💥 Issue #39: The Angel Investing Boom
A new company bringing down barriers in startup investing, where to buy and sell all your medical equipment, and why you'll live longer than you think
💬 Welcome to issue #39 of Between the Lines
2021 was a mammoth year for VC investing for Claremont and everybody else - U.S. investments in venture capital in 2021 exceeded $300B for the first time. 2022 is looking no different and the increased participation from nontraditional investors like angels and cross-over funds is helping fuel the growth. In fact, PitchBook recorded a 64% YoY growth among nontraditional investors from 2020 to 2021.
Many of these nontraditional investors are increasing their investing participation because of a plethora of SPV and investing options like AngelList and Assure which reduce cost and operational overhead. Read on, however, to see why Daniel Shi thinks Claremont-founded company Sydecar is emerging as one of the best platforms for angel and nontraditional investors.
~ Josh & Miles
📢 👥 Community Voices: Angel Investing Through Sydecar
Author: Daniel Shi
Daniel Shi is a Claremont graduate who spent time at Tencent and Amex Ventures investing in gaming, e-commerce, and fintech before spending six years at payments leader Remitly leading up to its IPO. Now, he’s an angel investor and advisor for numerous startups and funds out of his private investment company - South Quad (sound familiar?). 😉 He shares below why he thinks Sydecar (co-founded by CMC alumnus David Meister) will continue to make it easier than ever for angel investors to invest in startups.
According to PitchBook Data’s research conducted with the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), 2020 was a record year for the venture capital industry and the momentum did not slow down in 2021. And judging by the amount of activity in the last 2 months, 2022 is going to be another blow out year.
It has never been easier to be an investor in private companies, and the barriers keep coming down. This is in large part thanks to the proliferation of investment management solutions on the market today, and there are some really great options out there.
In 2020, I met David Meister and Nik Talreja. They were entrepreneurial lawyers who were launching multiple projects, but I was intrigued by one idea in particular: to build something that would make it dead simple for deal makers to set up and execute SPVs. In turn, this would dramatically break down barriers to entry for investing.
As ex-lawyers, David and Nik were well-suited to pursue this vision and implement the practical aspects of the venture. They also have an incredible entrepreneurial bent — a mix of ambition, perseverance, big-picture thinking, and grit. And to top it all off, they already had some fascinating ideas about how to marry deal documents and software to aggressively lower the barriers to entry for deal makers looking to get started.
I knew then and there that this was a winning formula. That’s why I’ve been thrilled to be an early investor in Sydecar. They have been growing a really wonderful team and investing in building a delightful product.
Now, they are starting taking the cover off what they’re building, and it’s time deal makers started paying attention — because I can guarantee they’ll like what they see. 👇
📣 Pardon the Announcement: You Need a Product Strategy & The Kravis Competition
Calling all founders, product leaders, and engineers in SF interested in mapping their work up to strategy. Join John Kodumal (HMC), co-founder of LaunchDarkly, as he discusses his experience and thoughts on developing a reliable and successful product strategy for an efficient engineering team.
This meetup will be an open discussion for software engineers and tech enthusiasts to share their thoughts on the leading topic, pose thought-provoking questions for each other, and learn more about how various engineering teams measure developer productivity amongst themselves.
Snacks, drinks, and swag will be provided to all registered attendees.
Wednesday, April 13, 2022 — 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM PDT @ 182 Shipley St, SoMa
The Kravis Concept Plan Competition is for students and alumni of The Claremont Colleges who think they have what it takes to be entrepreneurs. This Friday, the selected finalist will pitch their plans to a panel of judges (including our very own Miles Bird) for a chance to win up to $10,000 in cash prizes and a shot at bringing their venture to life. The event will be live-streamed and you can follow along with the link below.
Friday, April 8, 2022 — 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM PDT
💼 Who’s Hiring?:
Julian Buckner is a Claremont alumnus and the Founder & CEO of VESTA — a tech-enabled design and furniture business. Their software turns every home into a showroom - enabling a complete multi-channel customer experience with vertical and horizontal integration. This model has positioned Vesta to be both a platform provider to the design industry as well as its most dominant provider of tech-enabled services.
