SuperAngel.Fund: Blog

🎙️ New Podcast: Lessons on Early-Stage Investing & What Makes Great Founders

Ben Zises — Thu, 23 Oct 2025 14:49:03 GMT

A few weeks ago, I sat down with Hannah Dittman from Startup CPG, the largest community for emerging brands, with over 30,000 Slack members, the #1 podcast in CPG, 100+ events per year, and countless other resources to help brands grow.

In our conversation, we dive into how I approach early-stage investing — what I look for in founders, how I evaluate pitch decks and other business fundamentals — and my unique investment strategy: a hybrid model that combines the speed and agility of an angel with the discipline and scale of a professional fund.

Part of my strategy is to also “make a lot of noise” to keep my name (and my fund) in front of as many founders as possible. The wider I cast the net, the more opportunities I get to see — and you can’t invest in a deal you never saw. Conversations like this help ensure the right founders know where to find me.

🎧 Listen on: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or watch on YouTube below

📍 Upcoming Event: Founders & Funders — NYC, December 11, 2025

I’ll be at Founders & Funders, hosted by Startup CPG in New York City on December 11th, connecting with hundreds of CPG founders and fellow investors across the industry. If you’re building a CPG brand and want to meet active investors, this is an event you won’t want to miss. Click here to apply for a ticket.

⏰ Key Moments From The Episode

0:00 – Intro & welcome
1:00 – My path from entrepreneur to angel investor
3:45 – Launching SuperAngel Fund & the “help-first” strategy
6:40 – How to spot founders worth backing early
9:25 – What sets SuperAngel apart from traditional venture funds
12:10 – Structuring check sizes & doubling down on winners
15:30 – Lessons from a decade of angel investing
17:15 – How to create a pitch deck that stands out
20:45 – Why investor updates are a make-or-break habit
23:30 – Advice for founders raising early-stage capital
27:10 – The importance of financial discipline and capital efficiency
33:40 – What I look for in exceptional founders
38:30 – Market trends: supplements, health & wellness
43:00 – Clarity and conciseness in your pitch
49:00 – Final takeaways

About SuperAngel.Fund

SuperAngel.Fund is an early-stage fund led by Ben Zises that invests in Consumer, PropTech & Future of Work 😇. We focus on broad diversification across sectors where we hold a clear edge—investing early, staying close to founders, and doubling down when we see breakout growth and positive data emerge. Learn more about Fund II, read our latest quarterly update, or schedule a call to learn more.

About Startup CPG

Startup CPG is the largest community for emerging brands: 30,000+ Slack members, the #1 podcast in CPG, 100+ events per year, and award-winning resources to help brands grow. Join for free.

Why am I receiving this email?

You are receiving this email because you are part of the SuperAngel network — a friend, founder, LP, or co-investor. If you prefer not to receive future posts, you can unsubscribe below.

SuperAngel.Fund is an early-stage fund led by Ben Zises that invests in Consumer, PropTech & Future of Work. Fund II is now backed by the AngelList Systematic Fund-of-Funds. Their strategy leverages proprietary data, predictive modeling and quantitative analysis across 25,000+ funds and 13,000 startups on the AngelList platform. Based on their core performance metric—“markups over baseline,” used as a predictor of future success—we were ranked in the top 1% of active managers as of April 1, 2025. Learn more about Fund II.

The discipline shown from sending investor updates

Ben Zises — Fri, 28 Mar 2025 13:45:01 GMT

After a decade of angel investing, I've noticed that most of the companies that perform well have one thing in common: They send consistent investor updates…Without fail. Without excuses. Without missing a single month (or quarter).

This isn't just about communication. It's about discipline.

A founder's ability to maintain the rhythm of regular investor updates is representative of their broader operational discipline. It speaks volumes about how they run their company when nobody's watching.

When I receive a disappointing update, I care far less about the numbers themselves than I do about three critical factors:

1. Did the founder accurately identify the CAUSE of poor performance?

2. Did they take immediate action to fix it?

3. In the following months, did their solution actually work?

The discipline of consistent communication reflects a founder's overall approach to building their company.

