#DeepDive — How To Become A Startup “Angel” Investor — Brianne Kimmel

Podcast Notes Key Takeaways What does Brianne look for when investing in founders?Someone who has built great consumer productsSomeone who understand the ends userIt’s also great to have two cofounder where one is the disruptor and the other has domain expertise in the area“If you want to find investors, especially if you want to find great investors, deserve great investors” – James BesharaBe thoughtful about the product, distribution, your vision, your competitive advantage, etc.“Founders should really find founder partner fit. I think there’s just different styles of relationships, there’s different styles of company building.” – Brianne KimmelIf you’re a founder, look at the companies the angel investors and VCs have previously invested in to see if they’re a good match for youNo doesn’t last forever. Investors can pass on your company early on but that same investor could be open to investing in you later in your journey.Contrary to belief, investors are looking for investments that aren’t risky. They want to know your company is a rocket that’s going to take off with or without them so they better hop on before it’s too late.“They probably don’t need my help but that thing is going to be a juggernaut whether I jump in or not so I better jump in quickly” – James BesharaDon’t be too concerned with check size as a young angel investor. You want to get into deals and show your worth so that you can build up your track record.“I often encourage people who are thinking of building a track record as an angel to not be concerned with check size and just like prove your worth and get in” – Brianne KimmelIt took James 7 years to build a positive reputation as an investor  Why does it take so long? It can take 5 years or more for a company to become successful and signal that you made a good investment“It takes quite a while for many of the best companies to ripen” – James Besharaeval(ez_write_tag([[580,400],'podcastnotes_org-medrectangle-3','ezslot_0',122,'0','0']));

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"The most exciting new podcast in the startup world.” - Eric Ries, Founder, and NYTimes bestselling author

Today's deep dive is with Brianne Kimmel where we discuss her (persistent) path to angel investing in technology startups. From purposefully connecting with the investor of the company she began working at (within months of starting) to hosting dinners for founders to teaching her craft openly and building a massive community to starting her own fund... and everything in between.

Brianne is an early-stage startup investor here in the Bay Area, and her fund is called Worklife. It has a very interesting vision of investing in companies that make work more flexible, creative, human, and balanced. We talk about her journey to becoming an investor, which covers her first investment, and what she was doing before she became an investor... We also discussed her designs in her career path and the choices she made early on that helped her in her current path. We even covered what types of founders and companies will thrive in this post-COVID world... all that and more.

It's a great conversation, and I'm really excited for listeners to get a deep dive into what it's like to become an angel investor. Enjoy.

You can email James questions directly at [email protected] or follow us on Twitter @ twitter.com/gobelowtheline — “Below the Line with James Beshara" is brought to you by Straight Up Podcasts LLC