Angel Investing: Gale Wilkinson of Vitalize on Building a Portfolio, Identifying Strong Opportunities, and Increasing the Number of Women Investors

<p>In this episode, Justin Gordon (<a href="https://twitter.com/justingordon212">@justingordon212</a>) talks with Gale Wilkinson (<a href="https://twitter.com/galeforceVC">@galeforceVC</a>) Founder and Managing Partner of Vitalize Venture Capital, a $16M seed-stage fund based in Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. While Gale mainly invests in the future of work through Vitalize, she also works to empower others - advocating for angel investing for everyone.</p><p>Gale is also a startup advisor, on the Chicago: Blend Board, in Kauffman Fellows Class 23, has an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and is a dog lover.</p><p>Gale's Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/galeforceVC">https://twitter.com/galeforceVC</a></p><p>Show Notes</p><ul> <li>How Gale began angel investing (In 2012)</li> <li>Gale's background leading investments in 65 companies, investing $50M</li> <li>The story around Gale's first angel investment</li> <li>Getting more women to start angel investing</li> <li>Building a muscle for investing - learning how to identify strong opportunities </li> <li>Choosing winners - Qualities of founders Gale has invested in</li> <li>LPA: Delineating between Angel Investing and Fund Investing</li> <li>Building a portfolio as an angel investor  - Best strategies, writing 30 checks in 25 companies between pre-seed and series A </li> <li>No matter how you start, just start - getting involved, adding value, deploying small amounts of capital</li> <li>Passionate about sustainability and diverse founding teams</li> <li>A few of Gale's angel investments</li> <li>Time Commitment: An overview for novice Angel investors</li> <li>Access: The two kinds of angel investing, passive and active </li> <li>Getting started as an LP into venture funds and how Gale made her investment into Mac Conwell and Rarebreed Ventures  </li> <li>VC's evolving culture: Gale's community-based approach to investing, being an LP with Rarebreed Ventures, Emerging managers</li> <li>The power of Twitter  </li> </ul