So if you're a founder reading this, remember: Your investor updates aren't just keeping investors informed - they're demonstrating your discipline as a leader.

And that discipline might be the most important factor in your long-term success.

Another benefit of sending investor updates

Ben Zises — Mon, 17 Mar 2025 15:40:00 GMT

I'm seeing a concerning trend among early-stage founders—holding off on investor updates because they feel each one needs to contain groundbreaking news.

This is completely backward.

The value of investor updates isn't in announcing major milestones. The value is in the consistency and transparency.

Even a short, simple update on a regular cadence is extremely valuable—both to your company and your investors.

For founders, these updates force you to assess your business objectively. For investors, they build trust.

Sometimes the most valuable updates are the ones that simply say "we're still working on X, we've encountered Y challenge, and we're trying Z next month."

Company events

Ben Zises — Fri, 14 Mar 2025 15:37:00 GMT

Should you show up to events hosted by portfolio companies? My default piece of advice to other investors is simple: Of course.

If I get an invitation from a company or founder, I say "yes" without hesitation.

Especially now, showing up in person carries significant weight. It allows you to get valuable face time with both the founders and employees of a company. These informal settings often reveal insights about company culture and momentum that you'd never capture on a scheduled call.

Spending time in-person with founders builds an invaluable form of trust. This trust carries even more weight in an age where it's so easy to work entirely remote and hide behind a screen.

The conversations that happen during these events—the casual asides, the quick introductions, the unexpected connections—often lead to opportunities that would never materialize otherwise.

Yes, it takes time. Yes, it requires effort. But consistently showing up is one of the simplest yet most effective ways to demonstrate your commitment as an investor.

Your presence speaks volumes about your investment in their success—far beyond the capital you've provided.

Distribution is everything

Ben Zises — Wed, 12 Mar 2025 15:36:00 GMT

Harry Stebbings nailed it here. And it really resonates deeply with my own journey as an investor…

When I started writing and sharing my insights online, I wasn't just building content—I was building distribution.

Every post, every thread, every newsletter has compounded over time. What began as simple thoughts shared publicly has evolved into relationships, deal flow, and opportunities I couldn't have accessed otherwise.

Distribution isn't just advice I give to founders. It's a cornerstone of how I've built my own investing practice.

The content I create today helps me identify exceptional founders tomorrow. It attracts like-minded investors to my fund. It creates serendipitous connections that turn into long-term partnerships.

Building in public isn't just about followers or engagement metrics. It's about creating continuous opportunities for the right people to find you.

For me, distribution isn't a marketing tactic—it's the fundamental infrastructure that supports everything else I do.

Innovations in VC that led to my strategy

Ben Zises — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 16:26:53 GMT

The reason why I can exist today as a Solo GP is because of two innovations that took place in the last decade.

The first is the creation of AngelList as a fund administrative platform.

As a Solo GP, one of the only reasons that I’m able to manage over 500 LP investors and 150 portfolio companies is because of AngelList’s software, alongside best-in-class service, that provides back-office support including legal, tax, banking, and regulatory compliance.

The second shift is that today, 9 out of 10 early-stage investments are done using a SAFE, which stands for Simple Agreement for Future Equity.

Before this innovation, most rounds were done through cumbersome convertible debt agreements or as full-on priced rounds. This method of fundraising would often take 3-4 months and cost the founder $30K+ in legal fees.

The SAFE allows startups to raise funds quickly without accruing interest or repayment obligations, automatically converting into equity at a future priced round. And the only thing you have to negotiate is the valuation cap and/or discount percentage to the next round.

This means that I can meet a founder and close a deal on the very same day. I can even invest again a week or a month later at a different price, taking into account any value creation in real-time that more fairly protects the entrepreneur.

This is truly a model that couldn't exist in venture capital investing 5-10 years ago. Software made the market more liquid, and legal innovation removed friction from the investing process.

The next frontier? Regulatory reform.

Currently, regulations limit venture funds to only 100 accredited investors.

Investors like McKeever (Mac) Conwell,II are going directly to Congress to advocate increasing this limit from 100 to 500. This kind of regulatory reform would dramatically increase access and allow more people to participate in the asymmetric upside and financial diversification that venture capital provides.

