How to Start Angel Investing

Welcome back to The Girls Table's THE CAP TABLE Newsletter! We officially rebranded. Thank you so much to the community for sending in some recommendations for the name change.

This weekly newsletter will share key insights on angel investing, start-ups, and investment opportunities.

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Switching it Up

If you've been reading my newsletter for the past year or if today is your first day... welcome! I’ve come to realize that sometimes we stick to routines just because they're familiar. I've done my newsletter in the same format for the past year, and it's time for a change. I want you to open this newsletter each week and find something that truly helps you.

So, for those of you who don't know me, here's a bit about myself:

• My name is Elana Gold (formerly Dickman, but I just got married! 🎉)

• I’m a partner at Red Beard Ventures, where we have a syndicate, a fund, and an accelerator (more on that later).

• I made my first startup investment back in 2020 in none other than SpaceX.

• Since then, I've invested in over 25 other startups, not including the syndicates I've run through my firm.

• I host events around the US, but most of the time, you can find me organizing Pickleball events in LA for founders and investors. Speaking of… I am hosting one during LA tech week, and feel free to RSVP, if any of you will be around.

How to Start Angel Investing

My first angel investment was in SpaceX. Since then, I've invested in over 25 startups, including later-stage deals like Carta, Anduril, Canva, and AngelList, as well as earlier-stage startups like Major League Pickleball - Texas Ranchers, LayerZero Labs, Beehiiv, Venus Aerospace, Unstoppable Domains, Aunt Flow, and more.

How? Welcome to the land of Syndicates.

You can think of syndicates similarly to how you would subscribe to a newsletter. If you are an accredited investor, you can make an account on AngelList or other websites like Sydecar, Carta, and apply to different syndicates that fit your thesis. Once you are accepted to a syndicate, you will start receiving emails on deals the syndicate leads have sourced and are offering to their syndicate LPs.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to get started:

1. Create an Account on AngelList: First, sign up as an accredited investor on AngelList.

2. Find and Apply to Syndicates: Browse through various syndicates and apply to those that match your investment interests and thesis.

3. Review Deal Emails: Once accepted, you’ll start receiving emails about new deals. These emails include details of the round, decks, and a deal memo.

4. Decide on Investments: Evaluate each deal and decide if you want to invest. You can opt in on a deal-by-deal basis.

5. Invest: For most deals, the minimum investment amount is $1k. Syndicate leads usually take a carry percentage for bringing the deal, and there's also a small fee paid to AngelList for being the administrator.

The Power of SPVs

Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) can be an attractive option for investors looking to start with relatively small amounts of capital, such as $1,000.

Here’s why SPVs are a great way to begin investing:

• Access to Exclusive Deals: SPVs often allow smaller investors to participate in deals that would typically be reserved for larger, institutional investors.

• Flexible Investments: SPVs let you decide if you want to invest on a deal-by-deal basis.

• Diversification: Even with a small investment, you can gain exposure to a variety of assets or companies through a single SPV.

• Professional Management: SPVs are usually managed by experienced professionals who handle due diligence and deal negotiations.

• Broad Exposure: You can diversify your investments across a range of SPVs in different sectors and companies.

The Reality of Startup Investing

Now, let’s get real. The truth is, most startups will go to zero. Yep, you read that right. Investing in startups is inherently risky. You might invest in ten companies, and only one might return your capital—or ideally, deliver a significant return.

But here’s the kicker: that one successful investment can more than make up for the others. It’s a high-risk, high-reward game, and it’s crucial to go in with your eyes wide open. Diversifying your investments across various startups and sectors can help mitigate some of this risk.

When I was first starting out, some of my first investments were in companies that I personally could be a customer of. Take Beehiiv, for example. I had been using the product for a year before I decided to write an angel check through an SPV.

Investing in products and services that I believe in and would use myself (or my company would use) had been my guiding principle early on. This approach not only aligns with my interests but also gives me a deeper understanding of the potential value these companies can bring to the market.

