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Andrew Kazlow Podcasts

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Helping angel investors see what most miss. Want more? Get essential angel intel in 5 min with The Diligent Observer Newsletter: your weekly shortcut to vetted deals and expert takes. https://www.thediligentobserver.com/ https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2459970.rss
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Today's episode explores three ideas that caught my attention: Small operational advantages compound infinitely - His lawnmower efficiency tracking and strategic positioning showed me how founders who obsess over tiny details can dominate markets. Angel networks fail without grassroots hustle - Growing NTAN from 15 to 70 members required zero silve…
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Today's episode explores three ideas that caught my attention: Ecosystem competition breeds innovation – The friendly rivalry between DFW Startup Week and Brad Feld's Denver Startup Week shows how healthy external competition is a wonderful thing. “Who gets the credit” politics can kill momentum - Bill's observation that meetings about who gets rec…
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Today's episode explores three ideas that caught my attention: The courage to admit ignorance can be a competitive advantage - Trey's willingness to ask "dumb" questions in healthcare settings was one of the key distinctives that allowed him to learn and grow so quickly. Personal pain often drives conviction in healthcare entrepreneurship - Trey no…
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Today's episode explores three ideas that caught my attention: Angel board representation dropped from 34% to 26% - Despite consistently seeing better returns WITH board representation, fewer angel groups are securing board seats. Early-stage valuation compression - The gap between median pre-seed ($10M) and Series B ($19M) valuations has shrunk by…
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Today's episode explores three ideas that caught my attention: Capital proximity ≠ capital access - Quinn's take on the "access to capital problem" was a thoughtful take on perceived geographic disadvantages in fundraising. Non-investment motivations often attract angel participation - His insight that professional development and community often d…
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Today's episode explores three ideas that caught my attention: The maturity evolution - His emphasis on campus ecosystems moving away from "every idea is good" to investor-ready reality checks highlights a necessary shift in the academic entrepreneurship model. The pledge-based investing model - Tom's concept of angels pledging a percentage of capi…
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Today's episode explores three ideas that caught my attention: Pitch deck ≠ the pitch. So many founders think their deck is the main thing standing between them and funding. It’s about so much more than the deck. Corporate grants are legit. I think often about government grants, but have minimized the importance of corporate programs. But these org…
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On July 4, 2025, Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” was signed into law. Here are the takeaways for angel investors. The Good News R&D expenses can now be deducted immediately instead of spreading over five years. Example: portfolio company spends $1M on research, they get the full tax benefit upfront rather than spreading out $200K annually. This is hug…
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Today's episode explores three ideas that caught my attention: "If these companies roll to zero, it's a big problem" – Understanding this fundamental difference between ETA and venture startup investing is critical for angel investor portfolio construction and risk management. The "peace dividend" creating veteran entrepreneurs - Patrick's observat…
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Insights from an aerospace engineer turned association leader who's working to transform angel investing from "black art" to science while representing 15,000+ members deploying approximately $1 billion in private capital annually Today's episode explores three ideas that caught my attention: The path from art to science - Pat drew a fascinating pa…
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Insights from a portfolio management software CEO who sees the venture market's "healthy shakeup" forcing overdue conversations about profitability and angel group sustainability Today's episode explores three ideas that caught my attention: The venture market reset is healthy - Alycia embraces the current volatility as necessary medicine. It chall…
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Insights from the Chairwoman of Stella Foundation and founding member of Stella Angels who has invested in 160+ women-led startups and co-managed six consecutive San Diego Angel Conference funds totaling millions in early-stage capital Today's episode explores three ideas that caught my attention: Creativity is the gateway to better investing - Sil…
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Insights from a 20-year angel investing veteran who created data-driven tools used by hundreds of angel groups Today's episode explores three ideas that caught my attention: Simple beats complex every time - John's URL clicking method to track outcomes is brilliantly basic. Sometimes the best solutions are staring us in the face. Expertise >> crowd…
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Insights from a 25-year veteran angel who advises investors and governments across four continents while chairing Silicon Valley's oldest angel network and the ACA Board of Directors Today's episode explores three ideas that caught my attention: Angels are insulated from market turbulence - Ron's data shows angels maintaining pre-2021 investment pa…
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Insights from a global ecosystem builder who's processed data on 108,000 startups while helping 240 investor communities across six continents manage their deal flow. GET FREE SOCKS: Seren will send the first 100 listeners that sign up for the AI Portfolio Monitoring waitlist a pair of Dealum’s signature red socks. What better way to impress your f…
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Insights from a fund manager who has mobilized hundreds of women investors, championed gender-lens investing in the Southeast, and is now steering the ACA as its incoming Chair Today's episode explores 3 ideas that caught my attention: Women angels grew 8x in 10 years - Kristina shared that female angels increased from 5% to 40% of all angel invest…
