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

The question comes up constantly in Angel Squad: do I need to build a personal brand to be a successful angel investor?

Short answer: no.

Longer answer: it depends on what you're trying to accomplish and whether you're willing to put in the work.

At Hustle Fund, we see both paths work. Some of our most successful angels maintain low profiles and get phenomenal deal flow through their networks. Others invest time in building public visibility and reap those benefits. Neither approach is wrong. But each requires intention about what you're building and why.

What "Personal Brand" Actually Means

Most people think personal brand means having a big Twitter following or posting inspirational content on LinkedIn. That's one version. But it's not the only one, and it's probably not the most effective one for most angel investors.

Your personal brand is really just your reputation. It's what founders think of when they hear your name. It's whether other investors want to syndicate deals with you. It's the perception of what you know, who you know, and how helpful you are.

Elizabeth Yin shared her perspective on this during an Angel Squad session on social media for investors. When asked about whether to broadcast your angel investments publicly, she noted, "I think just personally it makes me slightly uncomfortable, so I don't post." But she also acknowledged that for some people, building public visibility works well for getting deal flow.

The key insight? "People send companies to people they like, not necessarily because they're famous."

The Quiet Path to Better Deal Flow

You don't need social media to build an effective personal brand. Here's what actually works:

Be genuinely helpful to founders. This is the single most important thing. Make intros. Share tactical advice. Respond to questions quickly. When portfolio founders need something, show up.

Elizabeth emphasized that supporting founders leads to referrals. When your portfolio companies do well and you've been genuinely useful, they tell their friends. Those friends are often other founders raising money. That's how deal flow compounds.

At Hustle Fund, they take founder referrals extremely seriously. If a founder in their portfolio takes time to connect them with another founder, that signal carries weight. The founder wouldn't make that intro if they didn't think highly of the investor.

Build relationships with other angels. Elizabeth suggested that networking with more angels is actually a more effective way to crack the deal flow problem than broadcasting publicly. Other angels will get to know you and send companies your way. And frankly speaking, people send companies to people they like.

This is less about collecting business cards at events and more about forming actual friendships with other investors. Do deals together. Share diligence notes. Make intros. The relationships compound over time.

Get active in communities where founders hang out. This doesn't mean you need to tweet. It means showing up where founders actually are. That could be accelerator demo days, industry-specific events, online communities, or local startup meetups.

One smart approach Elizabeth suggested: do an online event or podcast and invite investors or founders. People love to be featured. That's your hook to build relationships remotely.

When Public Visibility Makes Sense

Some investors benefit from building a public presence. Here's when it's worth considering:

If you're trying to break into VC and need to demonstrate a track record. Public visibility can help signal that you're active and knowledgeable. As Nicole Sanchez noted in an Angel Squad conversation about building track records, "there's no better way, in my opinion, to prove a track record than putting your own personal capital to work."

However, Elizabeth pointed out that if you have aspirations of becoming a VC, you don't necessarily need to put your companies on LinkedIn while you're pitching people. Your deck will show your portfolio. "It will actually be fairly shared, but it will not be totally out there such that the general public and any randos can see that."

If you're in a specific niche and want to be known as the go-to person. Building content around a specific domain can establish you as an expert. This works particularly well in technical or emerging fields where founders are actively seeking knowledge.

If you genuinely enjoy creating content and see it as a learning tool. As Elizabeth noted in a LinkedIn post, "I tell everyone this: creating content has an invisible effect. It's just that people measure the wrong metrics."

The key is being honest with yourself about whether you actually want to do this. Building a public presence requires consistent effort. If you're doing it grudgingly or inauthentically, it won't work anyway.

What to Avoid

Taking credit for founder achievements. This is the biggest mistake investors make on social media. Elizabeth was emphatic about this: "A big one that a lot of investors are ignorant about and don't necessarily even have bad intentions is kind of bragging about the companies success as a 'we.'"

You didn't raise $20 million. The founder did. Don't use "we" when talking about portfolio company achievements. Instead, say "Congrats to my angel portfolio, Company X" if you want to share the news. Don't take the credit that belongs to founders.

Sharing deals publicly just to look active. Posting about every investment you make isn't building a brand. It's just noise. Elizabeth cautioned that you will get lots of people sending you emails of like, "Hey, I saw that you angel invest in all these companies. Will you invest in mine?" The deal flow quality is typically not great.

There are also considerations around increased scams or security risks when you broadcast that you have money to invest.

Being performative rather than substantive. Posting generic startup advice or resharing other people's content without adding value doesn't build your reputation. Founders can tell the difference between someone who actually knows what they're talking about and someone who's just trying to look smart.

The Behind-the-Scenes Brand

The most powerful personal brand is often invisible to the public. It's built through:

Direct relationships with founders who tell other founders about you. The compounding effects of being known in specific networks where quality deal flow originates. A reputation among other investors as someone who's thoughtful, moves quickly, and adds value.

This is how Hustle Fund itself operates. They've built a reputation for speed, for backing underestimated founders, and for genuinely caring about helping their portfolio companies. That reputation drives deal flow more effectively than any amount of social media posting could.

As Elizabeth shared when discussing Hustle Fund's approach, they've focused on democratizing access to capital and promoting a founder-first philosophy. That positioning isn't about flashy marketing. It's about consistently delivering on those values through their actions.

Building What Actually Matters

If you want better deal flow, focus on becoming someone founders want in their cap table. That means:

Developing real expertise in specific areas. Being responsive and helpful. Building genuine relationships rather than transactional ones. Showing up consistently for the founders and investors in your network.

Your brand will be what people say about you when you're not in the room. Make sure they're saying things that matter.

At Angel Squad, we've watched investors at every stage build effective brands. Some do it publicly. Most do it quietly. The common thread is that they've all invested time in becoming genuinely useful to founders while developing a clear point of view on where they can add the most value.

If you're looking to accelerate this process, joining communities like Angel Squad gives you immediate access to 2,000+ angels who can help you refine your approach, connect you to quality deals, and provide the feedback that helps you understand where your unique value lies. Building a brand worth having starts with building skills and relationships worth keeping.