The IPO you're dreaming about probably isn't coming. And that's not bad news.

When you put $5k into a seed-stage company, you're so early that going public is years and many rounds away, if it ever happens at all. Most of the real money flows back through two doors people rarely talk about: secondary sales and acquisitions.

The M&A door was basically welded shut for a long stretch. In 2026 it's swung back open, helped along by a friendlier government stance on dealmaking. So if your company gets bought, that's a real exit.

The other door is the secondary market. It's grown big enough that you can sell your position to another buyer well before any IPO. Funds, family offices, dedicated secondary shops - there's an actual ecosystem of people who want to buy early shares now.

Now, here’s the part that matters most when you have a winner…

Say your $5k runs up 100x on paper. Congratulations, it's "worth" half a million dollars. Except paper gains aren't money. They're a number in a spreadsheet until someone wires you cash.

This is where discipline is key. We've had a position run up over 100x. Instead of white-knuckling it and praying for a perfect exit someday, we started selling small slices through secondaries along the way. Take some money off the table after a big multiple, and let the rest keep riding.

Most angels treat every position as all-or-nothing, hold forever, hope for the moon. But trimming a piece at 20x or 30x doesn't mean you've stopped believing. It means you're banking a win you can spend while staying in the game.

Horizontal companies (broad tools anyone can spin up) tend to be more exposed to disruption than vertical ones in regulated corners like fintech or digital health, where licenses and messy workflow knowledge build a genuine moat.

So when you size up a deal, don't only ask "could this be huge?" Ask "if it is, how do I get my money out?" Map the realistic path before you wire the $5k. The exit you plan for shapes the bet you make.