Beyond that, we need to change the accreditation laws themselves. You don't need to be wealthy to invest in the public stock market, but you do need to be rich to invest in venture capital.

These archaic regulations are limiting both who can raise funds and who can invest in them.

We’ve seen a lot of innovation and positive change in this industry over the past 20 years. And there’s still so much to be done.

Qualifying your investors

Ben Zises — Fri, 07 Mar 2025 17:17:00 GMT

As a fund manager, a significant portion of my time is spent qualifying potential investors. The uncomfortable truth is that many people will fill out a form, send you an email, express interest in investing, and ultimately waste your time.

It's remarkably difficult to distinguish between genuine investors and time-wasters, especially early in the conversation.

My advice to anyone raising capital—whether you're a fund manager or a founder—is to get exceptionally good at qualifying investors quickly.

Be direct. Be clear about your priorities. Err on the side of transparency even if it feels uncomfortable in the moment.

You can start by saying some version of: "I'm focused on raising right now. If you want to discuss what it looks like to join us as an investor, I'd love to talk. Otherwise, I'll have to respectfully decline the meeting."

This approach might seem harsh to some. But the reality is that every hour spent with the wrong person is an hour you could have spent with the right one.

Qualifying isn't about being rude—it's about respecting everyone's time, including your own.

Founders as LPs

Ben Zises — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 23:57:00 GMT

There's a special kind of validation that happens when your most successful FOUNDERS decide to invest in your fund.

A wonderful example of life coming Full Circle.

After a decade of angel investing, I'm now seeing this happen with increasing frequency.

These are founders I backed early, when others weren't yet convinced. People I believed in before they had proven their thesis to the world.

Now, years later, they're returning as limited partners in the fund.

This creates a powerful flywheel. Great founders attract more great founders. And picking the right people early ultimately comes full circle.

It's not just financially rewarding — it's a meaningful affirmation that you've been adding real value along the way.

My differentiated investment strategy

Ben Zises — Wed, 26 Feb 2025 23:56:00 GMT

Over the past few months, I've realized something important: The SuperAngel.Fund investment strategy occupies an incredibly unique position in the market.

If you look at the landscape of early-stage investors, there are really only two types:

On one side, you have the hobbyist angel investor. They're usually working full-time in another role as maybe a lawyer, accountant, small business owner or otherwise, and investing part-time. Their network, deal flow and ability to evaluate companies is limited by the number of hours they have after all their other professional obligations are met.

When these angels make investments, it's often a one-time binary decision. They write the check and then largely forget about the company within 6 months. Their ability to follow on is constrained and, as a result, their commitment and support for the company is limited.

On the other side, you have institutional VCs. Multi-member partnerships with rigid processes and complex LP agreements add constraints and dictate exactly how and when they can deploy capital.

I operate in the middle — a true hybrid that captures the advantages of both.

I invest with the speed of an angel but with the capacity of a fund. No committees. No constraints. But I'm doing it as my full-time focus with the sophistication and support only able to be provided by a professional investor, all with the leverage of other people's money (alongside my own, of course).

My strategy of writing small checks early allows me to build larger positions over time through follow-ons, secondary buys, and secondary sells.

This approach gives me several distinct advantages:

- Access to information through deep founder relationships
- The ability to capitalize on that information quickly
- Personal 1:1 relationships with founders BECAUSE I believed in them from day one

Everyone tries to build relationships with successful founders after they've proven themselves. But when you're an early believer, that's a fundamentally different relationship.

The reality is that exceptional founders aren't looking for another institutional check. They're looking for investors who truly understand them and their vision.

That's the gap I'm filling.

Hunch investing

Ben Zises — Fri, 21 Feb 2025 23:54:00 GMT

Rob Go wrote something important about venture capital that I can't stop thinking about...

He argues that venture capital needs to return to funding "hunches" — those non-consensus, somewhat speculative views of the future based more on intuition than facts.

Over the past few years, venture capital has shifted towards two dominant styles of investing:

1. The Factory Model: Pattern-matching consensus trends and building startups on an assembly line.

2. The Master Plan Model: Huge seed rounds ($10M-$100M) backing proven founders to pursue grand visions.

Both of these approaches miss something crucial about early-stage investing.

