I’ve made six angel investments personally, all in founders I knew before investing:
- Portfolio:
- Beek (2016 Pre-Seed) – Raised $13M Series A led by Lightspeed in 2022.
- Sano (2015 Seed) – Raised 2018 Series A from Fitbit. Acquired by One Drop in 2020.
- MatterFab (2014 Seed) – Raised 2015 Series A from GE Ventures and AutoDesk. Shut down.
- Experiment (2013 Seed) – 2021 grant by Robert Downey Jr. via Experiment Foundation.
- 10 Storks (2013 Seed) – A subscription box I bootstrapped with my wife. Shut down.
- I also invested the first $75K in my startup Labdoor in 2012.
- We raised a 2013 Seed led by Mark Cuban, joined Y Combinator in Winter 2015, raised a 2016 Series A led by Floodgate, and are now operating profitably.
- Returns:
- I invested $45K as an angel and have returned $200K (4.4X DPI) so far.
- My 3 YC angel investments have an 11X TVPI.
- My anti-portfolio is probably ~100X TVPI.
- I’ve helped 100+ founders apply to Y Combinator, but only had the personal capital to invest $5K-10K per year.
- I missed investing in YC top companies like EquipmentShare and Noya at pre-seed because I didn’t have enough cash.
- I invested $45K as an angel and have returned $200K (4.4X DPI) so far.
I’m now launching Utopic, a pre-seed VC fund investing in new scientific startups.
- Mission:
- Empowering scientists to launch more startups that solve the world’s biggest problems by being their first investor and advisor.
- Strategy:
- Find scientists with world-changing ideas.
- Help them launch startups.
- Invest the first $50K-100K in these companies.
- Personally advise them on accelerators, fundraising, growth, and exits.
- Deal Flow:
- Founders find me through my writing on this website, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
- I find great founders by being an active alum of Y Combinator (W15) and the University of Michigan (B.S., B.B.A, ’10), advising prospective founders even before they start their companies.