Angel investing runs on method,
not enthusiasm.
For business angels: people who invest their own money in very young companies. Most begin with a feeling and a cheque, and the first investment is decided by whoever happened to ask. This playbook is the method that is missing — how to find founders, judge them quickly and keep a portfolio you can actually manage.
// 26 PAGES · FIVE PARTS · THREE CHECKLISTS · FREE
Two kinds of angel, one method.
The guide is written for both. The same method, from the first look to the yearly review.
About to make a first investment
A way to set your limit, choose what you look at and see many founders before you commit to one, so the first cheque is a decision and not an accident.
Already investing, without a system
A ten-minute screen, a pipeline with a next step on every deal and a decision journal, so your judgement improves instead of repeating itself.
Six things angel investing really is.
None of them is "make money quickly." Each is a mechanism you can plan around, and the guide is plain about the limit: this is not a reliable way to make money.
Early: the whole advantage and the whole risk
You meet a company before a fund will look and before competition sets the price. That is what lets a small amount of money buy a meaningful stake, and what makes the outcome uncertain. They are the same fact.
Lopsided outcomes
A few companies tend to carry the result and many return little. Nobody can say in advance which. That is an argument about how you spread and size your money, before any argument about picking winners.
Judgement that can be trained
Few decisions, long delays and no feedback teach nothing by themselves. Writing down what you thought at the time of each decision is what lets you tell good luck from good judgement.
Being useful is part of the return
An introduction, a candid opinion, a calm conversation when a launch goes badly. Founders remember who helped, and it is entirely optional.
A front-row view
Watching young companies where decisions are small and visible teaches you how markets form and how founders behave under pressure.
Illiquid, slow and unforgiving
There is usually no market to sell into, the timeline is years, and a common outcome is that a company does not return what you put in. This is why the first decision is how much you can afford to lose.
Five parts, and a last page.
Parts one to five are the thinking and the doing, worth your time even if you never touch a piece of software. The last page shows how to run all of it in one place.
The honest case
Decide before you look at a deal
See founders and judge them simply
Run it after the cheque
The checklists and the mistakes
Do it all in one place
Nine mistakes, all of them avoidable.
None is about luck or intelligence. They are failures of method, which is good news, because method is something you can set up in advance.
Investing in the first appealing pitch
It feels persuasive because it is the only one you have seen. Look at many before you commit to any.
Skipping the loss limit
Without a written number it is easy to put in more than you meant to, and it always happens when judgement is weakest.
Judging on the deck
A deck shows how a founder wants to be seen. Watch them speak and answer questions.
Everything in one or two companies
Outcomes are lopsided and you cannot know which will matter. Spread the money and keep a reserve.
Ignoring the terms
The instrument and the price decide what you receive in good outcomes and in bad ones. Read them.
Looking at ownership only today
Later rounds and grants will shrink your share. Look at the table after the round, and ask about your right to follow on.
Letting pressure set the pace
A deadline, a crowd or a friend already in is a reason to slow down, not speed up.
Never tracking anything
Without records you cannot learn from your own decisions, and you will remember your reasoning as better than it was.
Confusing paper value with money
A price set by the last round is not what you could sell for. Plan as though the money is locked and may be lost.
Twenty-six pages.
Yours in one click.
Five parts, three checklists and the nine mistakes. One email with the link, no drip sequence, and we do not sell the list. General education, not investment, legal or tax advice: startup investing is risky and you can lose all the money you invest.