The truly transformative, 100X opportunities often emerge from hunches. They start small. They're not fully formed. They come from founders connecting seemingly unconnected dots or noticing subtle shifts in the market.

Most dedicated seed funds are caught in the middle — competing against mega funds willing to pay astronomical prices for proven founders, or against accelerators operating at unmatched scale.

Rob's insight is that right-sized, focused seed funds are actually best positioned to cultivate these opportunities. It requires less money but more attention. It demands investors who operate closer to the ground.

It may not be the biggest or sexiest game to play, but it might be the most important one.

h/t to Rob Go for articulating what many of us have been feeling

Let GPs excel

Ben Zises — Wed, 19 Feb 2025 23:53:00 GMT

There’s a “standard” term in venture capital that needs to die.

It’s called “Co-Investment Rights” and while this clause sounds great in theory, it almost never works out the way anyone thinks in practice.

One dirty secret of venture is that almost every large or institutional LP wants co-investment rights — they want the ability to also invest directly in any deal that your fund participates in.

In reality, co-investment rights are mostly useless.

In theory, every LP wants direct access to your portfolio companies.

In practice? You can deliver the perfect deal to them on a silver platter, and most won't even respond, let alone participate.

If you’re an LP, the whole purpose of backing a fund manager is because you believe that THEY are a great Investment Manager and steward of capital. You've done the diligence. You've vetted THEIR strategy. You’ve seen their performance and now you've committed your capital.

So why are you trying to play GP?

LPs should focus on finding great GPs and let them do what they do best — invest. Just like GPs should focus on finding the best founders and let them operate.

The best LPs don’t try to be GPs. They back great investors and let them do their job.

LPs, do you agree? GPs, have you had this experience?"

Project 1000

Ben Zises — Mon, 17 Feb 2025 23:53:00 GMT

A few weeks ago, Thomas Ma (co-founder of Sapphire Studios ) saw the devastation from the LA wildfires and decided to take action…

He called it Project 1000 — A mission to create 1,000 wellness kits for families displaced by the fires.

Thomas didn't just organize this effort. He walked straight into Costco and spent $6,600 of his own money to kickstart the initiative.

When he shared his vision with me, I felt compelled to support. I called upon many of my consumer brands to step up. And they did.

The results were incredible:

- Nearly 20,000 products donated
- Over $300,000 in total value
- 1,000 wellness kits assembled and distributed

But the most important number? The families these kits helped.

I'm particularly proud of portfolio companies like quip., Winx Health (formerly known as Stix), Quite Nice, and Magna for immediately jumping in to support this cause. And the countless others who ran their own initiatives to help people in need, however they could.

This is what the startup community looks like at its best — Founders helping founders to help others.

Thank you to Thomas for leading this initiative. And thank you to everyone else that contributed to make it happen.

(If you're interested in supporting ongoing relief efforts, the Clyde Community Center is still collecting items through February).

🙏💙 Jamie Norwood Cynthia Plotch Kayden Horwitz Meredith Glansberg Michael Preysman Lauri Kien Kotcher

AngelList 2024 Market Report

Ben Zises — Fri, 14 Feb 2025 23:51:00 GMT

Last week, AngelList released The State of U.S. Early-Stage Venture & Startups 2024. So, I put together a short list of the most important insights. Here’s a preview of what they had to say:

⛰ The Market Held Its Ground

After a tough 2023, the good news is that the market did not seem to get worse in 2024. While optimism remains measured, the stability in 2024 offers hope for a return to healthier dynamics. It seems that stabilization and rightsizing of valuations over the past year will pave the way for a limited, but undeniable, venture market recovery over the next year.

🔥 Seed Valuations Stay Thriving

Early-stage funding remains highly competitive, with seed valuations continuing to defy broader market trends. Seed round valuations have been a surprising counterpoint to the general venture market weakness over the past two years. Valuations of Series A and later rounds all fell about 40%, from peak-to-trough. However, seed rounds valuations had only fallen about 10%.

