Overview of angel investing and how it works
Private investing is one of the most direct ways you can support companies that align with your values. The number of opportunities for both accredited and unaccredited investors is enormous as are the ways to invest. But the sheer number of options available, the pace at which private markets change, and the risk profile of private companies can make the prospect of writing a check daunting. This course will demystify private investing and give you tools you can use to screen and support projects and companies you love. You’ll get guidance you can apply right away, and that will evolve as your investment journey unfolds, whether you are making your first investment or your fiftieth.
Course Calendar & Structure
Becoming an Angel of Change is a 3-part course that meets “live” for 90-minutes every other week. The virtual sessions will include expert-led presentations, as well as large and small group discussions that enable knowledge sharing among participants. Limited optional self-study will be assigned prior to each meeting. While brief pre-work will be offered, the course is designed so you can show up just as you are and get what you need to equip you to back early stage companies.
Outcomes
By the end of the course, participants will have:
Prerequisites & Level of Effort
There are no pre-requisites for this course, which is open to both accredited and non-accredited investors. It is important to be aware that private investing involves risk and there are more private investing opportunities for accredited investors.
Time Commitment: Approximately 2 hours every two weeks
Approximately 30 minutes of self-study is encouraged, but not required, prior to each of the 3 meetings. Meetings are scheduled to last about 90 minutes each. The self-study consists of a combination of reading, videos, and worksheets.
Course Content
Course Creator
Lisa Frusztajer is a lead investor in Portfolia’s Enterprise Fund, Investor in Residence at The Capital Network, and an active angel investor based in Cambridge, MA. She is a Venture Partner with Converge Venture Partners, a seed and early-stage fund focusing on cutting-edge information technology ventures in Boston and New England, and an investor in Founders First Capital Partners, a revenue-based fund that backs under-served founders. Lisa is an alumna of the Pipeline Fellowship, a training fellowship in angel investing.
Lisa has been fascinated by investing since she was a child, and has been an active investor in the public markets since she was able to open her first discount brokerage account. Over the course of her career, Lisa has navigated all ends of the technology world, first working at Sun Microsystems, then growing a small software startup called KYOS, and joining Avid Technology, the leading provider of audio and video technology for media organizations and independent professionals.
Lisa has served on a number of non-profit boards, holds an A.B. from the University of Chicago, an M.Sc. from the London School of Economics, and an MBA from Columbia Business School.
Lisa has been called a “due diligence warrior” for her ability to distill company information into a clear picture of the business. She recently designed and launched an under-graduate course on “Funding for New Ventures” that taught college students with no previous investment experience about angel investing and venture capital, and is a frequent speaker on early stage investing.