They are currently looking for a Director of Marketing - a CMO track position in the luxury design or an adjacent space that will work directly with the CEO to lead all aspects of the firm's marketing apparatus. This includes the creation, execution, and management of campaigns across web, email, social, and other channels to help grow brand awareness, acquire new customers, and retain existing customers. This role will work closely with their design, sales, and operations team to deliver an extraordinary customer experience. The ideal candidate has experience developing and executing campaigns and can lead a team of in-house and contract resources. Interested in learning more or applying, reach out to Julian.
Maddie Hall (CMC) and Living Carbon are on a mission to responsibly rebalance the planet’s carbon cycle using the inherent power of plants. The team is 25+-strong, backed by some of the top investors in the world, and scaling their swiftly-growing partnership base of sustainability leaders. They are fighting climate change by enhancing CO2 capture and storage in trees and are looking for some Claremont talent to join them. If you’re curious to learn more or connect with Maddie, let us know.
Back in 2019, Claremont alumnus Sam Corcos helped co-found Levels. Now, Levels is an a16z-backed health tech company, here to help you see how food affects your health. By leveraging biosensors like continuous glucose monitors (CGM), Levels provides real-time feedback on how diet and lifestyle choices impact your metabolic health. Their members are using personalized data to discover their optimal diet, control their weight, and reduce long-term health risks. Levels is on a mission to solve the metabolic health crisis and they’re looking for some new talent. If you’re curious about connecting with Sam, shoot us a note.
Make sure to check out the other 5,000+ open jobs at 400+ Claremont-affiliated companies here on our Storyboard. Plus, make sure to create a profile and enter your preferences to get alerted to new job postings relevant to you, be they the 750+ remote jobs, 180+ internships, or 30+ part-time positions available. We’ve published research that shows that Claremont-founded companies that disproportionately hire Claremont talent outperform — so pay attention Claremonsters!
As always, if any of these roles catch your eye 👀 , apply and mention Between the Lines. Or if you are an employer and are looking to hire tip-top Claremont talent, fill out this form to have your jobs featured.
🗣️ Conversations on the Interwebz:
This week’s top read 🔥
A huge congrats to Sydecar and their co-founder David Meister (CMC) on their recent $8M+ raise. In case you missed the article above, Sydecar builds tools that remove the headache of organizing private investments — so that you can focus on making deals, not spreadsheets.
Everything else you need to know….📖
What would you do differently if you suddenly found out that you’ll probably live about seven years longer than you currently expect? Byron Cohen (CMC), a Ph.D. candidate in Population Health Sciences at Harvard, shares below why life expectancy statistics can be misleading and why you’ll likely live longer than you expect.
If you’re at all interested in working for an up-and-coming science startup, you’re going to want to check out this list below shared by the founder of Living Carbon — Maddie Hall (CMC).
From a star college athlete to hedge fund rockstar and now mindfulness leader, Ali Abramovitz Cook (CMC) shares her incredible journey in co-founding her YC-backed company - Chorus Meditation.
Can’t get enough of Between the Lines? Follow and connect with us on Twitter!
🍽️ BTL Snacks:
🚲 Zwiftly Changing The Game….. Zwift, co-founded by Alarik Myrin (PO), has made a push into competitive cycling and could change esports. Zwift itself has been a metaverse company since its inception, although its creators didn’t initially use that word to describe it.
🌳 The Musizi Tree….. Dr. Takako Mino (CMC/CGU) and her co-founder Elaine Alowo-Matovu are starting the Musizi University - a quintessentially Ugandan yet unequivocally global university that will transform young Africans into impactful global leaders.
🏆 Community & Content Win….. Adam Schoenfeld (CMC) shares in his PeerSignal newsletter what he learned from analyzing ~500 product-led growth companies. The takeaway: owned community wins and can be one of the most impactful flywheels for your company.
⏸️ LLC Isn’t The Only Way To Be….. Michael Kimball (CMC) Tech Coast Angels member and technology lawyer, provides some advice to startups who may be considering an LLC.
Feedback? We love to hear it. Hit us with an email. 👊🏼