Angel Investing: The Gust Guide to Making Money and Having Fun Investing in Startups

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Joining an Angel Group

Increasing Your Opportunities and Reducing Your Risks

IF YOU'RE A new angel investor, whether you're interested merely in dipping a toe into angel waters or serious about making a long-term commitment to angel investing, I strongly recommend considering membership in a local angel group. There are over one thousand such organizations around the world, with at least one in every state in the United States, and at least one in more than 75 countries. Major metropolitan areas typically have more than one (there are currently over a dozen in New York City alone!).

What all these groups have in common is bringing together active Accredited Investors interested in putting capital to work in this asset class, supporting young startups, and assisting each other. The benefits of joining a group include pooling deal flow, capital, domain expertise, and investing experience. Most groups run regular education sessions for new members and provide mentoring for less experienced investors from those with many deals under their belts.

Angel groups over the past decade have become very sophisticated, with professional trade associations, standardized best practices, extensive syndication, a global, web-based investment management platform, and a generally strong track record. New York Angels, for example, has invested over $70 million in more than 100 startups over the past several years, and companies in which we've invested have been acquired by Google, Intel, Amazon, ...