🤖 AI Market Dominates Across New Startups

The surge in AI-driven startups shows no signs of slowing. Nearly a third of seed deals on the AngelList platform involve startups primarily identifying as AI companies. This surge reflects both genuine innovation and opportunistic branding, as founders chase funding along a shrinking set of paths that can support stubbornly high seed valuations.

🌊 Liquidity Timelines Are Longer

The median time from Seed to exit has stretched to 7.5 years. With the IPO window still tight, 80-85% of early-stage exits in 2024 were private acquisitions. But, big buyouts have become increasingly rare. The majority of these acquisitions were priced under $100M.

Overall, the AngelList report points to a few key conclusions:

1. There is a general flight to quality. Investors are spending more time vetting performance proof points, and milestones during the due diligence process.

2. Angel investors are leading the way with first checks in most pre-seed deals. The larger VCs moving down-market often wait to see further market validation before participating.

3. Uncertainty in the broader macro environment has prompted founders to raise more money in fewer rounds to guarantee 18-24 months of runway.

What do you think? What’s your impression of the current state of angel investing and venture capital?

Check out the report at the link below!

https://www.angellist.com/data-center/the-state-of-venture-2024

I'm not lucky

Ben Zises — Wed, 12 Feb 2025 23:50:00 GMT

Four years. Blood, sweat, and tears. And then it all came crashing down.

The startup world loves to talk about failure as a "badge of honor". People talk about how almost every successful founder had multiple failures before their big win.

In hindsight, this is usually true. But, in the moment, you don’t often have the same clarity.

Failure makes you question everything. What went wrong? What could you have done differently? How will you face the people who believed in you?

I spent years building my first startup, RetailMLS (2010-2014). I took money from the people closest to me. And when it didn't work out, the pain was real. Anyone who tells you otherwise isn't being honest.

But here's what I've learned about failure: If you're not moving forward, you're moving backward. You can't change the past. But you can learn from it.

Looking back, I'm actually grateful that I got my failure out of the way early in my career. Those hard lessons led me directly to where I am today — If I hadn't gone through that experience as a founder, I might never have discovered my passion for investing.

Yes, it was a financial loss in the short term.
Yes, it was emotionally devastating.
But it shaped who I am.

The key isn't avoiding failure — it's what you do with those lessons afterward.

And sometimes, the path forward isn't the one you originally imagined… It’s even better.

How to evaluate startups

Ben Zises — Mon, 10 Feb 2025 23:49:00 GMT

A lot of investors tell me they only invest in companies where they can be "helpful" or "value-add." I think they're looking at it backwards…

I want to invest in founders who don't NEED my help to be successful. The best founders rarely do.

Instead, I look for opportunities where I have a uniquely competitive advantage in EVALUATING the company.

This isn't about whether I can make introductions or provide strategic advice — though that often comes naturally when you deeply understand an industry.

It's about being qualified, experienced, or well-networked enough to understand what the company is doing.

The most successful investors I know aren't successful because they're the most helpful. They're successful because they know exactly what they're looking at.

That’s the difference.

What LPs need to know

Ben Zises — Fri, 07 Feb 2025 23:44:00 GMT

Samir Kaji, the CEO of Allocate, shared some hard truths about venture capital that every LP needs to hear…

VC is highly cyclical. It alternates between long risk-on periods followed by sudden risk-off periods. Only the inexperienced fund managers try to time these cycles.

Small seed funds consistently make up the majority of the top 10% and bottom 10% of funds in every vintage year.

Every decade, there is a new guard of firms that come in and become dominant long-term forces. The 2000s saw it, the 2010s saw it, and we are already seeing early signs of breakout new firms in the 2020s.

While DPI (Distributions to Paid-In) ultimately matters most, avoid drawing conclusions from funds <6 years old. Our data shows that some top-performing funds actually took longer to achieve their first meaningful DPI. The Carta and AngelList data is valuable, but being surprised by lack of DPI for 2020+ vintage years shows little understanding of the asset class.

Most importantly — For seed funds, having a real edge in sourcing and winning deals can be more important than picking ability. Brand and distribution matter.

