Hey Founder: Let's talk about why ANGELS rule!

They don't call them angels for nothing!

One of the hardest parts of getting the startup plane off the ground is finding the fuel—money—to do it. Too many of us imagine a romantic scene: a VC meeting, a napkin, a pen, a cup of coffee, and 30 minutes later, a signed check. We tell ourselves the first check is just a quick pitch away, like some startup fairy tale where capital shows up because we showed up.

And sure, there are plenty of ways to get there…

You can self-fund, bootstrap through revenue, land that VC check, take on debt, lean on friends and family, and, of course, work with angels. For this post, I’m setting friends and family aside (yes, they’re angels too because they believe in you) and instead focusing on the angels who are businesspeople who choose to invest in you. The truth is, you’ll probably end up touching many of these funding sources at different points in your journey.

But this post is about those earliest days—when you’re still bolting pieces of the plane together, trying to see if it will even leave the runway. It’s about why Angels rule, which I’ll get to. But before that, we need to talk about the founder’s unavoidable best friend and worst enemy: Financial Death.

Meet Your Friend and Enemy: Financial Death

Financial Death is exactly what it sounds like—the moment when your company simply isn’t viable and it fails. Writing that out might feel obvious, but everything needs a clear definition if you’re going to wrestle with it seriously. And here’s the paradox: Financial Death is both your greatest enemy and one of your best friends.

Why your enemy? Easy. If Financial Death shows up and decides to move in permanently, you’re done. You didn’t raise enough, you burned too fast, you couldn’t keep the lights on. At that point, you’ve signed a permanent lease with failure, and there’s no getting out of it.

But why your friend? Odd as it sounds, you’d better get acquainted with Financial Death early. At some point in the messy, harried, adrenaline-fueled process of getting from zero to viable—or even from viable to successful—you’re going to meet them. They’ll knock on your door. The relationship you build in that moment determines whether it’s a quick visit or a permanent stay.

Here’s what your “friend” can teach you:

Plan Ahead. If you want to keep Financial Death from even knocking, you’d better mind your cash flow. Sounds obvious, but that’s why they make such a useful friend. If you don’t think ahead about how you’ll handle the conversation, you won’t be ready when they show up. Plan well, keep the visit short, and make sure you’ve got dinner plans somewhere else so you can politely push them out the door.

Manage Expectations. We all dream about the hockey stick growth curve—but it almost never works out like that. Sales, in particular, always take longer than you think (15 years in the game has taught me this the hard way). People buy in strange, unpredictable ways. Being familiar with Financial Death means you’re honest with yourself about where the business really stands. You track it day by day, week by week, month by month. That honesty keeps you grounded so you’re not blindsided when Financial Death drops by.

Be Pragmatic and Frugal. Do you really need to buy lunch for the team every day? People would rather have fair pay and health benefits than free tacos. Should you sponsor that conference now—or can it wait? Can you afford the lag time between lead generation and revenue? Should you hire full-time or use fractional talent until you’re ready? Scaling too fast or spending without discipline is basically an open invitation for Financial Death to come in and crash on your couch. Learn from the visit. Next time, you’ll know how to keep the door locked.

Stay on Your Toes. Above all, Financial Death teaches you that you can’t run a business flat-footed. You don’t have to panic about it, but you do have to stay forward-leaning. When you’re on your toes, you can pivot faster, react better, and act with more balance when pressure hits. Financial Death has a way of sharpening your instincts—if you let them.

Look to the skies for the Angels

As with many things in the founder’s life, keeping Financial Death at bay is job number one. Yes, you still have to build a product, find a market, get product-market fit, define your ICP, and on and on—but none of that matters if you can’t keep the financial wolves outside the door. The money side of the job is the thing gnawing at your brain most days. I often ask myself: what’s my true north, where do I really want to go, and how do I walk it back to today so I can chart a path? The answer is always the same—you need revenue and you need investment.

