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 angel investing education industry wants you to believe you need expensive courses. You don't. Everything required to become capable angel investor is available for free or through community membership that costs fraction of premium courses while including deal flow they never provide.

This is the only angel investing course you actually need.

The Free Curriculum: Module 1 - Portfolio Construction

Learning objectives:

• Understand why diversification is mathematically required
• Learn portfolio size requirements (20+ investments)
• Grasp power law return dynamics
• Develop deployment strategy and pacing

Free resources:

• Hustle Fund blog posts on portfolio construction
• Podcast episodes covering power law returns
• Articles on angel portfolio math

Time investment: 6-8 hours over 2 weeks

Key takeaways to master:

• Most investments (60-70%) return zero
• Small number of investments drive majority of returns
• Diversification captures outliers; concentration misses them
• Consistent check sizes outperform conviction-based variation

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."

This free lesson is most important concept in angel investing.

The Free Curriculum: Module 2 - Investment Structures

Learning objectives:

• Understand SAFE mechanics and conversion
• Learn valuation cap implications
• Grasp basic dilution math
• Know what reasonable terms look like by stage

Free resources:

• YCombinator SAFE documentation
• Legal explainer blogs on investment structures
• Term sheet walkthrough articles

Time investment: 6-8 hours over 2 weeks

Key takeaways to master:

• SAFEs convert to equity at future priced round
• Valuation caps determine maximum conversion price
• Ownership dilutes through subsequent funding rounds
• Standard terms by stage (pre-seed $8-15M cap, seed $15-25M cap)

The Free Curriculum: Module 3 - Evaluation Frameworks

Learning objectives:

• Develop team assessment approach
• Learn quick market sizing methods
• Understand business model evaluation basics
• Calibrate due diligence to check size

Free resources:

• Investor blog posts on deal evaluation
• Podcast episodes discussing assessment approaches
• Framework comparison articles

Time investment: 8-10 hours over 2 weeks

Key takeaways to master:

• Team capability matters more than credentials
• Market timing often determines outcomes
• Due diligence should match check size (2-3 hours for $1,000)
• Personal criteria document guides consistent decisions

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."

Free evaluation content prepares you for the practice that builds judgment.

The Free Curriculum: Module 4 - Community and Practice

Learning objectives:

• Understand why community infrastructure matters
• Learn how to evaluate community options
• Prepare for transition from learning to practice
• Set up operational systems

Free resources:

• Articles comparing angel investing approaches
• Community comparison frameworks
• Portfolio tracking templates

Time investment: 4-6 hours over 1 week

Key takeaways to master:

• Solo investing rarely succeeds long-term
• Community provides deal flow, education, and accountability
• Quality deal flow matters more than personal network
• Operational preparation enables smooth practice

The Complete Free Curriculum Summary

Total learning time: 25-30 hours over 6-8 weeks

Modules covered:

1. Portfolio Construction (6-8 hours)
2. Investment Structures (6-8 hours)
3. Evaluation Frameworks (8-10 hours)
4. Community and Practice (4-6 hours)

Cost: $0

Output: Sufficient foundation for intelligent angel investing

What the Free Curriculum Produces

Knowledge outcomes:

• Understanding of portfolio math and construction
• Literacy in investment structures
• Personal evaluation framework
• Awareness of community importance

Preparation outcomes:

• Ready to join community
• Ready to evaluate real opportunities
• Ready to make intelligent first investment
• Ready for ongoing development

What's still needed:

• Deal flow to apply knowledge
• Community for ongoing education and support
• Practice to develop judgment
• Time for outcomes to materialize

The Community Component (Not Free, But Essential)

Why community isn't optional: Free curriculum builds knowledge. Knowledge without application produces no judgment development. Deal flow enables application. Community provides deal flow.

Community cost comparison:

• Angel Squad: $3,500 lifetime
• Premium courses: $10,000-20,000 for education only

What community adds:

• Curated deal flow from institutional pipeline
• Ongoing education from active GPs
• Peer network for discussion and accountability
• Operational infrastructure handling complexity

The math: $3,500 community membership plus $0 curriculum produces better education and includes deal flow. $10,000+ premium course provides worse education without deal flow.

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

Community exposes you to diverse founders you'd never access through personal effort.

Why Premium Courses Are Unnecessary

What they charge for:

• Video production quality
• Marketing and advertising costs
• Instructor brand premium
• Perceived exclusivity

What they don't provide:

• Better content (often worse than free practitioner content)
• Deal flow (never included)
• Ongoing education (access expires)
• Current perspective (content becomes outdated)

The honest comparison: Premium course = Expensive, inferior education without application pathway Free curriculum + community = Superior education with deal flow at fraction of cost

The Implementation Path

Weeks 1-2: Complete Module 1 (Portfolio Construction) Weeks 3-4: Complete Module 2 (Investment Structures) Weeks 5-6: Complete Module 3 (Evaluation Frameworks) Week 7: Complete Module 4 (Community and Practice) Week 8: Join community, begin observation period

Total time to readiness: 8 weeks Total cost: $3,500 (community membership) Savings versus premium course: $6,500-16,500

What Success Looks Like

After completing curriculum:

• You understand why portfolio construction matters
• You can read and evaluate investment terms
• You have personal criteria for assessing opportunities
• You've joined community providing deal flow

After 6 months of practice:

• You've made 3-5 investments
• Your evaluation has improved through real decisions
• Pattern recognition is developing
• Foundation is solid for long-term practice

After 2-3 years:

• Portfolio of 20+ investments complete
• Judgment refined through experience
• Clear personal approach developed
• Waiting patiently for outcomes

Angel Squad completes the free curriculum: join after completing self-directed learning to access Hustle Fund's curated deal flow, continue education through weekly GP programming, build portfolio through $1,000 investments, and develop through practice with peer support.

This free curriculum plus community membership is the only angel investing course you need. Save your money for actual investments instead of premium course marketing.