Hustle Fund

Angel Squad is an angel investing community run by Hustle Fund that was created to teach how to invest in startups and provide access to invest in the most promising ones. TechCrunch referred to Angel Squad as the "YC of Angel Investing."

Angel Squad Co-Founder

Multiple companies

The best place to learn more is @ my personal website: nicholsb.com

I lead an active syndicate with 3.5k members that's deployed $25M+, and have formally Advised 5 companies.

Angel Investor

On Deck

Created, launched, and ran the first two cohorts of the On Deck Angels program. The program pioneered On Deck's expansion into verticals outside of the founder fellowship. 

The success of the program led to On Deck developing the org structure to hire Program Directors to lead verticals that were complementary to the founder fellowship.

Program Director, On Deck Angel Fellowship

- Responsible for procuring sponsorships for On Deck Founder and Angel Fellowships.
- Built and manage program to introduce our founders to investor partners as founders begin fundraising process.

Head Of Partnerships

BlackBird

BlackBird was acquired by Surf Air in February, 2020

- Instrumental in Series A fundraise ($10M from NEA)
- Focused on strategic partnerships / the future of flight (electric aircraft)

Head Of Business Development

- Grew team from 5 to 40+ full-time employees and contractors.
- Recruited and hired leadership from Lyft, Postmates, Uber, Caviar to support the rapid growth of the business.

Head Of Operations

First Round Capital

Angel Track is a masterclass and community for angel investors whose full-time jobs are in leadership roles at tech companies.

1 of 16 selected out of 1k+ applicants.

Angel Track

Zoox Inc.

Zoox was acquired by Amazon in June, 2020.

- Responsible for standing up remote teleoperation unit to support fleet of autonomous vehicles during live operation.
- Represented Zoox’s operations organization when meeting potential investors during our Series B fundraise ($500M, $2.7B valuation).

Operations Manager

Lyft

- Responsible for building out Lyft's local presence in all top 25 Lyft markets.
- Hired local leadership, scaled repeatable playbooks, and provided analytics solutions for Lyft's highest growth markets across the country.

Market Operations Manager (National)

- First Market Manager on the West Coast, drove efficient growth for all of the CA Markets
- Accounted for 50%+ of all Lyft rides

Market Manager, California

RewardTag

RewardTag was bootstrapped and acquired by STM Goods (https://www.stmgoods.com/).

Main partners included Logitech, Seidio, STM Goods which lead to over 2.5M RewardTag units distributed globally.

Co-founder

Over the last decade, I’ve helped build Lyft, Zoox, On Deck, and BlackBird past a combined market cap of over $5B, and helped raise $500M.

In 2019, I decided to try something new.

I decided to shift my focus from building businesses to investing in them.

I teamed up with Ann Miura-Ko to start Uplyft (Lyft alumni syndicate). I was so lucky to have such a great VC guide me when I was brand new to investing. 

It started with 300+ of Lyft’s earliest employees who have invested over $30M+ together.

I soon found myself becoming the go-to "alumni syndicate guy."

I helped Airbnb, Stripe, Pinterest, DoorDash, and many others get their alumni syndicates off the ground.

After opening up the Lyft alumni syndicate to the public (any accredited investor can join, regardless of affiliation with Lyft), I started to notice a trend. There were folks from all over the world, all professional backgrounds, who were investing alongside us.

These folks didn't have access to a network, the knowledge, and the guidance that I was lucky to have.

So, in October 2020, less than a year into the pandemic, I quit my job and joined Hustle Fund – my favorite early-stage VC – to build Angel Squad.

The results were pretty phenomenal.

In 2.5 years, 1,400+ people joined Angel Squad, and as a group, we have invested $21M+ in 50+ startups.

We have reporters, scientists, founders, and students from all over the world in our community. Everyone is welcome.

