An Angel's Perspective: Joel Blumenau

Hi 👋 Welcome to the Angel Insights newsletter from VITALIZE.

Each month, we feature angel investor interviews to give you unique perspectives, tips, and strategies on early-stage angel investing. Share with a friend who may want to subscribe and learn about angel investing. ✨

Featured in this edition is Joel Blumenau, an emerging angel investor with almost a year of experience, aiming to complete 5-6 deals annually. His investment strategy is shaped by his extensive B2B SaaS experience and his background in varied fields such as aviation and trading.

How did you become an angel investor?

Although I have officially been angel investing only since the fall of 2023, my interest was spurred by my day job where I have been on the corporate venture committee for the last few years. We seek to make strategic investments in slightly more mature efforts (Series A/B) with whom we have operational synergies that apply to our work in commercial and government aviation maintenance and parts supply.

I plan to gradually increase my involvement in early-stage investing, professionally and personally, over the coming years.

What type of deals do you like to do?

What I know best is the B2B SaaS space due to my "portfolio career" with experience in everything from entertainment and film production to professional equity options trading, sales and advertising, and now aviation. VITALIZE Angel's focus on future of work SaaS was therefore a big factor in my decision to join!

A theme that has run throughout my career has been my involvement with start-up efforts. I have launched or was a member of the founding launch team on multiple occasions with two successful exits. So I feel that I know what it takes to develop and manage a winning SaaS product, both technically speaking as well as how to identify the intangible factors of a high-performing team. I try not to close my mind to any target market, geography, size, etc. as long as the technical resources seem to be in place and the leaders are being smart about putting them to best use. Of course, the team also has to have that contagious and hard-to-quantify energy and enthusiasm for me to get excited about investing.

What is your favorite thing about being an angel investor?

Having been on start-up teams myself, I get most excited about meeting the founders, working with them when I can, and offering support and advice when it is requested. I have been on the client services side of so many opportunities that it has become natural for me to just want to help other people succeed. And it doesn't hurt if I get to share in their success by being on the cap table with them!

What advice would you give to a new angel investor?

Keep an open mind but have your critical analysis tools nearby at all times. Don't let any detail, no matter how insignificant it may seem at the time, go unquestioned if it raises a flag.

Can you share a success story from your investments?

I haven't been personally angel investing long enough to have a great story, yet. In my professional investing efforts, I can say that we have a nice portfolio that is doing quite well as a whole.

What is the most important part of your diligence process and why?

In the case of angel investing, the financial due diligence is less relevant, of course. My top focus areas are becoming the target market of the company and the team that is aiming for it. If the market is sizable and legitimately struggling with a problem that the team is ready to solve with a strong product, then I am more likely to invest.

What do you think the future of angel investing will look like?

I think the recent trend of democratization of angel investing will continue and will be innovated upon over time, especially as AI tools are applied to it. I believe we have just scratched the surface of the power of the crowd and that crowd-trained AI is really going to accelerate the investing space and help us all to make better, more predictively accurate decisions.

What do you enjoy doing outside of investing?

I love to ride my bike, write fiction, shoot photos, and draw.

What else do you think new angels should know if anything?

Be hungry to learn, keep an open mind, and never compromise on your most important principles (even when everyone else is).

Who are your mentors or role models in the investment world?

Lately, I have been reading the books of some of the most well-known early-stage investors out there like Jason Calacanis (early Uber investor), Ben Horowitz (Andreesen Horowitz), Brad Feld (Foundry Group), and Scott Kupor (also Andreesen Horowitz).

If you’re an angel investor and would like to be highlighted through this newsletter series, please fill out this form.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you’ve been inspired today! 🙂

Peace, love, and angel checks,
GaleforceVC