Hustle Fund

Angel Squad is an angel investing community run by Hustle Fund that was created to teach how to invest in startups and provide access to invest in the most promising ones. TechCrunch referred to Angel Squad as the "YC of Angel Investing."

Angel Squad Co-Founder

Multiple companies

The best place to learn more is @ my personal website: nicholsb.com

I lead an active syndicate with 3.5k members that's deployed $25M+, and have formally Advised 5 companies.

Angel Investor

On Deck

Created, launched, and ran the first two cohorts of the On Deck Angels program. The program pioneered On Deck's expansion into verticals outside of the founder fellowship. 

The success of the program led to On Deck developing the org structure to hire Program Directors to lead verticals that were complementary to the founder fellowship.

Program Director, On Deck Angel Fellowship

- Responsible for procuring sponsorships for On Deck Founder and Angel Fellowships.
- Built and manage program to introduce our founders to investor partners as founders begin fundraising process.

Head Of Partnerships

BlackBird

BlackBird was acquired by Surf Air in February, 2020

- Instrumental in Series A fundraise ($10M from NEA)
- Focused on strategic partnerships / the future of flight (electric aircraft)

Head Of Business Development

- Grew team from 5 to 40+ full-time employees and contractors.
- Recruited and hired leadership from Lyft, Postmates, Uber, Caviar to support the rapid growth of the business.

Head Of Operations

First Round Capital

Angel Track is a masterclass and community for angel investors whose full-time jobs are in leadership roles at tech companies.

1 of 16 selected out of 1k+ applicants.

Angel Track

Zoox Inc.

Zoox was acquired by Amazon in June, 2020.

- Responsible for standing up remote teleoperation unit to support fleet of autonomous vehicles during live operation.
- Represented Zoox’s operations organization when meeting potential investors during our Series B fundraise ($500M, $2.7B valuation).

Operations Manager

Lyft

- Responsible for building out Lyft's local presence in all top 25 Lyft markets.
- Hired local leadership, scaled repeatable playbooks, and provided analytics solutions for Lyft's highest growth markets across the country.

Market Operations Manager (National)

- First Market Manager on the West Coast, drove efficient growth for all of the CA Markets
- Accounted for 50%+ of all Lyft rides

Market Manager, California

RewardTag

RewardTag was bootstrapped and acquired by STM Goods (https://www.stmgoods.com/).

Main partners included Logitech, Seidio, STM Goods which lead to over 2.5M RewardTag units distributed globally.

Co-founder

Over the last decade, I’ve helped build Lyft, Zoox, On Deck, and BlackBird past a combined market cap of over $5B, and helped raise $500M.

In 2019, I decided to try something new.

I decided to shift my focus from building businesses to investing in them.

I teamed up with Ann Miura-Ko to start Uplyft (Lyft alumni syndicate). I was so lucky to have such a great VC guide me when I was brand new to investing. 

It started with 300+ of Lyft’s earliest employees who have invested over $30M+ together.

I soon found myself becoming the go-to "alumni syndicate guy."

I helped Airbnb, Stripe, Pinterest, DoorDash, and many others get their alumni syndicates off the ground.

After opening up the Lyft alumni syndicate to the public (any accredited investor can join, regardless of affiliation with Lyft), I started to notice a trend. There were folks from all over the world, all professional backgrounds, who were investing alongside us.

These folks didn't have access to a network, the knowledge, and the guidance that I was lucky to have.

So, in October 2020, less than a year into the pandemic, I quit my job and joined Hustle Fund – my favorite early-stage VC – to build Angel Squad.

The results were pretty phenomenal.

In 2.5 years, 1,400+ people joined Angel Squad, and as a group, we have invested $21M+ in 50+ startups.

We have reporters, scientists, founders, and students from all over the world in our community. Everyone is welcome.

My portfolio:
-> I run Angel Squad, Hustle Fund's Angel Investing Community
-> I run the Uplyft Syndicate (aka the Lyft Syndicate)
-> I invest in and advise marketplaces and consumer startups

My results:
-> 1,400+ angels are part of the Angel Squad community
-> 4,000+ angels are part of my Uplyft Syndicate
-> $50M+ deployed in startups through Syndicates
-> 100+ startups in my portfolio

ANGEL SQUAD

- Hustle Fund shares their approach to investing 
- LIVE PITCHES from top portfolio companies, and you can invest as little as $1k.
- Meet other members at IRL events as well as get matched 1:1 online.
- Not yet an accredited investor? We pay for your Series 65 exam fee.
- We have a strict no a-hole policy.
- This is a membership offering, with 10 team members who support the program.
- Join 1,400+ others!
- Learn. Invest. Network.

