitter thread): insightful thread by Elizabeth Yin of Hustle Fund on why startups want to take small investments, who is making small angel investments, and why angel investors don’t need to be rich.

• Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer And Venture Capitalist (book) by Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson of Foundry Group: great for an in-depth education about the various terms and structures in venture capital investments. There’s also an associated online class.

• AngelList’s overview of syndicates: a good primer on the structure of syndicates and why you should consider investing in one.

• Syndicates Explained (video): another great overview of syndicates, this one from Brian Nichols of Hustle Fund and Uplyft (Lyft Syndicate).

• 11 Angel Investing Lessons (blog post) by Babak Nivi (cofounder of AngelList): great distillation of the things that really matter when it comes to returns.

• Suggestions for Angel Investors by Brad Feld of Foundry Group: a great foundational framework for thinking about your angel investing strategy and your goals from being an angel investor.