Moneywise

Weird Side Bets That Made Founders Millions

58 snips
Dec 16, 2025
Discover how small investments turned into massive returns, like a $10K angel check that netted $1.2M. Learn about the jaw-dropping beach house flip with a $2M profit. Explore geo-arbitrage, where moving to Colombia tripled one founder's wealth. Hear the incredible tale of mining Bitcoin early and finding a fortune on old hard drives. Plus, insights on why founders opt to buy existing businesses rather than start from scratch, sharing patterns that lead to recurring wealth.
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Small Angel Check, Huge Payoff

  • Jacqueline Johnson invested $10,000 in Away during a friends-and-family round before she was accredited.
  • Seven to eight years later she was bought out for close to $1.2 million, illustrating angel investing's asymmetric upside.
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Set Limits And Stick To What You Know

  • Cap the allocation to angel investing in your portfolio and treat it as play money, not retirement funds.
  • Stick to industries and founders you understand to increase odds of helpful involvement and better outcomes.
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Beach House Flip With Cash Flow

  • Anne Maloum bought a Dominican Republic beach house for $3.6M and sold it 18 months later for $5.6M.
  • She rented it in the interim, earning cash flow and roughly $2M profit excluding rental income.
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