→ GO HERE: www.hustlefund.vc/squad

UPLYFT SYNDICATE

- See 2-3 of my personal deals/month
- There is no community, education, or opportunities to support founders
- It’s free (but nothing like Angel Squad).

→ GO HERE: https://angellist.com/s/team-uplyft/OXf89

Twitter: @b_nicks11
Website: nicholsb.com

Brian Nichols

This is what a $5k angel check turned into.

One investor wrote that first small check. Made 5 valuable introductions that converted into additional checks totaling $170k.  

Those 5 introductions converted into 16 more checks totaling $530k.

So $5k turned into $700k...

People think small checks don't matter. This founder would tell you otherwise.

That angel who wrote $5k became the most valuable investor in the entire round. 

Not because of the money but because they made it their personal mission to get this company funded. 

I've watched this happen so many times now. The $5k check that somehow brings in half your round. The $10k investor who three months later introduces you to your Series A lead. 

The small believer who becomes your loudest champion when things get hard.

Check size and impact aren't the same thing.  

Some of the most helpful portfolio support comes from angels who can only invest small amounts but have networks that would make a GP jealous.

Founders: don't write off the small checks. They're often connected to the big ones. Sometimes they ARE the reason the big ones come in.

Aspiring angels: if you're sitting there thinking your $2k or $5k check is too small to matter, you're wrong. What founders need isn't just capital. It's someone who believes in them enough to spend social capital getting other people to believe too.
--
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Founder of Angel Squad | I write about startups, investing, and hard-earned lessons | Small Bets newsletter

Databricks recently crossed $4 billion in revenue. Growing over 50% year-over-year. Yesterday they made headlines - they are raising at a $130B+ valuation.

Unbelievable company...and it's still private.

Snowflake did $3.6 billion in revenue last year. Growing 29%. You can buy it on the NYSE right now.

So Databricks has more revenue than Snowflake AND is growing almost twice as fast. But retail investors can only access the smaller, slower option.

This drives me crazy. 

The best companies - the ones with the most insane growth - are staying private longer than ever.

Snowflake is a great company. But if you're trying to catch the real rocket ships - the ones that haven't already reached max velocity - you need to be investing in the private markets. 

The gap between what's available in private markets versus public markets just keeps getting wider. And most people don't even realize it's happening.

$5K investment in Uber's seed = $25M at IPO
5,000x return over 9 years

$5K investment in S&P 500 = $13K-$16K after 10 years (depending on timing)
2.6x-3.2x return over 10 years

But obviously there is WAY more risk in early-stage investing...
- Angel investing failure rate: 50-60% 
- Public market failure rate: ~0%  → the S&P 500 has never produced a negative return over any 20-year period.

So if you make 1-2 angel investments you're basically gambling. Roughly 50-50 chance of losing money on each investment.

If you make 20-30+ angel investments you're building a portfolio. Math starts working in your favor. One 1,000x return can cover multiple losses and still generate exceptional returns.

Elizabeth Yin has hammered home the message to me that the key to this game is smart portfolio construction.

Angel investing is about accessing the power law.

In venture capital, about 5-10% of investments generate 60-75% of returns. If you only make 1-2 bets, you'll probably miss those outliers.

But if you make 20-50 small bets ($1K-5K each), your odds of catching at least one rocket ship improve dramatically.

Mina Fung joined Angel Squad almost 2 years ago now.

She jumped right in, got involved, and now, is off to the races starting her own company.

This is a trend we've seen time and time again - start with curiosity about startups (and potentially about startup investing), write a few small checks, and then get the itch and decide to start one yourself.

That's a hidden benefit of joining our community. 

The energy is contagious. 

You start to realize: "hey, I can do that."

Maybe you start a company.

Maybe you Advise (with a capital "A") companies.

Or maybe you just offer to help founders when you can.

In all cases, we feel SUPER lucky to have created the ecosystem that empowers this for almost 2500 members in 40+ countries.

Join us: angelsquad.co

Equidam

We work with founders, accelerators, corporate partners and startup hubs around the world to deepen understanding of valuation, enabling healthier, stronger fundraising ecosystems.

Valuation shouldn't be a dealbreaker.

Head of Insights

Crunchbase

I contribute editorial to Crunchbase News on topics such as startup valuation, fundraising, venture capital performance and private market dynamics.

