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CHAPTER 9Private Investments: Explore Private Debt, Private Equity, and Angel Investing

Private investing, particularly angel investing, can be exciting, a great way to build community, and just plain fun! When you make a private investment, you could be supporting a female entrepreneur, the coffee shop around the corner from your home, or an innovative start-up in the US or another country. Each investment is unique in terms of financial return and impact.

This chapter will introduce you to the world of early-stage private debt and private equity. Private investing provides opportunities for portfolio diversification and a very personal investment experience. Whether you're an experienced investor or not, you can learn how to assemble a private investment portfolio you love. You can access training, mentorship and collaboration with likeminded women and engage with amazing entrepreneurs along the way.

This chapter will get you started. We'll explain why you might want to invest this way, what you are buying, how these investments work, and point you to resources you can use to find opportunities that align with your values.

Entire books have been written on the concepts in this chapter, and we realize that we cannot do them justice in this introduction. Our intention is to spark your interest in an investment class in which women have been sorely underrepresented—both as investors and as entrepreneurs.

Private investing is, without a doubt, my favorite part of the investing ...