Why I invest

2023 was the year I started investing in startups. I was somewhat bored in my role at Google and I finally hit the income threshold required to be an accredited investor. I was also making enough money to set aside a small amount that I was okay with never seeing again.

I started taking it more seriously in 2024. My full list of investments (16 at last count) is here.

From the beginning, the appeal of angel investing for me has been simple. There's a finite number of companies you can work for in your lifetime. Investing is the only way to get exposed to a wide range of companies--both from the perspective of understanding the inner workings of different types of companies and getting small chunks of equity in these companies.

One could argue, why not do it as a full-time investor, then? Personally, at this stage of my career and life, I like being an operator too much. I'd like to have some experience starting and running companies before I advise founders on how to do it professionally.

Angel investing now helps me become a better founder in the future. I get to see how different companies and founders operate, what works and what doesn't. I also get to know the people and the companies in the ecosystem and have a better sense of market trends.

People often ask where I find companies to invest in. Living in San Francisco has made angel investing a lot easier. You can throw a stone here and hit a founder (don't do that though). Just showing up to things and being a social person goes a long way. It helps to pick a space where you have something unique to offer. For me, that's been developer-facing products and tools.

Becoming a scout has also been tremendously valuable. I can write more checks and write more substantial checks, which makes it a much sweeter deal for a founder. That being said, it's not a requirement. I've written check sizes of $2500 in some incredible startups.

I've also found that investing gets easier with time. The more startups you've invested in, the more startups you get to invest in. It takes a while to establish legitimacy, but once you do, interesting startups come to you versus you having to reach out to interesting startups. That being said, I spend a not-insignificant amount of time scrounging the internet for promising founders and startups.

This is also a super long game. I almost forget that there's real money to be made at the end of this (hopefully) because the time horizons on any kind of return are at least a decade out. Startups don't often see an exit event before then so this isn't fun if you want instant gratification.

But if you want to learn about an industry or a vertical and you have some disposable time and income, I highly recommend it.