"Angel" hosted by Jason Calacanis - Audio

Arjun Sethi, Social Capital on bringing skills as a founder (MessageMe, Lolapps) & Yahoo head of growth to early-stage investing, being candid, overcoming hubris, taking methodical risks, & the critical importance of rapid-learning, resilient teams

Arlan Hamilton, Backstage Capital on being a self-taught VC, creating a rocket ship to fund 64+ underrepresented founders in just 2yrs, launching an upcoming studio, & mastering the art of disciplined investing

Satya Patel, Homebrew, on 80+ investments, betting on founders with mission, solving problems over building biz, funding "phases" not stages, portfolio stars, & the critical importance of boards & organizational muscle memory

Jeff Clavier, Uncork Capital, on pioneering micro VC, lessons from 200+ investments & 5 funds, strategizing at Seed for Series A crunch, risky ICOs, & the hard-won wisdom of always be raising

BoldStart Founder Ed Sim on 20yrs seeding 50+ enterprise co’s, how his father’s fleeing N. Korea shaped his VC, NYC deep tech, & being 1st dollar in to help move founder-product fit to product-market fit to self-sustainability.

As populations grow, and climates change, could cities be our salvation? With the right infrastructure, urban areas or megaregions can be the most carbon & economic efficient habitations. But cities face countless problems, in housing shortages, broken transportation, overflowing waste, and more. With Urban.us, Shaun Abrahamson & Stonly Baptiste seed startups solving for challenges to make our cities better and our futures more hopeful.

In Episode 10, Jason talks with Matt Brezina, angel investor in 65+ startups, including Dropbox, Cruise & Ring, and founder of Xobni & Sincerely. Matt shares how & why he got into investing, his critical formative time in YC, the lasting influence of Paul Graham, meeting Drew Houston (failing to hire him, but investing in Dropbox down the road), learning sales from his mom, letting ego interfere with business, why he loves Twitter, his belief in founder-builders and investing in their careers.

Ask an Angel! It's a special episode of "Angel," with Jason Calacanis & Brian Alvey (Clipisode, LAUNCH) candidly answer the burning questions of investors and those aspiring to be. Picking startups, evaluating founders, due diligence, Syndicates ins/outs, deal terms and a lot more. Listen and learn!

On today's "Angel," Jason sits down with Pejman Nozad, Founding Managing Partner of Pear VC. Pejman came to the U.S. from Iran with nothing, and eventually became one of the most successful angel investors ever, seeding 100+ startups including 6 unicorns. Pejman reveals lessons & insights from his journey, starting from his carpet-selling days & breaking into tech by hosting events at the rug store, to moving into venture capital, starting his own firm & backing massively successful companies.

On Episode 7 of "Angel," Jason talks to Freestyle Capital co-founder Dave Samuel, a former founder (Spinner, Brondell) who brings his entrepreneurial focus to investing. Dave shares what qualities he looks for in startups & products, his love for building teams & companies, the trouble with B2C, raising money in a financial crisis, early internet days including founding & selling the internet's 1st music service to AOL, his innovative smart toilet, why he became an investor, and much more.

Ben Narasin has a unique view on early-stage investing, quite different than Jason's, & on "Angel," he shares his proven thesis & dives into a track record that speaks for itself, with over half of his seed companies reaching Series A, & 3 unicorns. Ben explains what he looks for in a startup (teams factors heavily, not exclusively), the absolute critical characteristic a founder must have to succeed, & executing on strength of your convictions. Plus, portfolio hits, misses, regrets, & more.

In episode 4 "Angel" podcast Jason talks to angel & syndicate leader Ed Roman. Ed describes his journey from serial entrepreneur in Austin to syndicate angel in Silicon Valley, and shares strategies for optimizing for outsized outcomes, developing the right alchemy gut & market analysis, the biggest mistake investors make, his greatest hits & misses, how to tell when a founder will go 10x, how to know when you're a seasoned investor...and much more. Thanks for Audible for sponsoring this podcast.

In "Angel" episode 3, Jason speaks with Andrea Zurek, Founding Partner of XG Ventures ("ex-Googlers"), and angel investor since 2006. Andrea, whose portfolio includes Facebook, Twitter and Box, shares how she picks companies, her ideal terms and valuations, the trouble with TAM and solo founders, deciding when to follow on, how she applies lessons from building Google to help her founders, portfolio greatest hits & misses. Thank you to Audible for sponsoring this podcast.

In episode 2 of Jason's new podcast, "Angel," Super Angel & Syndicate Leader Gil Penchina shares secrets from his 20 years investing in 200+ startups, including LinkedIn, PayPal, & Cruise. Gil reveals why he became an angel, which founders & verticals to back (& which to run away from), deal flow strategies, tips for learning the game & making your own rules, how to support founders, & lessons he's learned from his greatest hits ... and failures. Thank you to Audible for sponsoring this podcast.

Welcome to the first episode of the “Angel” podcast. In this series, Jason interviews angels about their investment strategies and pulls back the curtain on how early-stage startups get funded. In E1, Cyan Banister, former angel investor (Uber, Thumbtack) now Founders Fund Partner, shares with Jason her portfolio successes & brutal losses, her formula for choosing successful startups & founders, and her journey from angel investor to VC. Thanks to Audible for sponsoring this podcast.