Coming Spring 2027

The $1,000 Angel

Finding the Next Uber Before It Goes Public

By Elizabeth Yin

This book uncovers a secret of Silicon Valley: a large community of small but enthusiastic angel investors who write $1,000 checks. I’ll share how to invest in great companies without being super rich or famous.

The $1,000 Angel: Finding the Next Uber Before It Goes Public by Elizabeth Yin book cover
Elizabeth Yin

About the author

Elizabeth Yin

Co-founder and General Partner at Hustle Fund

Elizabeth is a founder turned investor. Before Hustle Fund, she was a partner at 500 Startups, where she invested in seed-stage companies and ran the Mountain View accelerator. Previously, she co-founded LaunchBit, an adtech company acquired in 2014.

Her perspective in The $1,000 Angel comes from reviewing ~100k pitches and investing in 1,000 startups, including household names like Olipop, Mejuri, and Anthropic, as well as many you haven’t heard of that have quietly grown like crazy or gone totally bust.

The big idea

Winged pixel-art hippocorn flying on a rainbow

Learnings from backing 1000 companies

This book distills what I learned from reviewing ~100k pitches over the last decade and investing in 1,000 of those startups.

I break down portfolio construction, returns, sourcing, and what to look for in a startup. The $1,000 Angel explains the power-law math behind early-stage investing and why early-stage angels look for outcomes that can return 100x.

Inside the book

The counterintuitive lessons in angel investing

Take 50+ shots on goal

Your best shot at strong returns from an early-stage portfolio is to make 50-100 investments over 5-10 years.

BIG exits drive returns

Because early-stage startups fail at a high rate, you need BIG multiples to drive portfolio returns. Not 2x, but 100x or more.

Great deals look weird

The best opportunities may not look obvious at first, or even for years. Learn what I look for in founders and ideas before traction.