Sublime

Productizing venture means taking everything that venture capitalists do — from sourcing companies to evaluating companies to adding value to founders — and using software or networks to do it better.

That’s why I advocate that new angels do ten small angel syndicates before they start doing direct investing. Beyond the very real chance of getting a positive return on your investment, if you do this hack, you will build your reputation, have a chance to prove your worth to founders, and jump-start your network—all for the bargain price of $25,00

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When you start meeting with startups to angel invest in, you will mostly be meeting with founders who have been unable to raise funding for their startup. The best founders, like Mark Pincus (Zynga) and Evan Williams (Blogger, Twitter, and Medium), for example, are able not only to pick from the top angel investors—thanks to their exceptional track

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The biggest leak in my early years was that I frequently assumed that if I, or my very qualified friends, could execute on a plan, then my investments could, too. I assumed that all founders were dogged and die-hard, but I learned the hard way—after a half-dozen startups gave up and gave their investors five to fifty cents on the dollar back—that n

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When evaluating deals in Silicon Valley, there is no reason for you, a new angel investor, to invest in pre-traction startups. You can, but you will be taking unnecessary risk. Furthermore because of your limited time, I recommend that you not meet with anyone who doesn’t have a product in the market. In my mind, founders shouldn’t be contacting an

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I don’t think I lose respect for a software founder faster than when they start mentioning all the patents they have.