Reminder: Applications for our April cohort of VITALIZE Angels are now open and will once again have limited available spots. Please apply below by April 14th if you’re interested:

The best way to learn about angel investing?

Start writing checks.

The second best way?

Learn from other people who have done it for years.

Gale Wilkinson is one of those people.

She’s invested in more than 40 companies as an angel investor and is the Managing Partner here at VITALIZE Venture Capital, the fund she started in 2018.

Below are three things, among others, she looks for when assessing pre-seed and seed-stage investment opportunities.

1. The Team’s Ability to Win

She wants to see results and reasons to believe in the team.

This could include early revenues, data on why the product is a painkiller vs. a vitamin, and/or concrete insights the founder has learned through hustle and customer research.

She looks for grit, passion, coachability, and problem-solving skills.

2. The Business Model’s Potential

Gale wants to invest in startups where the market is big and growing (ie, if every customer bought, revenue would be in the billions).

The startup cannot be taking a feature or niche approach, as the roadmap must incorporate multiple offerings, models, and/or target markets to scale big long-term.

3. The “It Factor”

When assessing a startup or a founder, Gale wants to know what their “special sauce” is.

She’s asking herself, “Why is this opportunity more fun, believable, & better than the rest?”

To get to the point of investment, she also wants to resonate strongly with the founder's vision and have the conviction that this deal truly has what it takes to succeed.

Of course, there are many factors to consider when evaluating a startup, every investor takes a somewhat different approach, but I hope this will get you started in considering what factors you care about in assessing potential investments.

Thanks for reading today!

What topics would you like us to cover next?

Reply to this email or ping me on Twitter to let me know.

Take care,

Justin