Alejandro Gálvez, Fundadores | Lessons from an Angel Investor across 50+ Latin American startups [Ep. 21]

The audio and video are in Spanish. These notes are a translation.

Over the last five years, the success of startups like Nubank, Rappi, and Kavak has made clear the great opportunity to invest in technology-based startups in Latin America. These cases have put the spotlight on those angel investors who bet on these startups at a very early stage, even when the potential of these businesses was not clear.

But investing in startups at a personal level is not that easy. It requires a high tolerance for risk, discipline, and a lot of patience. That is why the best angel investors tend to be the most experienced, the ones who have seen the most successes and failures up close.

To learn lessons about the art of investing in startups, today we have Alex Galvez, an angel investor in more than 50 startups in Latin America, including Fintual, Henry, Ubits, Grin, and Torre. In addition, Alex is the creator of the Fundadores podcast and founder of the startup Sila.

Take a pencil and paper, and get ready for a master class in angel investing.

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First Steps as an Angel Investor

• [1:50] - How did Alex arrive at the world of startups?
  • Discovering new technologies
• [4:10] - First lessons learned as an angel investor
  • Entrepreneurship and technology events
  • Security platforms
  • Crowdfunding platforms
• [5:45] - Alex’s motivation and lessons for getting started as an angel investor
  • Generating a positive impact on the world
• [7:35] - Alex’s investment plan
  • Creating a diversified portfolio
  • Clearly setting the budget and the return timeline
• [8:40] - Alex’s learning process in startup investing
  • Connecting with more experienced investors

Dealflow

• [12:10] - Entering the startup ecosystem
  • Connecting with important players in the ecosystem
  • Deal flow
  • Sending cold emails
• [16:30] - Alex’s recommendations for going deeper into the ecosystem and getting started as an angel investor
  • Reading investment books
  • Going to ecosystem events
  • Looking to make angel investments in companies where you can add value
• [18:12] - How Alex searched for startups before vs. how he does it today
  • Accelerator events
  • Recommendations from other entrepreneurs
  • Investment syndicates

Investment Strategy

• [21:11] - What is the Power Law and how does it affect investment decisions?
  • Most of your returns come from one or two outlier investments
• [23:30] - How do you handle uncertainty when investing in startups?
  • Patience
  • Mental clarity
• [30:10] - Advantages of investing alongside other investors
  • Greater liquidity for the startup
• [32:55] - Alex’s lessons and learnings as an angel investor
  • Having a realistic time expectation
  • Understanding risk and uncertainty
  • Dedicating time to learning
  • Making more small investments
• [36:22] - Process and lessons for becoming an angel investor
  • Investment in new startups by successful entrepreneurs
• [38:19] - Alex’s investment thesis
  • Average ticket of 15,000 to 25,000 dollars
  • Flexibility to switch industries as new problems are identified
• [42:06] - How do you evaluate the startup’s traction vs. the entrepreneur?
  • The importance of startups with traction for your first investments

Tweet Round

• [44:53] -
  • Verticals: Audio, Education, and Logistics
  • Recommended book: Viva The Entrepreneur by Brian Requarth
  • Changes in the startup ecosystem: thinking bigger and about solving problems specific to Latin America.
  • Investor to interview: Johnatan and Sergio of Grin and Investo

Episode Mentions

You can find Alejandro on Linkedin, Twitter, and on the Fundadores Podcast

Recommended books: Bold by Peter Diamandis, Angel by Jason Calacanis, and Viva The Entrepreneur by Brian Requarth

Investors to interview: Jonhatan Lewy and Sergio of Investo

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Follow Enzo Cavalie on X: @enzocavalie.