It Took This Angel Investing Millionaire 4 Years to Learn This Lesson | My First Million Podcast

About this video

Shaan recounts how he became an angel investor despite lacking significant capital early in his career. He shares how reframing himself as an investor, building deal flow, and structuring carry arrangements with more established investors allowed him to access a portfolio of early-stage companies—including Lambda School and others that later achieved substantial valuations. He emphasizes that aspiring angel investors shouldn’t wait until they’re wealthy to start, and can leverage their network and deal-sourcing ability to participate in upside.

Key takeaways

• Shaan’s key lesson was recognizing that thinking of yourself as an investor from day one is more important than having capital upfront; he passed on opportunities with friends’ companies early on (including Calm) because he didn’t see himself in that role, despite having access and conviction.
• Angel investing requires a portfolio approach—Shaan explains that with 10 companies you expect 4–5 to go to zero, 2–3 to return 1–3x, and ideally 1–2 to achieve 10x+ returns, so a single bet isn’t enough to offset the high failure rate.
• Shaan structured a carry arrangement (10% upside, zero capital) with a more established investor to begin building a portfolio of company logos and deal flow, which gave him credibility and access to better future deals despite missing out on early valuations.
• You don’t need to be exclusive with one investor; multiple established investors may agree to give you carry on deals you source, allowing you to diversify relationships and access to capital.

Episode details: published June 19, 2020 · 18K views · 9:38 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. The business ideas, figures and results discussed are the hosts’ and guests’ own claims, shared as brainstorming and entertainment — not verified facts and not investment advice.

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