Intro To Angel Investing | Lectures 1-10
Learn how to start investing in startups & privately-held businesses.
Dear Community,
I'm excited to share that anyone interested in taking our highly requested "Introduction to Angel Investing" course can now view all 10 previously-recorded lectures directly on Substack! Its more important than ever for us to empower a new generation of angels (both accredited and non-accredited) to accelerate the growth of promising businesses during these increasingly challenging times.
History shows us that many of today's strongest companies were built during economic downturns, but not without the help of angels lending their social and financial capital. Through teaching this course, and making it more accessible than ever, the team behind Bison Venture Partners is continuing our mission to educate 10,000 new angels over the next decade.
Welcome to the world of angel investing, a journey that extends beyond mere financial transactions to becoming a catalyst for innovation, change, and growth. This course, "Introduction to Angel Investing," is not just an exploration of investment strategies but a deep dive into the transformative power of angel investing. Here, you'll learn to see opportunities where others see challenges and to build wealth that extends its benefits beyond yourself, impacting communities and shaping futures.
Introduction to Angel Investing is ideal for anyone who wants to learn how to start their journey of angel investing in technology startups and small businesses. Join a community of wealth builders investing in early-stage companies with the potential to generate outsized returns!
*Note: This is a 10-part course, with each video lecture accessible below.
We hope you enjoy!
- Garry Johnson III
Meet Your Instructor
Garry Johnson III is an award winning startup founder and nationally recognized ecosystem builder working to build a more inclusive and equitable innovation economy. He’s been recognized as a Delaware Business Times 40 Under 40 honoree, HBCUvc & Hen Hatch Pitch Competition Winner, StartupAfrica Youth Entrepreneur of the Year, and Entrepreneurial Leadership Award Recipient, and achieved many other other accolades.
Garry serves as Founder & Managing Partner at Bison Venture Partners, a firm on a mission to empower a new generation of owners and angel investors. He also serves as the President of First Founders Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization on a mission to lower barriers to entry and increase the likelihood of success in the innovation ecosystem. The organization helps early-stage entrepreneurs launch successful startups through accelerator programs, community support, and access to resources. First Founders has supported 300+ entrepreneurs from around the world, who've raised $500k+ in non-dilutive funding, and more than $3 million in venture capital.
Table of Contents
Lecture 1: Understanding Your "Why"
Focus: The importance of understanding the personal motivations behind becoming an angel investor. Emphasis on shifting mindsets to invest in high-quality deals and building wealth for broader community impact.
Lecture 2: Know The Rules & Regulations
Focus: Understanding the legal and regulatory framework of angel investing. Discussion on accredited vs. non-accredited investors, risk factors, and the changes brought by the JOBS Act.
Lecture 3: Form C's & "Testing The Waters"
Focus: The legal process of startups raising funds through Form C filings and the concept of "Testing The Waters" for gauging investor interest.
Lecture 4: Set A Measurable Goal
Focus: The importance of setting clear, measurable investment goals. Strategies for building a diverse portfolio and setting targets for investment returns.
Lecture 5: Finding New Opportunities
Focus: How to discover new investment opportunities in private markets, focusing on platforms like WeFunder, Republic, and StartEngine.
Lecture 6: Analyze Interesting Deals & Doing Your Due Diligence
Focus: Methods for analyzing potential investment deals and the importance of conducting thorough due diligence on startups.
Lecture 7: Create Your Own Opportunities
Focus: Encouraging proactive involvement in sourcing and creating investment opportunities, emphasizing community-based investment approaches and equity crowdfunding.
Lecture 8: Manage Your Expectations
Focus: Realistic expectations in angel investing, understanding the likelihood of startup failures, the importance of a diversified portfolio, and the long-term perspective required for investing in startups.
Lecture 9: Build Your Portfolio & Support Your Investments
Focus: Strategies for building a diversified investment portfolio, considering different industries and stages of company development. Additionally, ways to actively support investments beyond financial contributions.
