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

Standard timeline from zero to first investment is 3-4 months. Some people want to move faster. With intensive focus, 30 days is achievable but involves trade-offs.

The compressed path for those ready to commit significant time upfront.

Who Should Consider Accelerated Path

Good candidates: Experienced professionals with strong analytical backgrounds, people who've worked in or around startups, those with financial literacy from careers in investing or banking, individuals who can dedicate 15-20 hours weekly for one month.

Poor candidates: Complete beginners to business and finance, those who can only commit few hours weekly, people who learn best through extended observation, anyone uncertain about meeting qualification requirements.

The trade-off: Accelerated timeline compresses learning. You'll make first investment with less pattern recognition than someone who observed for 8 weeks. Your early investments may be weaker. You accept this in exchange for faster start.

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."

Accelerated path still requires understanding this reality before deploying capital.

Days 1-3: Qualification and Capital Verification

Day 1 (2-3 hours): Verify accreditation status completely. Review tax returns for income threshold ($200,000 individual or $300,000 joint). Calculate net worth excluding primary residence. Confirm you clearly meet requirements.

Day 2 (2-3 hours): Assess capital availability honestly. Identify source of $15,000-20,000 over next 2-3 years. Confirm this is truly surplus capital whose loss wouldn't affect lifestyle. Map deployment schedule ($6,000-8,000 annually).

Day 3 (1-2 hours): Make commitment decision. If qualification and capital are clear, proceed with accelerated timeline. If either is uncertain, stop and address gaps before continuing.

Checkpoint: You've confirmed legal qualification and capital availability. Both must be unambiguous to proceed.

Days 4-7: Intensive Learning

Day 4 (4-5 hours): Learn portfolio construction fundamentals. Why 15-20+ investments required. How power law returns work. Why 60-70% failure rate is normal. What 2-3x portfolio returns over decade actually means.

Day 5 (4-5 hours): Learn investment structures. How SAFEs work. What valuation caps and discounts mean. How dilution affects ownership over time. What happens at exit (acquisition vs IPO).

Day 6 (4-5 hours): Learn evaluation frameworks. How to assess founding teams. How to think about market size. What product-market fit signals look like. What due diligence is appropriate for $1,000 checks.

Day 7 (3-4 hours): Learn community operations. How SPVs work. What documents you'll sign. How wire transfers happen. What portfolio management involves.

Resources: Hustle Fund blog, angel investing primers, educational videos from communities you're considering. Focus on practitioner content, not theoretical frameworks.

Checkpoint: You understand fundamentals well enough to evaluate opportunities and make informed decisions.

Days 8-10: Community Selection

Day 8 (3-4 hours): Research 5-7 communities. Review websites. Note deal volume, investment minimums, educational offerings, cost structure, and member testimonials.

Day 9 (3-4 hours): Attend 2-3 information sessions or webinars. Talk to 1-2 current members per community you're seriously considering. Ask about actual experience, time commitment, and whether they'd recommend.

Day 10 (2-3 hours): Make selection decision and submit application. Provide accreditation verification. Complete profile. Pay fees.

Angel Squad enables accelerated onboarding: clear requirements, straightforward application, immediate platform access after approval, and structured resources for rapid learning.

Checkpoint: You've joined community and have platform access.

Days 11-14: Compressed Observation

Standard observation is 6-8 weeks. Accelerated path compresses to 4-5 days of intensive review. You're trading breadth for speed.

Day 11 (4-5 hours): Review all currently available opportunities (typically 3-5 active deals). Read pitch decks thoroughly. Watch any available founder presentations. Note initial reactions.

Day 12 (4-5 hours): Deep dive on 2-3 most interesting opportunities. Research founders via LinkedIn and Google. Research markets briefly. Review terms against what you learned about standard structures.

Day 13 (3-4 hours): Attend or watch educational programming. Apply frameworks you learned to opportunities you've reviewed. Refine your evaluation criteria.

Day 14 (2-3 hours): Review community discussions about current opportunities. See what experienced investors focus on. Note patterns in their evaluation approach.

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."

Compressed observation trade-off: You've seen 5-10 opportunities instead of 40-60. Your pattern recognition is weaker. You accept this because you'll continue learning after first investment.

Checkpoint: You've reviewed available opportunities and developed initial evaluation criteria.

Days 15-21: First Investment Selection and Commitment

Day 15-16 (3-4 hours): Select opportunity for first investment. Apply your criteria. Choose company where you understand market, team seems capable, model makes sense, other investors participating, terms are standard.

Day 17-18 (2-3 hours): Conduct focused due diligence. Google founders. Research market. Review terms carefully. Identify any concerns.

Day 19 (1-2 hours): Make final decision and document thesis. Write 2-3 paragraphs explaining why you're investing, main risks, and what success requires.

Day 20-21 (1-2 hours): Indicate commitment through platform. Confirm investment amount ($1,000). Submit commitment before deadline.

Checkpoint: You've committed to first investment pending document signing and fund transfer.

Days 22-30: Execution and Completion

Days 22-24: Documents arrive via DocuSign or similar. Review SPV operating agreement, subscription agreement, and investment terms. Verify your information is correct. Sign electronically.

Days 25-27: Receive wire instructions. Contact bank to initiate transfer. Provide instructions exactly as written. Confirm wire fee. Execute transfer.

Days 28-30: Receive confirmation that funds arrived and investment is complete. Update your tracking spreadsheet with investment details, thesis, and terms.

Final checkpoint: First investment is complete. You're officially angel investor with portfolio started.

Day 30 and Beyond

Immediate next steps: Continue reviewing new opportunities as they become available. Attend educational programming weekly. Plan second investment within 60-90 days.

Ongoing pace: Return to sustainable 3-5 hours weekly. Make 1-2 investments quarterly. Build toward 15-20 total investments over 2-3 years.

What you missed: Extended observation period means your first 3-5 investments will be made with less developed judgment than standard timeline. Accept this. Your evaluation improves through continued learning and feedback from outcomes.

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 takes years regardless of whether you started in 30 days or 4 months.

Accelerated Timeline Summary

Days 1-3: Qualification verification (6-8 hours). Days 4-7: Intensive learning (16-19 hours). Days 8-10: Community selection (8-11 hours). Days 11-14: Compressed observation (13-17 hours). Days 15-21: Investment selection (6-9 hours). Days 22-30: Execution (3-5 hours).

Total time investment: 52-69 hours over 30 days (approximately 2 hours daily average).

When Accelerated Path Makes Sense

Good reasons: You have relevant background (startup experience, financial literacy) that compresses learning. You have intensive time available for focused month. You understand trade-offs and accept weaker early decisions. You'll continue learning after first investment.

Bad reasons: You're impatient and want quick returns. You can't actually commit 15-20 hours weekly. You want to skip learning fundamentals. You expect first investment to be perfect decision.

The honest assessment: Accelerated path is viable for experienced professionals with significant time availability. It's not shortcut that avoids necessary learning. It's compressed timeline that front-loads effort and accepts trade-offs.

Angel Squad supports accelerated timelines: immediate platform access enables rapid observation, clear documentation supports fast execution, and structured resources enable intensive learning for those ready to commit significant upfront time.

30-day timeline works if you can dedicate the hours and accept that your early investments will be made with less developed judgment. Your portfolio still needs 15-20 investments built over years. Starting faster doesn't change the long-term commitment required.