How I Became an Angel Investor

Many of you know my background from years of following NOBREAD, but for those who don’t, here’s a little bit about me…

After graduating Cornell is 2011, I worked at J.P. Morgan in Equity Sales for three years. It was here at JPM where I started my blog, NOBREAD. Although I had no idea at the time, NOBREAD was about to catch the rise of “Influencer,” and as ‘Influencer’ and ‘Banker‘ became too hard to manage, and one was far more exciting than the other, I left JPM to work on NOBREAD full-time.

I’ve always believed that everything in life is meant to come full circle. I felt that my time at JP Morgan and all of the client entertaining led to my interest in gluten-free dining, and that led me to NOBREAD. But my circle wasn’t whole here. After years of creating content as NOBREAD, and watching the companies I was working with scale and sell, my interest in finance came back around.

“They pay me $X. But if I pay them X, I’ll actually make…”

And so my angel investing career began and my circle came all the way back around.

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Okay, so if you don’t have my background in finance and career in consumer health & wellness, can you become an angel investor?!

ABSOLUTELY!

“How can I get into angel investing??” is the most common question I’m asked! Even more common than “what’s gluten-free at this restaurant?”

So how do you do it?

Here are 4 topics within angel investing that you should know about, and how to go about finding your first deal!

1. Accredited Investor

Anyone can invest into private companies as long as they are an accredited investor. There is no “angel investor” or “accredited investor” test you need to take, but if you meet these criteria, you’re good to go!

A. Has an annual income of at least $200,000, or $300,000 if combined with a spouse’s income.

B. Has a net worth of $1 million or more—either individually or together with a spouse.

C. Holds a valid Series 7, 65 or 82 license

2. Access to deal flow.

I started investing in consumer companies because that’s my (no)bread and butter. I know it. I live it. I sat on the sidelines accepting checks from Bai and HU Kitchen, while investors saw their value and wrote them checks instead and made out like bandits.

When I was 19 and first diagnosed with Celiac Disease, the gluten-free items in a grocery store consisted mainly of rice cakes and potato chips, and gluten-free foods took up a half aisle at most. Imagine I had the foresight to start investing in consumer health & wellness then!?

Any way, back to deal flow. Through influencing I have met and worked with hundreds of the biggest wellness brands, been to their events, and have met people on their teams. If there was a company I was passionate about, I asked them to invest.

Note 1: companies only take on money when they are doing a raise. So if they weren’t raising, I put myself on their radar for future raises.

Note 2: Allocations can be hard to get! You’re competing with large venture funds and other strategic angels. Pitch yourself on how you can be helpful and strategic to the brand. Make them want your money!

Most people reading this are not influencers. Don’t be discouraged! Do exactly as I do; follow the brand on social media, DM them, go to their public events, ask to connect to the marketing team and founder and tell them how much you love the brand. Create the relationship and NETWORK! Which brings us to…

3. Networking

One of my biggest strengths is Networking. I networked HUGELY to get my job at JP Morgan, I networked my way through the NYC restaurant scene to get an endless amount of content for my blog, and I network with other investors and brands daily so I have access to the best deal flow.

Angel investing and venture capital are some of the hottest industries right now. Reach out to people in the space, ask if they have anyone in their network they think you should meet based on your interests, and go from there! Some of my closest investor friends are people I’ve only ever spoken to on zoom!

4. Angel Groups

I was super eager to begin angel investing, but when it came time to make my first investment I was timid! Story for another week, but the first investment I almost made was Seed!! Ultimately, I wasn’t confident enough to make the investment.

Rather than make a direct investment for my first time, I decided to invest into a fund. A fund is safer, because it invests into 10-20 (or more) companies, so if one brand goes under, there will be others that exit and win.

You can also look into SPVs or angel investor groups! I have an SPV network that you can join, here. More on these another day.

Investing into a fund first built my confidence, and from there I started making direct investments!

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Remember, angel investing is fun, but super risky. After five years of investing I only just had my first exit! You are playing the long game, so it is important to only ever invest an amount you are willing to lose, or willing to not have access to for a long period of time.

Thanks for reading, fam! I can’t wait to dive into this topic more. Let me know in the comments what aspects of angel investing you’d like to hear more about!!

xx Nicole