Lecture 10: Track Your Performance & Get Others To Join You
Focus: Importance of tracking investment performance over time using tools like KingsCrowd. Encouraging community involvement in angel investing, and the benefits of cooperative economics in investment.
Lecture #1 | Understanding Your "Why"
Understanding your “why” is probably the most important part about being an angel investor.
Since this course is about shifting mindsets and thinking that you can in fact invest in the same quality deals as a venture capitalist, it’s important to understand “why” you want to build wealth in such a way.
Now, I can't come up with that reason for you, but I can explain the thought process behind why I invest in startups and why venture capitalists do too.
This course isn’t about glorifying venture capitalists in any way. In many ways, I believe they’ve contributed to wealth disparities and inequalities discussed in this course. The mindset, however, is one I believe can create a transformational shift and be applied to our everyday lives. Venture Capital is not perfect, and it is certainly not the end goal, but we can take lessons from it to build the future we desire.
My “why” is to build wealth, not just for myself as an individual, but to build wealth that my family, future generations, and my entire community can benefit from.
Even though I originally embarked on this journey alone, my “why” is not a selfish pursuit. It's about being a problem solver and an innovator, an agent for change and a superhero in my community able to put my talents to good use in making a difference.
Every one of our communities has problems, but entrepreneurs see those problems as opportunities. If we can change those problems, through developing solutions that benefit us all, then we all succeed.
“For it is obvious that if a man enters the starting line of a race 300 years after another man, the first would have to perform some incredible feat in order to catch up to his fellow runner. - Martin Luther King, Jr.
Now, there are statistics that will tell you the racial wealth gap is widening — to say that the wealth attained and preserved in white communities is vastly greater than that of black and brown communities.
In my view, the only way that we can accelerate the rate of change that we wish to see and to create new wealth is to create new entrepreneurs, to create new businesses that deliver value at scale in our communities, and provide return on investment that can be reinvested in the development of our communities. The best way to do this is through investment.
It's important for me to teach this course because my “why” includes education.
Through my work, my goal is to educate 10,000 new angel investors — individuals who've never invested in a privately held business before, but they get their start after engaging with my content.
My “why” is about shifting the mindsets of those who’ve been taught to believe all they can ever be is a consumer.
My work is for those who previously believed they could never aspire to be an entrepreneur or a producer of valuable goods and services. It’s for those who never thought they could build a technology startup that goes on to serve millions of customers around the world. It's about tackling the narrative that just because you didn't go to an elite university, or have professional experience at a prestigious investment firm in the past, you can't aspire to be a venture capitalist, or simply angel invest in promising startup companies that you believe in.
My “why” is about educating a new generation of individuals of all ages, and of all backgrounds, to believe that they can do it too — to help them realize that many of the successful people you may look up to, the people that you study or whose art or music you love, they too are entrepreneurs and investors. Knowing that, there’s no reason why you have to fit into any one particular box. You don't have to fit in with any existing narrative or stereotype — you can create your own future and build the next best thing on your own terms.
Our country is becoming increasingly diverse, which I believe to be a very good thing, and unfortunately, some others believe this to be a very bad thing. The reality is that times are changing, the power structures that dominated the past are slowly being reformed, and diverse leaders from underrepresented backgrounds are shaping industries that impact us all.
My “why” is to create a guide that makes it a little bit easier for anyone interested in learning about startups and investing in private companies — to make it easy for them to understand how to get started, to inspire them to take that leap, and to galvanize them to take action in creating the change they want to see in the world.
It’s about shifting people's perspectives from thinking that they can't do it or they don't have the resources to do it — to realize that you can do this too, and you can get started today.
Even if you don't see yourself represented, this is a space that you belong in, and you can represent yourself in this space. When you represent yourself, you’ll be representing others who look to you for inspiration — and when they see you, they’ll know that they can do it too.
For me, this is how we multiply the number of wealth creation opportunities in our communities. It’s by educating and inspiring one person at a time, and then that person will go on to educate and inspire, and then that person will go on to do the same. If we continue to lean in and accelerate that cycle, we will have communities bursting with owners and entrepreneurs — creating the change, scaling to new heights, and lifting as they climb.