As a founder who (luckily, or maybe unluckily) had to bootstrap their way forward, we were fortunate to spark revenue quickly and grow it. We still dreamed the classic dream—raise VC money on the strength of an idea, scale up fast, and make magic happen. But that wasn’t in the cards for us in 2023. That was the era of the “ghost VC”—when savings accounts paid 5%, the economy wobbled, and investors suddenly found the sidelines very comfortable. The message was clear: make money yourself or expect Financial Death to come knocking sooner rather than later.

When the end of our first year brought one of those knock-knock moments, we made a deliberate choice. We turned to friends and family. They answered. That capital bought us breathing room, shooed Financial Death out of the house, and gave us a shot at another round. But from there, we leaned into our broader network—the Angels. These were the people who stepped in again and again. And when they did, it felt like stumbling through the desert, about to collapse, only to have someone hand you a gallon of water. Life-saving. Game-changing. Angels, in every sense of the word.

Let's talk about the broad definition of Angels

In the broadest, most inclusive sense, an angel investor is:

👉 Any individual who uses their own money, time, and belief to back an early-stage venture before it’s fully proven.

That can mean:

• Classic angel investors: seasoned businesspeople who write checks directly into startups.

• Friends and family: the people who believe in you first and put in money not because the spreadsheet is airtight, but because you are.

• Community angels: local business owners, professionals, or networks who want to nurture new ventures around them.

• Strategic angels: folks in your industry who add advice, introductions, and credibility alongside their money.

• Micro-angels: smaller backers who might not have deep pockets, but whose early checks or sweat equity give you crucial early momentum.

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At the core, an Angel is anyone who looks at a founder’s fight with Financial Death and says:

“I believe you’ll figure this out, and I’m going to give you resources—money, connections, mentorship, or all of the above—to help you buy time and prove it.”

They aren’t institutions. They aren’t bound by committees. Angels are humans choosing to bet on other humans.

Why Do Angels Rule in the Quest to Stave Off Financial Death?

First, let’s be clear about why Angels rule.

They buy you time. Angels don’t wait for you to be fully proven. They come in with money when what you mostly have is vision and momentum. Sure, that sounds obvious, but don’t discount it. Asking someone to believe in you when it’s early feels like climbing Everest in flip-flops. But the alternative is a long, soul-crushing visit from Financial Death. And here’s the truth: everything always takes longer than you think. For every Snapchat that rockets out of the garage and sells to Facebook in record time, there are thousands of quiet flameouts. Angels are those extra cans of fuel strapped to the wings—just enough to keep you flying until you’re high enough for in-flight refueling.

They lean in. When Angels are on your cap table, they care. Their financial commitment ties them to your success in a way that makes them more than just passive investors. At times, they feel like part-time teammates—jumping in when you need them most. Angels rule because people willing to put their own money into your fight usually bring more than cash: they bring energy, accountability, and belief. They don’t want to lose their investment, but if they’re riding with you, it’s because they see something real. Embrace that dynamic. It’s a gift.

They bring expertise. If you’re intentional about who you bring on, Angels can supercharge your business with skill and wisdom. We have 24 Angels—each one bringing something different. One helps polish our pitch deck thanks to years as a Goldman Sachs analyst. Another serves as a shadow salesperson because they live that world every day. We’ve got data scientists willing to sanity-check ideas, rolling fund VCs opening doors, and former founders offering scarred-but-honest wisdom. This collective brain trust isn’t just capital—it’s leverage.

And here’s the kicker: not all Angels are created equal. Some write checks and disappear. Others show up with networks, expertise, and perspective that can change your trajectory. The key is recognizing that Angels are far more than a temporary lifeline to stave off Financial Death—they can be a strategic force multiplier if you pick wisely.

My own founder path has been nothing like the “young turks” who raise $10M on day one with no experience and a big idea. I’ve had to knife-fight my way through, using every resource I could muster—my 30 years of business relationships, my partners, my network, my scars from big and small companies. And along that way, Angels have been the ones who showed up when Financial Death knocked on the door. They crashed the dinner party, linked arms with us, and helped send that unwelcome guest packing.

They don’t call them Angels for nothing. And if you’re smart enough to know which ones to bring into your corner, they can be the difference between just surviving and actually building something that lasts.

Don’t be a fool. Remember: Angels Rule.