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Insights from an award-winning author and podcast host whose advocacy work is reshaping how angels invest and entrepreneurs access capital across ecosystems Today's episode explores three ideas that caught my attention: Clarity is kindness - Marcia highlighted how the most requested entrepreneur feedback is for angels to simply say "no" faster. Ang…
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Insights from a commercial real estate veteran who's now funding underrepresented founders while challenging traditional angel investing assumptions Today's episode explores three ideas that caught my attention: Financial models are founder due diligence too - Katie evaluates financial projections not for accuracy but to understand how founders thi…
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Insights from a twenty-year tech ecosystem veteran creating pathways for women angel investors Today's episode explores 3 ideas that caught my attention: Capital distribution defies logic - Kate highlighted that less than 2% of VC funding goes to women-led teams, yet data shows they're 3x better at capital efficiency. Wild. Education activates capi…
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Insights from a PropTech growth veteran who's scaled multiple startups to $175M+ in venture funding while driving innovation in commercial real estate Today's episode explores 3 ideas that caught my attention: Ridiculous customer discovery is what it takes – The “in” doesn’t matter. What matters is being ready to make the most of that “in”. His fir…
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Insights from a former philosophy student who's built a 15,000+ member network of principled business leaders and facilitated values-aligned investments Today's episode explores 3 ideas that caught my attention: The power of a radically transparent thesis - Alexander's approach of explicitly stating values upfront both attracts aligned founders and…
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Insights from a patent strategist who's authored 1,000+ patents and is revolutionizing IP finance through patent insurance and IP-backed lending at BlueIron Today's episode explores three ideas that caught my attention: Provisionals are never a good idea - Founders who file provisional patents are explicitly saying they don't value their IP enough …
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Today's episode explores 3 ideas that caught my attention: Some Patience Required: Nuclear's rise from 50–60% to 93% capacity factors took decades, not years. Expecting quick returns on new nuclear tech ignores the industry’s inherently long development cycles. Infrastructure Economics Favor State Capital: Like railroads, nuclear requires high upfr…
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Today's episode explores three ideas that caught my attention: Commonality is the Way - Variance in design increases cost. Consistency in design reduces it. Tighe shared helpful parallels with other industries to highlight the point that the industry is beginning to benefit from some economies of repetition, and this pattern is increasing the speed…
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Today's episode explores three ideas that caught my attention: Nuclear's renaissance hinges on electricity demand growth - More than any other guest I’ve spoken with, Emmet nailed the point that macro demand growth—not new tech or climate concerns—is what will truly drive growth in the nuclear sector. And similarly, falling demand is what killed mo…
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Today's episode explores three ideas that caught my attention: Demonstration Reactors are MVPs for Nuclear Energy - These reactors are 1/100 - 1/10 the size of a commercial scale reactor, and enable advanced reactor designs to be proven out from a technical and regulatory perspective with substantially lower cost than a full-scale reactor. Genius. …
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Today's episode explores three ideas that caught my attention: Perception is Reality - The discussion of nuclear waste politics surfaced how fear-based narratives can derail rational energy policy for decades. Nuclear = Massive Economic Development Opportunity - Reed drew a number of parallels between recent efforts to onshore the semiconductor ind…
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Today's episode explores three ideas that caught my attention: AI is Transforming Nuclear Too - The possibility of applying AI tools to parse 4,500-page regulatory documents represents a breakthrough in addressing one of nuclear's biggest bottlenecks - regulatory compliance. Falling Demand Drove Nuclear's Decline in the Late 1970s, Not 3 Mile Islan…
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Today's episode explores three ideas that caught my attention: The “conjoined twin” - Water touches every form of energy generation. Doug’s laser focus on this point made me consider what other interdependencies we often overlook. Market signals can mislead on timing - It’s often said “It’ll take longer and cost more than you think.” Based on Doug’…
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Today's episode explores three ideas that caught my attention: The “angel investor party trick” - Paul highlighted how the rush to become an angel investor mirrors the increase in the appeal of the “celebrity entrepreneur” we’ve seen over the last couple of decades. He believes that to flourish, the investor community must consolidate (read: more o…
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Today's episode explores three ideas that caught my attention: Long ball is the name of the game - Can this company survive long enough to close a deal? Maybe they’ve closed some VC funding, but the risk-seeking VC buyer is VERY different from the risk-averse enterprise buyer. Proof in one does not serve as proof in another. How is this company goi…
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Today's episode explores three ideas that caught my attention: The Double-edged Sword of Government Grants - Fascinating perspective on how SBIR grants can either validate or misdirect founders. The pattern of companies becoming "SBIR shops" highlights a key risk when coinvesting with the US Government. The Silent Technical Founder - Counter to my …
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Today's episode explores three ideas that caught my attention: The paradox of regulatory rigor - Many investors simply screen out opportunities in highly regulated spaces like medical, deep tech, and defense. “I only look at post-revenue software deals",” for example. But Pete's insight that difficult regulatory requirements actually create competi…