My portfolio:
-> I run Angel Squad, Hustle Fund's Angel Investing Community
-> I run the Uplyft Syndicate (aka the Lyft Syndicate)
-> I invest in and advise marketplaces and consumer startups

My results:
-> 1,400+ angels are part of the Angel Squad community
-> 4,000+ angels are part of my Uplyft Syndicate
-> $50M+ deployed in startups through Syndicates
-> 100+ startups in my portfolio

ANGEL SQUAD

- Hustle Fund shares their approach to investing 
- LIVE PITCHES from top portfolio companies, and you can invest as little as $1k.
- Meet other members at IRL events as well as get matched 1:1 online.
- Not yet an accredited investor? We pay for your Series 65 exam fee.
- We have a strict no a-hole policy.
- This is a membership offering, with 10 team members who support the program.
- Join 1,400+ others!
- Learn. Invest. Network.

→ GO HERE: www.hustlefund.vc/squad

UPLYFT SYNDICATE

- See 2-3 of my personal deals/month
- There is no community, education, or opportunities to support founders
- It’s free (but nothing like Angel Squad).

→ GO HERE: https://angellist.com/s/team-uplyft/OXf89

Twitter: @b_nicks11
Website: nicholsb.com

Brian Nichols

This is what a $5k angel check turned into.

One investor wrote that first small check. Made 5 valuable introductions that converted into additional checks totaling $170k.  

Those 5 introductions converted into 16 more checks totaling $530k.

So $5k turned into $700k...

People think small checks don't matter. This founder would tell you otherwise.

That angel who wrote $5k became the most valuable investor in the entire round. 

Not because of the money but because they made it their personal mission to get this company funded. 

I've watched this happen so many times now. The $5k check that somehow brings in half your round. The $10k investor who three months later introduces you to your Series A lead. 

The small believer who becomes your loudest champion when things get hard.

Check size and impact aren't the same thing.  

Some of the most helpful portfolio support comes from angels who can only invest small amounts but have networks that would make a GP jealous.

Founders: don't write off the small checks. They're often connected to the big ones. Sometimes they ARE the reason the big ones come in.

Aspiring angels: if you're sitting there thinking your $2k or $5k check is too small to matter, you're wrong. What founders need isn't just capital. It's someone who believes in them enough to spend social capital getting other people to believe too.
--
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Founder of Angel Squad | I write about startups, investing, and hard-earned lessons | Small Bets newsletter

Databricks recently crossed $4 billion in revenue. Growing over 50% year-over-year. Yesterday they made headlines - they are raising at a $130B+ valuation.

Unbelievable company...and it's still private.

Snowflake did $3.6 billion in revenue last year. Growing 29%. You can buy it on the NYSE right now.

So Databricks has more revenue than Snowflake AND is growing almost twice as fast. But retail investors can only access the smaller, slower option.

This drives me crazy. 

The best companies - the ones with the most insane growth - are staying private longer than ever.

Snowflake is a great company. But if you're trying to catch the real rocket ships - the ones that haven't already reached max velocity - you need to be investing in the private markets. 

The gap between what's available in private markets versus public markets just keeps getting wider. And most people don't even realize it's happening.

$5K investment in Uber's seed = $25M at IPO
5,000x return over 9 years

$5K investment in S&P 500 = $13K-$16K after 10 years (depending on timing)
2.6x-3.2x return over 10 years

But obviously there is WAY more risk in early-stage investing...
- Angel investing failure rate: 50-60% 
- Public market failure rate: ~0%  → the S&P 500 has never produced a negative return over any 20-year period.

So if you make 1-2 angel investments you're basically gambling. Roughly 50-50 chance of losing money on each investment.

If you make 20-30+ angel investments you're building a portfolio. Math starts working in your favor. One 1,000x return can cover multiple losses and still generate exceptional returns.

Elizabeth Yin has hammered home the message to me that the key to this game is smart portfolio construction.

Angel investing is about accessing the power law.

In venture capital, about 5-10% of investments generate 60-75% of returns. If you only make 1-2 bets, you'll probably miss those outliers.

But if you make 20-50 small bets ($1K-5K each), your odds of catching at least one rocket ship improve dramatically.

Mina Fung joined Angel Squad almost 2 years ago now.

She jumped right in, got involved, and now, is off to the races starting her own company.

This is a trend we've seen time and time again - start with curiosity about startups (and potentially about startup investing), write a few small checks, and then get the itch and decide to start one yourself.

That's a hidden benefit of joining our community. 

The energy is contagious. 

You start to realize: "hey, I can do that."

Maybe you start a company.

Maybe you Advise (with a capital "A") companies.

