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Over the last 20 years I have founded and co-founded multiple software startups myself so I know a bit about making a software business successful. I would lov

Over the last 20 years I have founded and co-founded multiple software startups myself so I know a bit about making a software business successful. I would love to invest something like $100K in small software startups. But I have no idea how to go about it. My favorite approach would be to band together with a few other small time investors and put $10k of my money into 10 different companies each. One issue is that all my friends are still in the "dreaming about building a startup" phase. Nobody in my circle has the money/interest to invest. The other issue is that I don't know how to find startups to invest in.

edoceo 6y ago
Too big for your first check, spread it around. Check out Seattle Angel Conference for getting your feet wet. Fully booked this round but might be room for next (6mo). Safer than going alone, good crew to educate investors. Don't have to be on Seattle
- chris11 6y ago
  Isn't 10k a small investment?
JulianRaphael 6y ago
You should check out AngelList (https://angel.co/ https://angel.co/) and find a few syndicates of successful investors that you'd like to join.
nadspoly 6y ago
You're not gonna like it but I think buying crypto might provide this. Many projects/teams/small startups provide the equivalent of equity via their tokens. Investing in those is a bit like providing seed funds. Of course, tons of scams, but there's some real projects out there too.
- TrickyQuestion 6y ago
  The problem with crypto is that there is no good on-ramp. For example: To buy crypto on Coinbase, you have to send them a scan of your passport and your bank accounts. I don't want a foreign company to have a copy of my passport.
  - throwaway-99482 6y ago
    Not entirely true. You can use https://localbitcoins.com/ https://localbitcoins.com/ to buy bitcoin without an exchange and then use Uniswap to invest into up and coming tokens. If they're on Coinbase, it is often already too late to be an early stage investor.
    - TrickyQuestion 6y ago
      Localbitcoins seem to do the same digital KYC dance as Coinbase. So you will probably also have to copy your passport for them.
    - doopy1 6y ago
      I thought localbitcoins was made illegal in the USA unless the seller has a certian money handling license? It could just be an NY/CA thing, but still...
  - ufmace 6y ago
    I'm fairly skeptical of cryptocurrency hype personally, but if you want to invest 6 figure sums in a startup company, that's a legal agreement, and you're going to be giving a lot more personal information than that to the entities involved. This is no time to be squeamish about who has a copy of your passport.
    - TrickyQuestion 6y ago
      It is not about providing informtion. But having a copy of my passport allows the other party to identify as me to other parties. That is something I want to avoid.
  - 6y ago
throwaway-99482 6y ago
I'm in a similar position. Made money (> 2 mio) with side projects and smart investments and would love to invest 10 ~10k into good looking projects but it is difficult finding them, especially since I don't live in the US or SF. I tried to register for syndicates but they ask for previous investments which is a chicken and egg problem. I haven't invested in other projects before, I successfuly build my own side projects.
- joering2 6y ago
  Thank you for sharing - just so you know HN loves to hear stories about successfull side projects. If yoy haven’t already, it would be great if you post about it in great detail.
- oliv__ 6y ago
  I don't know if this is appropriate, but since it's the only way to contact you: I run Niceboard.co, currently looking to raise first money (~100-150k), profitable SaaS business, growing month over month, would be happy to send you a pitch deck and chat.
switchstance 6y ago
Check out https://www.thesyndicate.com/ https://www.thesyndicate.com/. I just joined, as I’m in a similar boat.
- mguerville 6y ago
  I’m part of it and despite Jason C having obviously a very good track record I find myself very unimpressed with deal flow quality. I’ve invested in 75 or so startups via AL and exactly 0 through the syndicate. I’m usually not into consumer stuff though so In fairness that’s a good part of why.
Xt-6 6y ago
Investing into something like Tinyseed might be what you are looking for.
- limedaring 6y ago
  Program Director at TinySeed here — we're right at the tail-end of fundraising for our second fund, check out our investment thesis here: https://tinyseed.com/thesis https://tinyseed.com/thesis
doopy1 6y ago
I don't think 10k will go very far. I think it makes more sense to team up with a few people who are also willing to invest and help companies raise $XXX,000 for a serious seed round and take an advisory role to help these companies succeed.
plank_time 6y ago
The going rate for seed rounds right now in SV is $5M/20%. I know 3 different founders that got this deal relatively easily in the last year.
alepalep7 6y ago
To find startups have a look at https://upvising.net https://upvising.net - there's a matching algo that shows you relevant startups based on your profile.
trykondev 6y ago
I don't have a solution for this in general, but I do have a specific company that is looking for that level of funding -- feel free to reach out if you're interested to hear more!
bosky101 6y ago
Relevant for new angel investors https://www.onstartups.com/a-weird-and-wacky-approach-to-angel-investing https://www.onstartups.com/a-weird-and-wacky-approach-to-ang...

edoceo 6y ago

Too big for your first check, spread it around. Check out Seattle Angel Conference for getting your feet wet. Fully booked this round but might be room for next (6mo). Safer than going alone, good crew to educate investors. Don't have to be on Seattle

chris11 6y ago
Isn't 10k a small investment?