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Today's episode explores three ideas that caught my attention: The persistence of paper checks reveals deeper truths about business incentives - It totally blew my mind that half of B2B payments are issued by check. Blair’s comments immediately brought to mind the classic Charlie Munger quote: “Show me the incentive and I’ll show you the outcome.” …
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Today's episode explores three ideas that caught my attention: * It’s like 6yr too late for horizontal AI - Dan's commentary about how startups trying to “develop a new LLM” are wasting their time competing with billion-dollar foundational models reinforced how many founders are setting themselves up for failure by not laser focusing on vertical ap…
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Today's episode explores three ideas that caught my attention: * Immigrant founders outperform statistically - Patrick's research shows a strong correlation between immigrant status and startup success. Makes me wonder how much untapped potential exists in commonly overlooked founder demographics. * The empathy imperative - Treating every "no" with…
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Today's episode explores three ideas that caught my attention: * The power of student innovation - The story of Ariana Williams turning a class paper into Prairie View A&M's first innovation center demonstrates how exposure to possibilities can catalyze institutional change. * Angel groups are getting younger - The shift from mostly retirees to 75%…
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Today's episode explores three ideas that caught my attention: * The Value of Intentional Silence - Mike’s approach to founder interviews, watching body language, and creating space for stories shows how sometimes what's NOT said reveals more than what is. * Government as Startup Catalyst - Mike explains how efficient government support can drive i…
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Today's episode explores three ideas that caught my attention: * The university endowment mindset shift: Transition from the for-profit real estate world to Stanford's endowment revealed how different time horizons (centuries vs quarters) fundamentally change decision-making. * Weak markets force better habits: Launching a career in Oklahoma during…
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Larry Warnock is the Founding Partner of Ring Ventures (part of the Alumni Ventures Group), a Venture Capital Fund that deploys investment capital into tech and tech-enabled early-stage businesses. He continues consulting with the fund as a Partner Emeritus. He has made over 70 investments in his tenure as a VC. Larry is a seasoned venture-backed t…
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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 …
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Igor Belagorudsky builds, advises and scales startups. From a germ of an idea through seed, VC rounds, strategic partnerships and anything that comes next. Sometimes, he invests in them too. He helps entrepreneurs make good decisions about product, team, processes and everything in between. As a CTO, Igor is a confident full stack enterprise archit…
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Juan “Sebastian” Garzon serves as the Executive Director of Alamo Angels, the largest angel network in Texas. In his role, he facilitates access to capital via angel investing to companies across the U.S. and Latin America. Through his strategic guidance, Alamo Angels has invested in over 50 companies to date. Sebastian's exceptional acumen and ded…
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Brook Stroud is a Senior Principal at Alumni Ventures, where he applies his passion for early-stage investing, drawing from his experience as both an entrepreneur and investor. He founded and successfully exited two consumer startups: La Matera, a fashion brand, and Somerset, a beverage company. Prior to Alumni Ventures, Brook worked at Brand Found…
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Patrick Farrell founded Potomac Angel Capital in early 2022 to bring like-minded angel investors together in the D.C. area to invest in mission-driven, early-stage entrepreneurs for mutual financial benefit, lasting impact, and meaningful relationship. As the Executive Director, Patrick is intimately involved in sourcing deals, hosting events, lead…
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Phil Jung is a Partner at Sovereign’s Capital where he invests in Seed and Series A stage technology companies led by faith-driven entrepreneurs across the U.S. and Southeast Asia. He was previously the CFO and CPO at Mindoula, a healthtech company that serves populations with complex behavioral health, medical, and social challenges. Prior, he was…
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Dr. John Criscione is a professor of Biomedical Engineering at Texas A&M University who trains medical device engineers while simultaneously inventing, testing, and commercializing medical technologies. Dr. Criscione has been serving in this capacity for over 20 years and also serves as the CTO for CorInnova, a biomedical technology company focused…
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Dr. Margaret Bacheler is the Director of Educational Initiatives for the Angel Capital Association, where she oversees the Ann and Bill Payne ACA Angel University program. Dr. Bacheler is passionate about inclusive economic development, facilitating opportunities for multigenerational wealth creation, and diversifying the ranks of angel investors a…
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Matt Bell was born and raised in the UK, has lived on 4 continents, worked in, or visited, over 50 countries, and now calls Houston, Texas, home. His career journey has taken him from field operations to company leadership and corporate venture capital, from startup to growth stage, and on to strategy consulting, marketing, and angel investing. As …
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Marshall Smith is a seasoned WealthTech investor and corporate development leader with over 18 years of experience in WealthTech, Fintech and SaaS. He is the Managing Director of First Rate Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of First Rate Inc, the global leader in data aggregation, performance, and reporting solutions for over 500 Wealth M…
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