Episode 15: Diligence the Diligence: Unpacking the SideCar Angels Strategy | Alden Zecha

Alden Zecha is the Managing Director at SideCar Angels and serves on the Board of the Angel Capital Association. He has invested in over 80 startups, two of which have become unicorns valued at over $1 billion.

Alden has founded multiple enterprises and previously worked in various roles in government, academia, and private industry. He has spoken at the White House on entrepreneurship, serves as a Senior Fellow at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business, and is NACD Director Certified. Alden also serves on multiple corporate boards including chairing an audit committee and focuses on international expansion with an eye toward social impact.

During our conversation, he discusses:

* Aligning perspectives when reviewing diligence materials

* His extensive experience in entrepreneurship and angel investing

* Evolution of investment strategy towards smaller, diversified bets

* SideCar Angels' model for aggregating investments and member participation

* Benefits of SideCar's approach including low legal fees and fast decision-making

* Challenges such as potential missed opportunities due to deal lead barriers

* Importance of thorough evaluation of investment memos and diligence reports

* Key factors in evaluating investment opportunities and VCs’ diligence

* Highlights of successful investments in ezCater and Wasabi

* Trends in AI investments and the need for educating new angel investors

Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

What We Cover:

* 00:00 Introduction

* 02:51 Alden's Journey into Angel Investing

* 03:51 Building a Diverse Portfolio

* 06:09 Evolving Investment Strategies

* 08:23 The SideCar Angels Model

* 23:26 Key Elements of Written Materials

* 24:5

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