The Best of Jason Calacannabis - Angel Invest Like the Prose

At the very least, if you listen to this one you'll learn about Cyan Bannister (will this change peoples' behavior?) - who went from homeless at age 15 to a net worth of about 2.2b today! Founders Fund.

Now, tips from Jason on turning $100k into $100 million :

Look for the crazy ones - the ones who try to bend the world to their way. If someone suggests meeting a founder who's "difficult", J tries to set the meeting for the very next day.

If a founder is taking on debt to make his startup work, be concerned - why hasn't he raised $? Why did so many pass on him?

"If I had to do it over, I would skip college and go straight into Angel investing"

In the pitch meeting : what you working on? Why? Why now?

Who is competition? How do you make $ currently? What do you charge your customers? How much does avg customer spend? Three reasons biz might fail?

Build a bond by asking them about their parents. 

Start by joining a syndicate and commit to investing a fixed amount each year. You don't know upfront which one will be the big one, but do your homework to put odds in your favor. 50 startups over 3 years. go with syn that has had one unicorn, 2 founders min per startup, must have product in market - you cannot afford to fund concepts. 6 months of continuous growth, 18 months of runway.

Go for great founders, big ideas. Will it change peoples' behavior? (Cyan)

Angellist Seedinvest Founders Fund

How many full time employees? Funding history? How do they acquire customers? Burn rate?

Book recommendation : Mark Goulston : Just Listen

Gil Penchina : 

If you see an enterprise founder starting new enterprise co - get in! If consumer product startup's founder is in 50's run away - they don't know what 10/20 year old wants!

If you see a Michael Jordan starting baseball, run away. If you're older, do something you're already good at. In new industries, anyone's an expert in 6 months. 

Spend a lot of time searching for deals. idea > biz plan > prototype > MVProduct > beta test > incorporate > raise money

Insist on pro-rata rights through side-letter if nec, "I want to keep rooting for you"

Cyan's story : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5kt_xuhrNc

INCREMENTALISM	Set small goals. Focus on proximate objectives. Keep levelling up
CAPITALISM	Started a business making T-shirts
INDIVIDUALISM
MENTORSHIP AND TECHNOLOGY	Read "The Essential Guide to System Administration" (you're way to smart to be registering domain names - Lee Burton, Extreme Internet) Got a break from Scott Weiss and Pat Peterson of Ironport. Worked tirelessly until equity ballooned with sale to Cisco
ENDLESS CURIOSITY