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

A few years ago, someone told me you needed at least $100K to angel invest seriously. That same person also said you needed Sand Hill Road connections and an MBA from Stanford.

All three statements were wrong. Here's what's actually true: $1K-$25K can be the start of a legitimate angel portfolio if you deploy it through the right communities rather than trying to lone-wolf it.

The $1K-$25K Sweet Spot

This range is perfect for learning without dying. You can't make every mistake in angel investing and survive with $1K. But $25K gives you enough shots on goal to build pattern recognition before running out of capital.

If you write $1K-$2K checks, you can invest in 10-15 companies. That's enough to learn what you're doing, spot patterns, and potentially hit one company that returns your entire portfolio.

Remember that Uber story? $5K turned into $24.8M. Or if you invested $1K in Webflow through Hustle Fund's early round, it would be worth close to $500K today. These outcomes aren't fairy tales. They're rare, but they happen often enough to make the math work.

Why Communities Change Everything

Here's the problem with solo angel investing on $1K-$25K: you'll almost certainly fail.

Not because you're dumb. Because you'll make all the classic mistakes. You'll invest in your neighbor's cousin's startup. You'll overweight one sector because it's what you know. You'll skip due diligence because the founder seems nice. You'll have no idea if you're getting good terms or garbage.

Communities fix this. When you invest through something like Angel Squad, you're borrowing the pattern recognition of investors who've seen thousands of deals. Hustle Fund reviews 1,000+ companies per month. They share the best 2-3 with members. That's instant filtering.

You also get to watch experienced investors do due diligence. What questions do they ask? What red flags do they spot? How do they evaluate market size? This education is worth more than the membership fee.

The Deployment Strategy

Let's say you have $10K to deploy over 12 months. Here's the playbook:

Months 1-3: Make your first 2-3 investments of $1K each. Pick companies where the thesis is crystal clear and other investors you respect are also investing. Your goal isn't to get rich. It's to learn the mechanics: how deals close, how SAFEs work, how to follow along on investor updates.

Months 4-6: Deploy another $2-3K across 2-3 more companies. Now you're pattern-matching. What do these companies have in common with your earlier picks? Where are they different? Start developing opinions about sectors, stages, and founder archetypes you like.

Months 7-9: You should be getting confident now. Deploy $2-3K more, but start taking slightly bigger swings. Maybe $1.5K-$2K per company instead of $1K. You're rewarding your growing conviction with slightly larger checks.

Months 10-12: Reserve your last $2K for follow-on investments. One of your earlier companies is probably doing well and raising again. Doubling down on winners is how portfolios get built.

By the end of 12 months, you've got 8-10 companies, real experience, and you're officially an angel investor. Not because you have a title, but because you have a portfolio.

The Power of Small Checks

Founders appreciate small check investors more than most people think. A $1K investor who makes one useful introduction is worth more than a $25K investor who ghosts after wiring the money.

Elizabeth Yin loves telling the story of a Hustle Fund founder whose smallest investor, who wrote a $5K check, became the most helpful person on the cap table. That small investor made 10+ intros that directly led to customer deals and future fundraising.

Small checks also give you permission to ask questions without feeling stupid. You're not trying to lead the round or negotiate terms. You're learning. Founders get this and appreciate the honesty.

What Communities Actually Provide

Beyond deal flow, angel investing communities offer three things you can't get solo:

Co-investors who've seen more deals than you. You can ask in the Angel Squad community: "Has anyone seen other companies trying this? Did it work?" Within hours, you'll have answers from people who've been investing for 10+ years.

Honest feedback on deals you're considering. Post a pitch deck in a trusted community and experienced investors will spot things you missed. Maybe the market size doesn't actually support a venture outcome. Maybe the founder's LinkedIn shows five failed companies they didn't mention. Community diligence is free insurance.

Social pressure to stay disciplined. When you're investing alone, it's easy to skip diligence or chase hype. When you're investing alongside people you respect, you naturally raise your standards.

Scaling Beyond $25K

After your first $10K-$25K, you'll know if you want to keep going. Some people decide angel investing isn't for them. Most stay in but keep checks small. A few decide to scale up.

If you scale up, the community path still works. Angel Squad members who want to write $10K+ checks often syndicate deals with other members. You're not constrained by the minimums. You just pool with other investors who want to go bigger on specific companies.

Several Squad members now run their own syndicates, raised micro-funds, or joined VC firms as scouts. But they all started with $1K-$5K checks through the community, learning before leading.

The Real ROI of Community Investing

Financial returns matter. But for most people starting with $1K-$25K, the real ROI is education and network.

You learn how startups work. You learn how investors think. You meet founders building interesting companies and other investors playing the same game. These relationships compound.

One Angel Squad member told me: "I joined to learn about startups. I stayed because the community was more valuable than any course I could take. And now, three years later, my portfolio is actually worth something."

That's the path. Education first, returns later.

Start Small, Start Now

The biggest mistake people make with $1K-$25K is waiting until they have more. They think "I'll start angel investing when I have $100K" and then never start.

Meanwhile, someone else deploys $1K into 10 different companies, learns what works, builds relationships with founders and investors, and has a head start when they do have more capital.

Angel investing isn't about having the most money. It's about getting reps, building pattern recognition, and being helpful to founders. You can do all of that with small checks if you're in the right community.

Join Angel Squad with $1K. Make your first investment this month. See what happens. Worst case, you learn something and meet interesting people. Best case, one of those $1K checks turns into $500K and you're telling your own Uber story in 10 years.

The community path works. We have 2,000+ members proving it across 40 countries. Your $1K-$25K is enough to start. You just have to start.