Most new angel investors ask the wrong question.

They want to know how to angel invest, but never take time to think of how much they want angel investing to take over their life.

To be or not to be? Yin or Yang? Passive or Active startup investing?

These are the questions that keep us up at night.

To find out, I interviewed 3 investors from our Angel Squad community - each representing a different spot on the investor spectrum.

Avengers, assemble.

Meet the crew

Arti Villa (Passive): angel invests in developer tools and web3. Invests through syndicates but adds value by advising founders on product.

Andy Louis-Charles (Hybrid): reviews 5,000+ deals yearly through automated systems, and invests in 50-100 companies annually.

Mike MacCombie (Active): sources his own deals, manages 60+ startup WhatsApp groups, and runs a stealth fund on the side.

3 different approaches. 3 very different requirements.

Your dealflow pipeline

If you're passive like Arti: Most deals get deleted without a second look. For the few you invest in, expect 1-2 hours of diligence to review the deck, try the product, and ideally attend a live pitch from the founders (or see a recording).

If you're hybrid like Andy: Plan for systems. He's built email filters that tag deals by keywords and can scan 20 deal summaries in under a minute. AI is your ride or die here.

And if you're active like Mike: This becomes your social life. Deal flow calls, WhatsApp chats, community building. You’re putting in the hustle to become a startup magnet.

What this actually looks like

As a passive investor, you’re relying on other investors’ deal flow.

The plus side is that syndicate investing offers a viable path for this that was very difficult to do a few years ago.

If you’ve got a great syndicate lead, they already see hundreds of deals and do the heavy filtering for you.

Conversely, active investors are in charge of their own deal funnels - and they’ve gotta get creative.

Take Andy. He invested in the company ‘Pressed Roots’ after hearing about them on a podcast, reaching out on LinkedIn, and becoming the founder's first check within days.

(Word around the campfire: Some of the best startups don’t publicly seek VC funding.)

Being helpful matters more than check size

Arti, Andy and Mike all emphasized one point:

Helpful $1k investors get remembered more than silent $100k investors.

Even as a passive investor, Arti provides deep product feedback to her portfolio companies - since she's often the target user for developer tools.

Mike, who takes an active approach, wants to prove his value ahead of the competition. Before even asking for allocation, he connects founders with relevant experts, potential hires, and target customers from his network.

The pattern for both of them? Know your zone of competence and leverage it.

Picking the path that’s right for YOU

Here’s the truth: there is no right path.

But there is a right path for you, when determining whether to go passive or active.

Ask yourself:

• Do I want to keep time commitment to 1 hour/week? Or is this a serious hobby?
• Do I want to see curated dealflow? Or hunt for my own opportunities?
• Do I want a startup portfolio? Or am I building toward a career in VC?

Start wherever makes sense, and iterate from there.