Ed Lando is the Co-founder of Pareto, where he’s been an early investor in over 25 unicorns, started and incubated over 10 companies, and was recently named the most active angel investor in the world according to Crunchbase.

We get into how Ed first got started angel investing, how he built up deal flow, why he’s historically kept a low profile, and why he hasn’t raised outside capital.

We also talk concentration vs diversification, why there’s many ways to build successful companies, advice on hiring your first employees, and his playbook for incubating companies at Pareto, which is where he focuses most of his time.

Timestamps:

(0:00) Intro

(2:51) Getting into angel investing

(3:58) Debating high vs low PR strategies

(8:27) How to start building deal flow when angel investing

(10:00) Pareto: first investor in people leaving school or their job

(12:05) Evolving from angel to fund

(14:57) Why Ed didn’t raise outside capital

(20:33) Concentration vs diversification

(28:29) Investing in non-sexy categories

(32:50) There’s no one right way to build a company

(36:03) When to go against traditional wisdom

(39:36) Lessons from his anti-portfolio

(45:59) Ed’s close relationship with his parents(

(49:04) How we’re using AI

(54:04) Incubating companies

(58:38) Investing beyond spreadsheets and DCF models

(1:05:49) How to trust your intuition investing

 (1:09:47) How to move fast

(1:14:24) What most people get wrong when incubating companies

(1:18:40) How to hire your first employees

(1:26:27) Navigating hype when building and investing

1:29:59 Venture math and the Power Law

1:35:33 How Ed and Pareto’s strategy might break

1:38:45 Differences between the US and Europe

Referenced

Pareto: https://pareto20.com/

Misfit Market: https://www.misfitsmarket.com/

Catalina Crunch: https://catalinacrunch.com/

Zamp: https://zamp.com/

Magnus Carlsen on Joe Rogan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybuJ_nIXwGE

Follow Ed

Twitter: https://x.com/edwardlando

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwardlando/

Substack: https://edwardlando.substack.com/

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