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

Most angel investing guides skip the granular details. You need complete breakdown of every step so you understand exactly what you're signing up for.

Here’s the full process from start to finish, step by step.

Step 1: Verify Your Qualification

First action: Check whether you meet accredited investor requirements. This is non-negotiable legal threshold that determines whether you can participate at all.

Income path: Have you earned $200,000+ individually (or $300,000+ jointly) in each of past two years with reasonable expectation of continuation? Review your tax returns to confirm.

Net worth path: Is your net worth over $1,000,000 excluding primary residence? Add up retirement accounts, investment accounts, non-primary real estate equity, business value, and savings. Subtract debts excluding primary mortgage.

Time required: 1-2 hours reviewing financial documents. Success criteria: You clearly meet at least one threshold. If borderline or unclear, you don't qualify yet.

If you don't qualify: Focus on reaching threshold over next 2-4 years through career advancement or wealth accumulation. Don't attempt workarounds.

As Elizabeth Yin, co-founder and GP of Hustle Fund, explains: "Most of your investments will return $0. You will lose money. So it's important to have great portfolio construction."

Qualification requirements exist partly because this harsh reality makes angel investing inappropriate for people who can't afford losses.

Step 2: Assess Your Capital Availability

The question: Do you have $15,000-20,000 over next 2-3 years that you could lose completely without affecting your lifestyle?

Honest test: If all angel investments returned zero tomorrow, would your life change materially? Would you delay major purchases, stress about finances, or regret the allocation? If yes, you don't have true risk capital.

Deployment math: $6,000-8,000 annually for three years at $1,000 per investment. Where does this come from in your budget after mortgage, retirement savings, emergency fund, and family obligations?

Time required: 1-2 hours analyzing budget. Success criteria: You can identify specific source of $600-700 monthly for angel investing without impacting essential obligations.

Step 3: Select Your Community

Why community matters: Solo angel investing is unsustainable for most people. Communities provide deal flow, education, operational infrastructure, and peer support that make long-term practice possible.

Research process: Identify 5-7 communities. Review websites thoroughly. Attend information sessions. Talk to 2-3 current members per community.

Evaluation criteria: Deal volume (10+ opportunities monthly), deal quality (institutional screening), educational programming (weekly sessions), investment minimums ($1,000-2,000), cost transparency (clear fees), and member satisfaction (would they recommend to friends).

Time required: 8-12 hours over 1-2 weeks. Success criteria: You've identified community that matches your situation and has enthusiastic member recommendations.

Angel Squad demonstrates strong community attributes: 2,000+ members across 40+ countries, $1,000 minimums, curated deal flow from Hustle Fund's pipeline of 1,000+ monthly applications, and weekly educational programming from experienced investors.

Step 4: Complete Onboarding

Application process: Submit membership application with accreditation verification (tax documents or financial statements), complete profile information, and pay membership fees if applicable.

Platform familiarization: Watch all introductory videos, read getting started materials, learn how to navigate platform, understand how to review opportunities and indicate investments.

Calendar setup: Schedule recurring weekly blocks for angel investing activities. Tuesday evenings for education. Wednesday mornings for deal review. Protect these times like important meetings.

Time required: 4-6 hours over one week. Success criteria: You understand platform navigation, have recurring calendar blocks scheduled, and feel prepared to start observing opportunities.

Step 5: Observe Before Investing

Purpose: Develop judgment before deploying real capital. Your first decisions made without observation will be your weakest.

Weekly routine: Review 2-3 new opportunities (90 minutes), attend educational programming (60-90 minutes), track your thinking in spreadsheet noting whether you'd invest and why (30 minutes).

Duration: 6-8 weeks minimum. After this period, you've reviewed 40-60 opportunities and developed informed perspective on evaluation.

Time required: 3-4 hours weekly for 6-8 weeks (24-32 hours total). Success criteria: You've developed decision criteria, understand what makes opportunities interesting, and feel confident making first investment.

As Eric Bahn, co-founder and GP of Hustle Fund, emphasizes: "For beginners, a bigger startup portfolio is better. It helps with diversification and helps you learn and get reps in. Investing requires practice like everything else."

Observation prepares you for that practice.

