Angel: How to Invest in Technology Startups--Timeless Advice from an Angel Investor Who Turned $100,000 into $100,000,000 Hardcover – July 18, 2017

This is the best book on investment advice that I have read; I cant think of a more valuable way to spend 4 hours.TACTICAL. Where-as Peter Thiels' book Zero-to-One is a very strategic, meta-look into emerging trends in human progress, and encourages people to play on the right table, Calacanis' Angel lays out the specifics to getting some action in the game and beating the odds.As a founder involved in the startup game, there's been a lot of confusion for me surrounding how to navigate the world of angel investors and venture capital. There's surprisingly little information about how to understand whats *really* going on in investors heads. And there's been this frustration that, no matter how many hours I spend watching Youtube interviews with successful investors or successful founders, its very difficult to that raw, straightforward thought process thats actually going on in investors minds.Firstly, the authors credentials, and experience on both sides of the investment table are super solid, with some big wins like Uber under his belt. Moving on.The overall style of the book is engaging, punchy, and personal. The pace is solid and engaging throughout; I plowed through this book in 4 hours on a recent plane flight. Jason will generally make a tactical point, or cite an investing rule-of-thumb, and then go on the back it up with a story from personal experience to bring things back to the real world."The founders who have gone to [incubators] are trained to set artificial deadlines and manufacture scarcity. Dont fall for it"This book doesn't just hang out in theory-land. Jason gives Tons of great examples of specific questions to ask founders, ways to destroy them if they're in dreamland, examples on how to network with other investors/founders in your field, and at what points companies should raise money, etc."How did you get to that valuation?" , "Is that valuation set in stone?" are among some of the many interesting open-ended questions he offers up as examples of his interrogation process for founders.Overall, I'd highly recommend this book to anyone interested in business, but especially to those who are either founders seeking capital, or investors looking to fund billion+ companies. And frankly, if you aren't looking to do that, you either aren't recognizing patterns, or are thinking too small.I hope this review helps and motivates some people to read this book, because it definitely helped me.JC

As a public equity guy, I really didn't know what to expect from an angel investing book. Being an avid market participant and a bit of a startup/vc news junkie, I knew who Jason Calacanis was and figured it was defintely worth the read! Especially since no one well known, has ever compiled a book specifically tailored towards Angel Investing.Many individuals have already written wonderful reviews of the book, so I'll try to make my review condensed. The book is written in an "Eloquently Brash" tone. If you can't handle a bit of sarcasm, blunt statements, and prefer cookie cutter politically correct text books. This book is probably not for you... Jason outlines a simple blueprint for any accredited investor to get into angel investing. He even dives into ways non-accredited investors can get in the game through advisory work and crowdfunding. The reason this isn't a central focus of the book is because these paths are going to evolve very differently for each individual. Although there will be some commonalities you can take away in this blueprint, ultimately you will have to figure some of it out on your own, because there is no way of knowing how each persons path will develop. Some reviewers have chastised the idea that this book was targeted to the accredited investor, but to put it simply, books are not only meant for knowledge, but also for marketing. Jason wants to create a large network of deal flow for himself, but also for others within that network. That means it could potentially benefit you too!Now back to the blueprint, the book explains the basics in startup funding and how to become part of a syndicate if you're new to startups, angel investing, and the venture capital world. The book then goes on to give a play-by-play on pitch meetings, the prep for them, the questions to ask, how to interpret the answers you receive, the quick calculations you'll want to make to ask intelligent questions, and how to evaluate the deal after your meetings. Really, what more do you want? Well, the book also gives you easy ways to start saying no, which is probably the most important word for anyone who is successful with limited time, and a due diligence checklist. Finally, the book explains the angel investing cycle you will take on during the next 7 to 10 years if you start this journey. Essentially, it's the explanation of the ebbs and flows of any cycle, whether it be the business cycle or the public markets. But, this cycle is tailored for the angel investor to understand, because in angel/private investing you can't sell your equity shares like you can in the public markets.Overall, the book was a fun read with many great quotes! You will walk away knowing more about angel investing and will be able to start the journey yourself if you so choose to! An added bonus is all the poker references! If you are an investor, you at the very least probably respect this masterful game of probability and manipulation, even if you are not an avid player. Or if you played poker first as I did in life, you will find an appreciation for investing and taking calculated risk bets where sometimes playing your hand based on the player/founder, is more important than the numbers.

An interesting, easy to read book from an angel investor with an all-star track record and a huge amount of street cred. Here’s a few comments:- The investing strategy targets apps and software startups exclusively. This is also the theme of the TWIST podcast. I understand that this is probably the fastest path to outsize returns, but it’s a shame that hardware is largely ignored. The world’s largest market cap company (Apple) builds and sells hardware.- You gotta move to Silicon Valley. This is non-negotiable. However, some account must be given to the housing market being among the most expensive in the world, onerous regulations and taxes, congestion, and a California lifestyle that many don’t find appealing. There are plenty of successful angels, angel consortiums, and tech hubs that are not located in and around Palo Alto.- This book has a lot of profanity. I suppose this makes it edgy and more personal, but it also takes credibility down a few notches. The subject matter involves a ton of money to be put in play by individual, accredited investors and this demands professional discourse, not street talk. I can’t imagine another Hall of Fame angel investor by the name of Naval Ravikant communicating this way.