Or maybe you just offer to help founders when you can.

In all cases, we feel SUPER lucky to have created the ecosystem that empowers this for almost 2500 members in 40+ countries.

Join us: angelsquad.co

Beckway

Senior Operating Director

BeckWay offers three core services that uniquely deliver an execution platform for mid and lower mid-market financial sponsors and their portfolio companies. Our role is to compliment and deepen operating resources to optimize the investment value of privately held businesses. We are not a consulting firm. Instead we leverage our experienced executives, operations professionals,
proprietary software, and extensive, deep relationships with individuals and specialized firms, to deliver insight and “hands on, go to where the work is” execution horsepower.

Core offerings include:
Trail Blazers: Experienced operating partners who are dedicated to portfolio company EBITDA transformation, through an affordable fractional ownership model, delivering operating expertise 'as a service’.
Tracking Technology: VectorMarks®, is our proprietary cloud-based tool, enabling users to easily target, track and triage critical change activities to deliver the desired EBITDA impact.
Talent Finders: Actively seek out Board, C-Suite, Interim Executive and Staff Augmentation solutions on behalf of our private equity partners.


Key Accomplishments:
- Assisted in buy-side due diligence and integration of a $400 million cloud services company, and later supported implementation for the $800 million combined technology services provider.
  - Drove $38 million in synergies and plotted strategy for future sale of the combined company
  - Assumed Interim Vice President of Finance Duties, managing a team of 4, for a $400M segment of the combined business with oversight of the segment P&L, working capital, budgeting, and further corporate development diligence.
- Modeled a SKU Rationalization for a $26 million confectionary business as part of a buy-side due-diligence effort
- Serve as the official performance lead and mentor to internal Associate through Director resources

Operating Director

Angel Squad Member

StartU

- Source student founders to interview and then showcase in the organizational newsletter that provide press and exposure to Venture Capital firms

Campus Scout

Access to Health Northwestern

Interdisciplinary health and human rights project at Northwestern's Pritzker School of Law and Kellogg School of Management


Key Accomplishments:
- Part of a team consulting on environmental advocacy best practices for a human rights group in East Africa
- Conducted first-hand zoom interviews with think-tank experts and advocacy professionals to ascertain ideal strategic messaging structure and application

Student Consultant

Accenture

Quick response finance transformation and M&A integration services. Provide financial advisory services to large client teams under duress.


Key Accomplishments:
- Lead post-merger financial integration of a 200-employee acquisition with yearly revenues of $60 million
- Modeled staffing pyramid variance and performed scenario analysis to close out 78% of total cost variance gap on an initial contract with a large government-sector corporation in Canada

Finance Transition Services 

Serve as the financial experts on Accenture sales teams serving the largest and most complex sales opportunities.

Client Development and Transaction Services Specialist

Support client team leadership in financial activities during the lifecycle of the client relationship; assist with invoicing, deal pricing, forecasting and other finance related undertakings


Key Accomplishments
- Assumed ownership of financial oversight of contracts totaling over $35 million in yearly revenue
- Promoted to Specialist Position in December of 2015

CFM Analyst

Gallagher Benefit Services

Variance analysis, budgetary design, and special projects for the finance division.

Staff Accountant

Patriot Capital

Deal review and market analysis for the Chicago office of middle market mezzanine debt fund.

Analyst Intern

Iota Theta Chapter of Sigma Chi

Chapter Treasurer

Mt Sinai Hospital Systems

Accounting/Finance Intern

I work as a private equity operator with a specialization in strategy and finance. Much of my prior experience is in consulting and M&A integrations. In my current role, I have worked at PE owned portfolio companies ranging from $25M to $1B in revenues across several industries including Technology, Professional Services, and Manufacturing. Some highlights include driving $38M in synergies for an integration at a technology services company and serving in interim Vice President of Finance roles at a $400M technology division and at a $145M at an engineering services firm. I have also advised on company strategy, diligence for buy-side and sell-side, KPI development, working capital management, and general value creation efforts. 

I have a MBA from the Kellogg School of Management with a focus in Marketing and a Bachelor’s in Science of Business Administration from University of Dayton. One of the highlights from my time at Kellogg was providing advocacy consulting to a humanitarian organization in East Africa.

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