This week, I speak with Ella Nguyen. After completing the Startmate First Believer’s program, Ella is taking her first steps on her angel investment journey alongside a career in tech sales.

In a wide ranging and at times deeply personal conversation, we speak about Ella’s motivations to support founders, what being an angel investor means, navigating a changing global economy, impostor syndrome, the life journey to get this far, and finally wrapping up with the joy and gratefulness of going through hardship.

For any founders interested in working with Ella, you can get in touch via LinkedIn

Show notes

[00:01:37] - [First question] – What Ella is doing right now

[00:02:50] - Feeling the infectious enthusiasm from founders

[00:04:25] - The complexity in finding the right people

[00:05:45] - What the startup ecosystem *feels* like

[00:07:01] - Overcoming limiting beliefs in oneself

[00:08:34] - Making a list of superpowers

[00:09:59] - Other avenues to support founders besides capital

[00:11:21] - What founders are looking for in investors

[00:12:32] - How AirBnB’s fortunes were changed with a small check

[00:14:21] - Focusing on the future of work and the data that generates

[00:18:53] - Balancing personal interest, a vision of the future, and financial returns

[00:21:18] - The ethical challenges around the future of work

[00:22:22] - An optimistic view of our economic future

[00:24:04] - OpenAI and why Ella wished she could have put her money into it

[00:26:47] - What the future might look like for OpenAI

[00:29:38] - Migrating to Australia at a young age and having mom as a role model

[00:30:57] - Everything is an opportunity

[00:31:38] - Shadowing an entrepreneurial powerhouse

[00:32:45] - The first steps into entrepreneurship

[00:35:25] - Fortune tellers and superstitious parents

[00:36:37] - Weighing up entrepreneurship as a long-term path

[00:38:57] - How this life journey has shaped Ella’s investment thesis

[00:40:00] - Lessons about keeping an open mind

[00:42:06] - The joy and gratefulness of struggle and transition

[00:43:50] - Using tech to lift people off the bottom

[00:44:15] - The power of education in solving all the world’s problems

[00:45:14] - A future based on compassion and community

[00:46:09] - Being a connector

[00:47:11] - Actively listening and understanding to build that vision of the future

[00:48:25] - Socials and contact info

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit promisefm.substack.com