Step 6: Execute First Investment

Opportunity selection: Choose company where you understand market basically, team seems capable, business model makes sense, other experienced investors are participating, and terms appear standard.

Due diligence: Google founders (30 minutes), research market briefly (30 minutes), review terms (30 minutes), check other investors (15 minutes). Total: 2-3 hours.

Commitment: Indicate $1,000 investment through platform. Review and sign documents electronically (30-60 minutes). Wire funds according to instructions.

Documentation: Write 2-3 paragraphs explaining why you invested before committing. This enables learning from outcomes later.

Time required: 4-5 hours spread over 2-3 weeks. Success criteria: Investment is confirmed complete, thesis is documented, and tracking spreadsheet is updated.

Step 7: Build Portfolio Systematically

Pace: 1-2 investments per quarter (every 12-13 weeks). This sustainable rhythm builds portfolio without overwhelming you alongside career.

Consistency: Maintain $1,000 check size for investments 2-20 regardless of conviction level. Your excitement about specific deals is unreliable signal.

Timeline: Year 1: 6-8 investments. Year 2: 6-8 investments. Year 3: 6-8 investments. Total: 18-24 investments over three years.

Time required: 3-5 hours weekly ongoing (150-250 hours annually). Success criteria: You're maintaining consistent quarterly investment pace and building toward 15-20 total investments.

Step 8: Manage Portfolio Long-Term

Quarterly reviews: Every three months, spend 90 minutes reviewing entire portfolio. Read company updates. Note progress or concerns in tracking. Look for patterns.

Company updates: Founders send quarterly updates (frequency varies). Read them. Note important developments. Don't expect detailed information or frequent communication.

Occasional support: Help portfolio companies where you have specific expertise. Respond promptly to founder requests. Don't overcommit to advisory relationships.

Time required: 1-2 hours weekly during years 4-10. Success criteria: You're maintaining engagement through waiting years and providing occasional targeted value to portfolio companies.

Step 9: Wait for Outcomes

Timeline reality: Meaningful exits happen years 7-10 typically. Years 2-5 are mostly waiting with minimal activity or clarity.

Psychological challenge: Maintaining engagement when nothing interesting happens. This is where most angels quit, right before outcomes materialize.

What sustains practice: Quarterly portfolio reviews create routine. Educational programming prevents stagnation. Peer community provides shared experience. Occasional portfolio company interactions provide meaning.

Success criteria: You maintain discipline through boring middle years without abandoning practice prematurely.

As Shiyan Koh, co-founder and GP of Hustle Fund, notes: "Great founders can look like anyone and come from anywhere."

Learning to recognize them requires seeing outcomes over full 7-10 year cycle.

Complete Process Timeline

Weeks 1-2: Qualification and capital assessment. Week 3-6: Community research and selection. Week 7: Onboarding completion. Weeks 8-15: Observation period. Week 16-19: First investment execution. Months 5-36: Portfolio building (1-2 investments quarterly). Years 4-10: Portfolio management and waiting.

Total time from start to first investment: 4-5 months. Total time to proper portfolio: 2-3 years. Total time to outcomes: 7-10 years.

Time Investment Summary

Learning phase: 30-40 hours over first 4 months. Portfolio building: 150-250 hours annually for 3 years. Portfolio management: 50-100 hours annually for years 4-10.

Total commitment: Approximately 800-1,200 hours over 10 years. This is substantial investment requiring sustained discipline.

Process Success Indicators

You're on track if: You're moving through steps systematically without skipping. You're maintaining consistent weekly engagement. You're making 1-2 investments quarterly. You're documenting and learning from decisions. You're comfortable with peripheral role in portfolio companies.

You're struggling if: You're skipping observation period. You're varying check sizes based on conviction. You're making sporadic investments rather than consistent quarterly pace. You're expecting quick returns or active involvement.

Angel Squad supports every process step: clear requirements verification during application, structured onboarding gets you started efficiently, curated deal flow from Hustle Fund's pipeline supports observation and investment, educational programming maintains engagement, and community sustains practice through entire timeline.

Understanding complete process helps you assess whether angel investing matches your situation. The commitment is substantial but manageable when you know exactly what's involved.