JulianRaphael 6y ago

You should check out AngelList (https://angel.co/ https://angel.co/) and find a few syndicates of successful investors that you'd like to join.

nadspoly 6y ago

You're not gonna like it but I think buying crypto might provide this. Many projects/teams/small startups provide the equivalent of equity via their tokens. Investing in those is a bit like providing seed funds. Of course, tons of scams, but there's some real projects out there too.

TrickyQuestion 6y ago
The problem with crypto is that there is no good on-ramp. For example: To buy crypto on Coinbase, you have to send them a scan of your passport and your bank accounts. I don't want a foreign company to have a copy of my passport.
- throwaway-99482 6y ago
  Not entirely true. You can use https://localbitcoins.com/ https://localbitcoins.com/ to buy bitcoin without an exchange and then use Uniswap to invest into up and coming tokens. If they're on Coinbase, it is often already too late to be an early stage investor.
  - TrickyQuestion 6y ago
    Localbitcoins seem to do the same digital KYC dance as Coinbase. So you will probably also have to copy your passport for them.
  - doopy1 6y ago
    I thought localbitcoins was made illegal in the USA unless the seller has a certian money handling license? It could just be an NY/CA thing, but still...
- ufmace 6y ago
  I'm fairly skeptical of cryptocurrency hype personally, but if you want to invest 6 figure sums in a startup company, that's a legal agreement, and you're going to be giving a lot more personal information than that to the entities involved. This is no time to be squeamish about who has a copy of your passport.
  - TrickyQuestion 6y ago
    It is not about providing informtion. But having a copy of my passport allows the other party to identify as me to other parties. That is something I want to avoid.
- 6y ago

throwaway-99482 6y ago

I'm in a similar position. Made money (> 2 mio) with side projects and smart investments and would love to invest 10 ~10k into good looking projects but it is difficult finding them, especially since I don't live in the US or SF. I tried to register for syndicates but they ask for previous investments which is a chicken and egg problem. I haven't invested in other projects before, I successfuly build my own side projects.

joering2 6y ago
Thank you for sharing - just so you know HN loves to hear stories about successfull side projects. If yoy haven’t already, it would be great if you post about it in great detail.
oliv__ 6y ago
I don't know if this is appropriate, but since it's the only way to contact you: I run Niceboard.co, currently looking to raise first money (~100-150k), profitable SaaS business, growing month over month, would be happy to send you a pitch deck and chat.

switchstance 6y ago

Check out https://www.thesyndicate.com/ https://www.thesyndicate.com/. I just joined, as I’m in a similar boat.

mguerville 6y ago
I’m part of it and despite Jason C having obviously a very good track record I find myself very unimpressed with deal flow quality. I’ve invested in 75 or so startups via AL and exactly 0 through the syndicate. I’m usually not into consumer stuff though so In fairness that’s a good part of why.

Xt-6 6y ago

Investing into something like Tinyseed might be what you are looking for.

limedaring 6y ago
Program Director at TinySeed here — we're right at the tail-end of fundraising for our second fund, check out our investment thesis here: https://tinyseed.com/thesis https://tinyseed.com/thesis

doopy1 6y ago

I don't think 10k will go very far. I think it makes more sense to team up with a few people who are also willing to invest and help companies raise $XXX,000 for a serious seed round and take an advisory role to help these companies succeed.

plank_time 6y ago

The going rate for seed rounds right now in SV is $5M/20%. I know 3 different founders that got this deal relatively easily in the last year.

alepalep7 6y ago

To find startups have a look at https://upvising.net https://upvising.net - there's a matching algo that shows you relevant startups based on your profile.

trykondev 6y ago

I don't have a solution for this in general, but I do have a specific company that is looking for that level of funding -- feel free to reach out if you're interested to hear more!

bosky101 6y ago

Relevant for new angel investors https://www.onstartups.com/a-weird-and-wacky-approach-to-angel-investing https://www.onstartups.com/a-weird-and-wacky-approach-to-ang...