My advice to LPs: Stay committed to the asset class, maintain a consistent deployment schedule across market cycles, and stick with the best managers. In the long run, the most disciplined capital allocators win.

(h/t to Samir for laying this out so clearly)

The importance of brand

Ben Zises — Wed, 05 Feb 2025 23:43:00 GMT

Preston Rutherford is the co-founder of both Chubbies Shorts and Marathon Data. He’s also one of the most sophisticated brand marketers in all of eCommerce. So when he gives advice, I listen…

In my experience, there are two main types of marketing in this world:

1. Brand marketing
2. Direct response marketing

Most people focus entirely on direct response because it's measurable. They can see the immediate ROI. They can justify the spend.

But here's what I've learned as an investor: Your brand is the most valuable asset you'll ever build. In fact, it’s much more expensive to operate when you haven't built one.

This lesson applies beyond eCommerce— I've found it to be just as critical in venture capital. For most people, you need to build a brand in venture to be successful. The amazing thing is that once you've built it, your brand does all the marketing behind the scenes for you. Your own efforts are amplified because your brand is also working FOR you.

Whenever an angel investor or aspiring VC asks me about the value of building a personal brand, I have the same response: It's not just important, it's essential. Put up a website. Share your thoughts. Articulate your strategy. List your portfolio companies.

Over the long run, it will change your life.

Managing expectations

Ben Zises — Mon, 03 Feb 2025 23:41:00 GMT

Over the past decade as an investor, I’ve had the occasional founder who constantly misses deadlines and it kills me…

It’s not just about investor updates or reports.

They set the bar too high or too low, missing their own projections and then scramble to explain why. Or even worse, they don’t explain anything at all.

Here's the hard truth: People often overestimate the time they have or the time it takes to accomplish a goal.

I used to do this myself. I'd hop on a call and confidently say, "I'll get back to you by the end of the week." Then Friday would roll around and I'd be drowning in unexpected commitments.

Managing expectations isn't just about other people — It's about being honest with yourself.

Every day, we're filling up our calendars, making promises, and setting arbitrary deadlines. We often do this because we want to be helpful.

But this instinct can be dangerous. My advice to all founders is this:

- Give yourself longer timelines than you think you need
- Offer an alternative when someone pushes for an aggressive timeline
- Say “NO” 10x more than you say “YES”, particularly when it involves a “Networking event”
- Under-promise and over-deliver... every single time

Because at the end of the day, venture capital like much of life is ALL a game of managing expectations. And the fastest way to lose that game is to constantly miss your own deadlines.

Learnings from due diligence

Ben Zises — Fri, 31 Jan 2025 23:40:00 GMT

One of my portfolio companies went down less than six months after I wired the money.

It hurt. It hurt bad.

But, here's the thing — It wasn't the founder's fault. The founder didn't lie to me. The founder didn't mislead me.

I was mad at myself because I didn't do the proper due diligence. I got excited about the opportunity and rushed the process. Plain and simple.

It was an expensive lesson, but it fundamentally changed how I approach investing:

Now, before I write a check, I make sure to meet the founding team at least a few times over a period of a few weeks, AT A MINIMUM.

This isn't about trust or competency. It’s about understanding who you're getting into business with for the next decade of your life.

The founders who “get It”

Ben Zises — Thu, 30 Jan 2025 23:35:00 GMT

There are two types of investors in this world: There are those who believe that through sheer force of will they can mold a founder, and then there are investors who actually return the fund.

The difficult, yet fundamental truth is that people rarely change.

If a founder is going to be successful, they're going to be successful with or without me. I'm not going to be the reason that a business wins or fails. Anyone that tells you otherwise is blinded by their own bullshit.

Investors get this wrong because many of them don’t understand that there’s a big difference between being a great operator and being a great founder.

You can be an incredible engineer, an excellent operator, or an amazing product leader. But that doesn't automatically mean you have what it takes to build a billion-dollar company.

It's not about talent or intelligence. It's about that ineffable quality that separates good founders from GREAT founders.

As an investor, I've learned to trust my instincts on this. I'm not in the business of trying to force evolution. The friction isn't worth it, and quite frankly, it rarely works.

Some might call this perspective harsh. I call it honest.