The real question is why would an entrepreneur want your money? Unless there's something else that distinguishes you, the only way anyone would take your money is if you offered ridiculously generous terms.
Buy a condo, put it in a brokerage account, or take it to Vegas. Your odds of seeing a positive return are better there.
If that's what I learn here, then its a great piece of information all by itself.
Assuming I and some other angel offer comparable amounts, then you should go with the guy with more contacts and a better track record. That certainly isn't me. If you happen to need excellent technical advice on systems software and hardware then I can help and have amazing contacts for that.
But you raise an excellent point in that it may well be that I'm not at the right phase of my career to be an angel.
Vegas gets boring. I have existing separate long term investments I intend to retire off. No particular interest in the stock market right now. (Been there, wrote the code, made some money).
i would suggest a combo idea: buy a condo and rent it out to a YC startup founders for equity (stock option) in their startups...
this will give you multiple benefits:
1. You will learn 2 fantastic investment trades (angel funding and real estate) at one shot and keep your money safe as you're buying a property which wont loose money. I wish i could do this, seriously.
2. You will make money from both, as price of your condo will definitely go high and if at all your tenants (starup founders) are successful then you will gain from the stock options.
3. Real estate is down so chances are high that you will buy a decent condo at lowest possible price. Remember to buy a condo in a good location even though you might have to pay a little more.
4. You will get a chance to be in touch with startup founders on regular basis and would learn important stuff from them which will help you to become a startup founder in the future and an angel investor once you have money that you can afford to loose.
5. You will also learn about real estate investing by meeting real estate agents, mortgage brokers, lawyers etc. Trust me investing in real estate is also an interesting domain and its one of the best option of getting good return in long term... and fortunately this is the best time to invest. MAN, you're one lucky guy.
6. Go to YC's angel investor's conference with those founders and see how everything works.
7. THE MOST IMPORTANT is, you will make new friends from variety of backgrounds... a huge networking opportunity - knowing people like Pg in particular is no small deal.
Now that's an interesting idea I hadn't considered; will need to ponder whether the limited amount of cash (rental equivalent * x months) is sufficient investment. I suppose a club house for hackers has other benefits as well..
Meeting the right startup people is very important to me. As with everyone else I have a list of cool ideas. The trick will be the right people to execute.
jimboyoungblood|16 years ago
Buy a condo, put it in a brokerage account, or take it to Vegas. Your odds of seeing a positive return are better there.
tiredkid|16 years ago
If that's what I learn here, then its a great piece of information all by itself.
Assuming I and some other angel offer comparable amounts, then you should go with the guy with more contacts and a better track record. That certainly isn't me. If you happen to need excellent technical advice on systems software and hardware then I can help and have amazing contacts for that.
But you raise an excellent point in that it may well be that I'm not at the right phase of my career to be an angel.
Vegas gets boring. I have existing separate long term investments I intend to retire off. No particular interest in the stock market right now. (Been there, wrote the code, made some money).
Shamiq|16 years ago
newacc|16 years ago
this will give you multiple benefits:
1. You will learn 2 fantastic investment trades (angel funding and real estate) at one shot and keep your money safe as you're buying a property which wont loose money. I wish i could do this, seriously.
2. You will make money from both, as price of your condo will definitely go high and if at all your tenants (starup founders) are successful then you will gain from the stock options.
3. Real estate is down so chances are high that you will buy a decent condo at lowest possible price. Remember to buy a condo in a good location even though you might have to pay a little more.
4. You will get a chance to be in touch with startup founders on regular basis and would learn important stuff from them which will help you to become a startup founder in the future and an angel investor once you have money that you can afford to loose.
5. You will also learn about real estate investing by meeting real estate agents, mortgage brokers, lawyers etc. Trust me investing in real estate is also an interesting domain and its one of the best option of getting good return in long term... and fortunately this is the best time to invest. MAN, you're one lucky guy.
6. Go to YC's angel investor's conference with those founders and see how everything works.
7. THE MOST IMPORTANT is, you will make new friends from variety of backgrounds... a huge networking opportunity - knowing people like Pg in particular is no small deal.
The above idea is inspired from a YC posting a while a go, please visit and read: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=565493
tiredkid|16 years ago
Meeting the right startup people is very important to me. As with everyone else I have a list of cool ideas. The trick will be the right people to execute.
jimboyoungblood|16 years ago