Back in 2018, we set out on a little experiment. We wanted to bring together talented startup builders who were keen on diving deeper into angel investing — those who hoped to both sharpen their skills and escape the “going it alone” feeling by joining an intimate cohort of like-minded peers. With just a small group of 16 — including standout folks like Ayo Omojola (CPO at Carbon Health) and Vivek Patel (Former COO at Postmates) —  meeting weekly in our San Francisco office, we weren’t sure how this fledgling program would pan out.

Fast forward to this summer, as we wrapped up the 12th cohort of what became Angel Track and laid the groundwork for this fall’s new batch, which just kicked off last week. Our Spring 2023 cohort was a seriously impressive group of 36 individuals, from founders like Instacart’s Max Mullen to incredible leaders from a broad range of standout companies, including Stripe, Figma, Shopify, Rippling, Plaid, Retool, and Cruise.

But it’s not just the megawatt talent that stands out here — welcoming these new angel investors into the ranks of Angel Track alumni marks a significant milestone. As we celebrate 5 years of running this program, we can also share that we’ve now crossed the 400-member mark in our community of exceptional angel investors.

To mark the occasion, we’ve been working on a little project — so if you haven’t visited angeltrack.firstround.com in a while, we highly recommend checking out the newly redesigned site. It’s not just a fresh coat of paint. From a sneak peek of the curriculum to a sampling of the incredible members in our tight-knit community, we’re sharing more details than ever about what it’s like to be a part of Angel Track. 

As startup leaders dabble in angel investing, progress and learning can feel slow, and the solo journey can be lonely. We’ve designed Angel Track to be the antidote, carefully crafting a program where you can sharpen your craft, leverage tactical frameworks from First Round’s nearly two decades of Day 0 investing expertise, and lean on a community of exceptional angels for the best early-stage deal flow (and support group) in tech. 

What stands out most is the sheer array of talent we’re proudly able to showcase on our new site. There’s a wide range of impressive career paths in this community we’ve built over the years, including experienced startup leaders like Nick Caldwell (recently named Chief Product Officer at Peloton) Madhu Muthukumar (Chief Product Officer at Chime and Notion), and Nadia Singer (Chief People Officer at Figma); full-time investors like Variant’s Li Jin, Lightspeed’s Justin Overdorff, a16z’s David Haber and Sriram Krishnan, and First Round’s own Meka Asonye; and community builders and creators like Lenny Rachitsky, Mario Gabriele’s The Generalist, and Emily Kramer’s MKT1.

You can find and connect with all of those standout alumni and hundreds of other angel investors in Angel Directory, which has a fresh new look as well. As we continue to experiment with new ways to connect angels and founders, we’ll keep building on this extensive resource for browsing hundreds of angel and founder profiles, so watch this space.

With that, we’re excited to introduce the latest graduates to join their ranks — meet our most recent cohort of angel investors from Spring 2023, ready to take your pitches:

Hoping to join the Angel Track ranks and further your own career as an angel investor? Fill out this form if you’re interested in being a part of next year’s group.

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