Guest Author

The LHoFT - Luxembourg House of Financial Technology

Co-produced the LHoFT's 2018 - 2021 'Catapult: Inclusion Africa' accelerator programs, targeting financial inclusion in Africa, focused on sourcing and selection of startups and investors.

Consultant

RŪH

Sustainable/ethical designer fashion brand. Supported the team externally through inception, and joined six months before launch to help structure their marketing, product strategy and operations.

Marketing Director

Dataconomy Media

Led the day-to-day operations of Dataconomy, a leading publication focused on data science and AI, and co-developed the conference arm of the company (DataNatives.io), including strategy, growth and recruitment. 

Scaled an offline community of >14,000 data science and AI enthusiasts across 15 different cities. Data Natives, now an annual conference with satellite events running in Tel Aviv, London and San Fransisco, has a strong reputation in the data science and AI community.

Managing Editor

See3D

Produced technical product vizualizations for clients including Seabotix (AUVs, industrial), Kongsberg (AUVs, industrial & defence), Emerson (industrial automation), ASCO Numatics (industrial automation), and SSB (wind energy).

3D Visualizer

MMOGuru [Acquired by Curse]

I expanded the MMOGuru network through developing, managing and administrating their largest sites and forums; the most popular community centres for their respective titles. The network was ultimately sold to industry leader, Curse Inc, which itself was later acquired by Twitch.

A particular area of focus was the competitive PvP community for Guild Wars, for which MMOGuru quickly became the most active and constructive hubs.

Editor & Community Manager

Auran

I helped develop the community of the MMO video game title ‘Fury’, launching the 
community forum, website, and social media pages. I served as point of contact 
between the community and the developers for feedback, and produced news stories 
and features. I worked closely with the marketing department to design and coordinate 
community contests and events, press releases, and other web content.

Assistant Community Manager

T-RECS (Total Recovery Systems)

T-RECS was a startup based in Wales, developing an integrated combination of electric recycling collection vehicles and a home recycling unit.

My role involved creating CAD drawings of the main home recycling unit components for injection moulding, as well as producing some graphical assets for marketing puposes.

Junior Industrial Designer

SAS: Into The Lions Den

I was part of the small team who produced the critically acclaimed independent game developed on the Unreal Engine, SAS: Into the Lions Den. Responsibilities included community management and marketing, producing 2D and 3D assets and game design. 

SAS went on to receive a 90% review score and ‘Classic’ award in top UK gaming magazine, PCZone, and go through trials as a training tool for the Canadian Special Forces.

Community Manager, Marketing & Design

Head of Insights at Equidam, the Startup Valuation platform | Crunchbase contributor

Supporting entrepreneurs around the world with developing innovative products and raising capital.

Dan G.

The EU's planned ~€5B Scaleup Europe Fund is destined to fail, because it simply does not address a real problem.

The growth funding environment is relatively efficient, as company performance is more easily measured: good companies will generally find investment, but you cannot create more of them by simply injecting more growth capital. 

So, there are two possible outcomes of the fund: 

1) Increased competition for good companies, further inflating prices and diluting returns. 

2) Funding goes to companies that are less obviously good and currently unable to raise capital.

It's hard to imagine a competent and well-intentioned manager that would want to take this on, although I'm sure there will be no shortage of bids aimed at harvesting the management fees.

Instead, the EU should be reallocating capital to the earliest stages, producing a more fertile environment for new companies. Research shows this produces a 2x more capital efficient uplift in productivity than late stage allocation, with better performing investments and enhanced job creation. 

With rebalanced investment creating a bow wave of startup activity, Europe's private markets (including growth capital) would eventually grow to match that volume of opportunity — without requiring state support. 

Today, there's simply not enough activity to support a much larger growth capital environment, particularly when faster-moving US investors can pick-off the best companies. 

State intervention can resolve the chicken and egg dilemma of having to believe that capital creates fertile ground for opportunity. It requires a level of positive-sum optimism (and risk tolerance) that is more common in investors on the other side of the Atlantic. 

(e.g. There is 13x more pre-seed capital allocated per year in the US, and 23x more angel capital. The 'growth capital gap' is downstream of this much more urgent 'inception capital gap'.)

In the article linked below, I went through various studies on government venture capital activity in Europe which all align with this conclusion. Importantly, it doesn't even necessarily require an increase in investment, just a realloction.

TL;DR for Ekaterina Zaharieva and Ursula von der Leyen: the priority ought to be an appropriately sized fund for emerging managers in each EU state. 

Build the base. The rest will take care of itself.

taplio

The Battle

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