Unpopular VC
Peter Livingston , founder of Unpopular VC , shared his insights on angel investing and working with startups globally in my recent podcast interview.
My next podcast guest will be Guy Kawasaki on March 7th. I had the opportunity to speak with him about his new book Think Remarkable and am excited to share this episode.
With over a decade of experience and 400+ investments under his belt, Peter emphasized the importance of diversification and long time horizons for new angel investors. He recommends starting small with check sizes around $1-5k to build a portfolio of at least 50-100 companies. Peter cautions that liquidity often takes 8-15 years, so angels shouldn't concentrate too heavily in just 1-2 startups.
Through Unpopular VC's unique model, Peter and his partner Thibault Reichelt have deployed $68 million into 400+ companies so far. They take a bottoms-up approach to find talented founders worldwide building compelling businesses, regardless of trends or location.
Speed and conviction are critical to get into the best deals before the herd. Peter explains how their lean, autonomous team empowers them to move fast and make contrarian bets. As a result, they've gotten into several succesfull startups early like Zepto and Yassir .
Overall, our discussion covered Peter's journey from startups to angel investing, sourcing great founders globally, portfolio management for 4000+ LPs, and key lessons learned. Read on for a summary of the key questions and responses from our conversation.
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Investment Commitees
Peter believes that investment committees are "really dumb" and much less effective than individual partners making decisions.
Angel Investing Rules
The key is diversifying widely, starting small, investing consistently over decades, and taking a very long-term view. Patience, persistence, and the right expectations set you up for success.
Red Flags in Investor Meetings
The main red flag is when Peter doesn't believe a founder will be able to recruit the talent, capital, and customers needed to be successful over the long run. Track record, credibility, and compelling storytelling are key.
Diversification in investing reminds me of what Elon Musk says about taking risks for future gains. A portfolio is not just investments but dreams being built. ?? #investingwisdom #entrepreneurship
Chief Executive Officer at Zelena Maska / Green Mask
8 个月Very useful
Founder of LB&T VA Sevices | Upwork Top Rated Plus+ Freelancer | Integrity-Driven Virtual Support, Committed to Growing Your Business with Passion
8 个月Great job on the interview!
Founder of Startup Istanbul
8 个月youtube https://youtu.be/CDiohFf_XkE spotify https://open.spotify.com/episode/3uCPo5re80UgjfcWfmmEqA?si=YMKmhY0dS9qGVB56fHPPkA Substack https://startupistanbul.substack.com/p/unpopular-vc