Brian Nichols is the co-founder of Angel Squad, a community where you’ll learn how to angel invest and get a chance to invest as little as $1k into Hustle Fund's top performing early-stage startups

Your network sucks. Maybe your college roommate isn't running a unicorn. Your former boss didn't become a famous VC. You don't have a Stanford degree or Y Combinator on your resume.

Does that mean you can't raise money from angels? Absolutely not.

Social proof matters, but it's not what you think. The wrong kind is dropping names of people who barely know you. The right kind is demonstrating real traction that makes investors pay attention.

What angels actually care about

Angels invest their personal capital, which means they're bought into the founders and trends they back. According to one Hustle Fund portfolio review, even a small $5K angel investor can become your most helpful connection if they're genuinely engaged.

Small checks lead to introductions and more checks. That tiny angel who believes in you will make intros to their network. They'll amplify your launches. They'll open doors you didn't know existed.

But first, you need to get that initial angel interested. How?

"There is no better way, in my opinion, to prove a track record than putting your own personal capital to work," Eric Bahn explained at a recent Angel Squad event. "Because it means that you are really bought in to the founders that you're investing in."

Translation: if you're raising money, show that YOU are invested. Did you bootstrap to initial traction? Did you put your own money in before asking others? That signals conviction.

Traction trumps pedigree

Hustle Fund invests mostly at pre-seed. Most companies we back have zero revenue or very limited revenue when we write the check. But they still need to show something.

What counts as traction at the earliest stages? A couple of customers. Pilots that people agreed to pay for, even if they're not retained yet. Evidence that your target customers care about what you're building.

When Elizabeth invested in an insurance software company, the founder had used his network and family connections in the industry to land his first customers. That domain expertise mattered more than impressive credentials.

"I really liked their background of having been in and around insurance and even using that network to leverage their network to get their first customers," Elizabeth said. The founder's parents had been in insurance for years, giving him instant credibility to sanity-check ideas.

High barriers to entry industries require this kind of domain credibility. You can't just walk into insurance or healthcare or financial services and expect people to trust you. But if you've been in the industry, if you understand the pain points, if your network will take your calls? That's social proof that matters.

Build credibility through execution

Speed is credibility. At pre-seed, investors aren't evaluating your revenue numbers (you probably don't have impressive revenue yet). They're evaluating your ability to execute.

Can you ship product quickly? Can you get customers to try what you built? Can you iterate based on feedback? Show this through your actions.

One founder went from $8K quarterly revenue to $46K in nine months. That's roughly 6x growth. It wasn't massive ARR yet, but it proved the team could execute and grow quickly.

If you're still pre-revenue, show execution in other ways. How many customer interviews did you conduct? How many versions of the product have you shipped? How quickly did you go from idea to prototype to beta?

Document your process. Share updates publicly. Build in public when possible.

Leverage your existing network strategically

You don't need Elon Musk's phone number. You need to activate the network you already have.

That optometrist Elizabeth keeps pitching on Hustle Fund? He's said no three times. But she keeps trying because you never know who might be an investor. Your network is bigger than you think.

Use LinkedIn strategically. Second-degree connections can lead to warm intros. Find founders who are in an investor's portfolio and build relationships with them first. Then ask for an intro to their investors.

When an investor gets an introduction from one of their portfolio CEOs, they take it seriously. That CEO vouching for you carries weight.

Amplify your launches

When you launch something, make it easy for people to help you. Send an email the day before your Product Hunt launch. Include the exact link people should upvote. Tell them what time to do it. Make it incredibly simple.

When a Hustle Fund portfolio company launched on Product Hunt recently, the fund mobilized Angel Squad. They posted in their Circle community, emailed existing investors, and coordinated upvotes. The company hit number one for the day.

That ranking became social proof. Media outlets covered it. New investors took notice. One successful launch created momentum for the next fundraise.

"Even if you don't have a big following, that can go a long ways," Elizabeth noted. "Other people can amplify your story. Even if your following is small, we're happy to amplify."

But you have to create something worth amplifying first.

Show up consistently

The investors you want to work with are paying attention to who stays in the game. Social proof isn't just about past accomplishments. It's about demonstrating you're still actively building.

Share deal flow if you're an investor. Post updates about your progress if you're a founder. Engage meaningfully on platforms where investors hang out.

The same applies to founders. People will make intros and open doors if they see you're seriously building something.

One caveat: don't fake it. Don't brag about companies' success as "we" when you're just an investor. Don't take credit for work you didn't do. Don't claim relationships you don't have.

Credibility evaporates the second someone catches you exaggerating.

The track record you can build today

You don't need permission to build credibility. Start now.

Make angel investments, even small ones. Write $1K checks if that's what you can afford. Document your process. Share why you invested, what questions you asked, how you got comfortable with the risks.

If you're a founder, ship product. Talk to customers. Share what you're learning. Build relationships with people in your industry.

Get involved as a mentor at an accelerator. You'll see tons of companies, learn what works, and build relationships with founders. When you spot a great company, you can write that small check.

These actions build real social proof over time. Not the fake kind based on name-dropping, but the kind that comes from genuine engagement and conviction. Angel Squad exists to help people build this kind of credibility alongside experienced investors. 

You'll see deal flow, learn diligence frameworks, and create a track record that gets you access to better opportunities. Because credibility isn't something you're born with. It's something you build, one investment and one relationship at a time.