📈 Start-Up Investment Opportunities

Please keep this confidential. If you are an accredited investor and interested in expanding your start-up portfolio, we have provided some investment opportunities that are currently active through the Red Beard Ventures Syndicate. The minimum amount to invest per deal is $1k! Please reach out if you have any questions.

Matternet: Drone Delivery with Impressive Traction & Only Company with FAA Type Certification

• A16z, Sony, and Mercedes-backed Matternet is revolutionizing the instant delivery market by enabling ultra-fast, sustainable, and affordable delivery solutions for e-commerce, food, and medical items. 

• With an impressive 50k flights across 10 cities globally, Matternat is the first and only company to receive full FAA Type and Production Certification for its drone delivery system. Has also secured 135 strategic partnerships including UPS.

• Link to invest 

Monoquant: Revolutionizing Quantitative Trading for Crypto

• Monoquant is developing an AI-powered platform that democratizes quantitative trading in the $2.1T cryptocurrency market, allowing investors at all levels to create, backtest, and deploy automated trading strategies.

• Impressive data moat covering 60% of DeFi and 70% of CeFi markets, with over 4 trillion data points.

• Secured broker agreements with major exchanges (OKX, Binance, Crypto.com, Bybit, MEXC) spanning ~85% of CEX volume.

• Backed by Cherry Street Digital Assets Fund and Alumni Ventures.

• Raising a pre-seed round at an attractive $20M post-money valuation cap with SAFE + token warrant. $MONQ token with 15% unlock at TGE, 3-month cliff, 12-month linear vesting.

• Link to invest

StackingDAO: Liquid Staking on Stacks (The largest L2 on BTC) | Building what Lido (1.83B FDV) is for Ethereum

• Stacking DAO is building a liquid staking protocol for Stacks, the largest L2 on Bitcoin, solving issues like long unlock periods, high minimum requirements, and manual relocking.

• $110M TVL since December 2023 launch, fastest-growing DeFi protocol in Stacks history, holding 17% of stacked STX.

• Backed by Portal Ventures, Golden Chain Republic (Republic's Digital Asset Arm), Modular Capital, and Cherry Crypto.

• Strong potential to become the Lido (current $1.83B FDV) of Stacks, offering auto-compounding tokenized representation of stacked STX (stSTX).

• Link to invest

BrandGuard: Safety rails for AI-generated content

• This brand governance platform is able to ensure an AI agent will never generate embarrassing or inaccurate content on behalf of the brand

• In pilot programs with Amazon, Meta, ThermoFischer, Colgate, Little Caesars, and more

• Backers include Bee partners, Frfly, Argon, Relay Ventures, and Baselayer Ventures

• Link to invest

Antaris: The Red Hat for Satellite Missions | Revolutionizing Satellite Design, Simulation, and Operation

• Lockheed Martin and Streamlined Ventures backed Antaris Space is the first advanced platform for Designing, Simulating, and Operating satellites, reducing lifecycle costs by 10x and cutting time to orbit in half.

• Launched first demonstration satellite, Janus-1, in February 2023, built in just 10 months with 75% cost savings over comparable missions.

• Projecting $15.8M TCV Bookings this year with customers including Almagest, Spectral, ST Engineering, and government contracts.

• Strong financial projections: $9M in contracted ARR EO24 → $25M ARR EO25 → $50M ARR EO26, with recognized revenue of $5M EO24 → $10M EO25 → $20M EO26.

• Led by an experienced team: Co-founders Tom Barton (CEO) and Karthik Govindhasamy (CTO and President) previously served as CTO and COO of Planet Labs ($600M raised).

• Link to invest

👋 That’s all for now friends! See you next week.

Next week I am going to dive into syndicate and fund returns and why sometimes it is important to take the risk because the reward can be far greater!

In the meantime, subscribe to our youtube channel to see weekly podcast episodes.

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Disclaimer: The Cap Table DOES NOT provide financial advice. All content is for informational purposes only. The Cal Table is not a registered investment, legal, or tax advisor or a broker/dealer.