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

When venture capital firms hire junior investors, they don't send them to courses. They train them internally using methods refined over decades. Understanding how VCs actually learn reveals what education matters.

This is the insider curriculum adapted for angel investors.

How VCs Actually Train

Deal review immersion: New VC team members review massive deal volume immediately. Not case studies but actual opportunities the firm is evaluating. Pattern recognition through overwhelming exposure.

Partner observation: Juniors observe senior investors evaluating deals in real time. They hear thinking articulated, questions asked, and decisions made. Learning through watching experts work.

Investment memo writing: Juniors write analysis of opportunities using firm frameworks. Receive detailed feedback. Iterate and improve. Learn through producing, not just consuming.

Portfolio company exposure: Working with existing investments reveals what happens after deals close. Understanding full lifecycle, not just investment decision.

Failure analysis: VCs systematically study investments that failed. Understanding what went wrong improves future decisions. Failures teach more than successes.

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."

Internal VC training emphasizes this failure reality from day one.

Adapting VC Methods for Angels

Deal volume exposure: Join community providing substantial deal flow. Review every opportunity presented. Build pattern recognition through repetition. Target 150+ opportunity reviews annually.

Expert observation: Attend educational sessions where experienced investors discuss evaluation approaches. Hear how they think about current opportunities. Learn frameworks through observation.

Thesis documentation: Write investment thesis for every opportunity you evaluate, whether you invest or not. Document your thinking. Review later against outcomes.

Active portfolio engagement: Once invested, engage with portfolio companies where helpful. Understand post-investment reality. Learn full investment lifecycle.

Systematic failure review: Track all investments including failures. Analyze what you missed. Identify patterns in your evaluation errors. Improve through honest assessment.

The Core VC Curriculum Components

Component 1: Market Analysis How VCs think about markets. Not academic TAM calculations but practical assessment of opportunity size and timing. What makes markets attractive for venture returns.

Internal approach: Market sizing done quickly with rough estimates. Focus on direction and magnitude, not precision. "Is this market big enough?" not "What's exact TAM?"

Angel adaptation: Spend 15-20 minutes on market assessment. Determine whether market is sufficient for venture-scale returns. Don't get lost in detailed calculations.

Component 2: Team Evaluation How VCs assess founders when data is limited. Pattern recognition from seeing thousands of teams. What distinguishes exceptional founders from average ones.

Internal approach: Focus on specific capabilities rather than credentials. Previous experience in relevant domain. Evidence of exceptional ability. Founder-market fit assessment.

Angel adaptation: Evaluate what founders have actually done, not just where they worked. Look for evidence of relevant capability. Assess whether this team can execute this specific opportunity.

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."

VC training emphasizes reps. Adapt same approach for angel development.

Component 3: Business Model Assessment

Internal approach: Quick assessment of unit economics potential. Can this business make money at scale? What are key assumptions? Focus on model viability, not detailed projections.

Red flags VCs watch for: Customer acquisition costs that can't decrease. Margins that don't improve with scale. Business models requiring perpetual subsidy.

Angel adaptation: Spend 15-20 minutes on business model. Can you see path to profitability? Do economics make basic sense? Don't build detailed financial models for early-stage companies.

Component 4: Competitive Dynamics

Internal approach: Who else is attacking this market? Why will this team win? What's the defensibility thesis? Quick competitive landscape assessment.

What VCs actually care about: Not comprehensive competitive analysis but understanding of why this company specifically will succeed against alternatives.

Angel adaptation: Brief competitive review (15 minutes). Understand who else is in the space. Assess whether founding team has articulated credible winning strategy.

Component 5: Deal Terms

Internal approach: VCs develop strong instincts for appropriate terms by stage. They know immediately whether deal is priced appropriately. Terms assessment takes minutes, not hours.

What VCs evaluate: Is valuation reasonable for stage and traction? Are there unusual terms that concern us? Does ownership make sense for fund strategy?

Angel adaptation: Develop familiarity with standard terms by stage. Know reasonable valuation ranges. Focus on whether terms are standard rather than negotiating aggressively at small check sizes.

Component 6: Portfolio Construction

Internal approach: Every investment considered in portfolio context. What does this add to existing portfolio? How does it fit fund strategy? Concentration versus diversification considerations.

Portfolio discipline: VCs maintain discipline about portfolio construction even when excited about specific deals. Individual opportunities evaluated within broader strategy.

Angel adaptation: Maintain consistent check sizes regardless of conviction. Think portfolio-first, not deal-first. Understand that most investments will fail and plan accordingly.

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

VC training emphasizes looking beyond traditional founder profiles. Pattern recognition develops through diverse exposure.

What External Courses Miss

Speed of evaluation: VCs make decisions quickly. External courses often imply lengthy analysis. Real investing requires efficient assessment.

Failure orientation: VCs assume most investments fail and plan accordingly. External courses often underemphasize failure rates and portfolio approach.

Pattern recognition priority: VCs know pattern recognition beats analysis for early-stage investing. External courses often over-weight analytical frameworks.

Post-investment reality: VCs understand what happens after investment. External courses focus heavily on deal decision without portfolio management.

Market currency: VCs have current market information. External courses teach frameworks that may be outdated.

Building Your VC-Style Curriculum

Month 1-2: Foundation Learn portfolio construction logic. Understand investment structures. Develop basic evaluation vocabulary. Join community for deal access.

Month 3-4: Immersion Review every opportunity presented. Write brief thesis for each. Compare your assessment to experienced investor perspectives. Build pattern recognition through volume.

Month 5-6: Practice Make first investments. Apply frameworks to real decisions. Document theses thoroughly. Begin learning through actual outcomes.

Ongoing: Iteration Continue deal review and investment. Track outcomes systematically. Analyze failures honestly. Refine approach based on evidence.

Accessing VC-Quality Education

Premium approach: Work at VC firm. Best training but requires employment opportunity most people don't have.

Community approach: Join angel investing community providing VC-led education alongside deal flow. Angel Squad offers weekly programming from Hustle Fund GPs using their actual evaluation approaches.

Self-directed approach: Consume VC content (blogs, podcasts, interviews). Apply frameworks to opportunities you find. Limited by deal access and feedback quality.

Recommendation: Community approach provides closest approximation to internal VC training while remaining accessible. Deal flow plus education plus feedback creates VC-style learning environment.

The VC Curriculum Summary

Core principles: Volume over perfection. Pattern recognition over analysis. Portfolio thinking over deal picking. Speed over comprehensiveness. Failure analysis over success celebration.

Key methods: Massive deal exposure. Expert observation. Thesis documentation. Systematic failure review. Portfolio discipline maintenance.

Adaptation for angels: Join community providing deal flow and VC-led education. Review every opportunity. Document thinking. Track outcomes. Learn through doing at appropriate scale.

Angel Squad provides this VC-style curriculum: weekly education from Hustle Fund GPs using their actual frameworks, deal flow enabling volume exposure, community for peer learning and feedback, and structure supporting systematic development.

Learn like VCs actually learn. Pattern recognition through exposure. Discipline through portfolio thinking. Improvement through failure analysis. Real development through real investing.