Ed Lando is the Co-founder of Pareto, where he’s been an early investor in over 25 unicorns, started and incubated over 10 companies, and was recently named the most active angel investor in the world according to Crunchbase.
We get into how Ed first got started angel investing, how he built up deal flow, why he’s historically kept a low profile, and why he hasn’t raised outside capital.
We also talk concentration vs diversification, why there’s many ways to build successful companies, advice on hiring your first employees, and his playbook for incubating companies at Pareto, which is where he focuses most of his time.
Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
2:51 Getting into angel investing
3:58 Debating high vs low PR strategies
8:27 How to start building deal flow when angel investing
10:00 Pareto: first investor in people leaving school or their job
12:05 Evolving from angel to fund
14:57 Why Ed didn’t raise outside capital
20:33 Concentration vs diversification
28:29 Investing in non-sexy categories
32:50 There’s no one right way to build a company
36:03 When to go against traditional wisdom
39:36 Lessons from his anti-portfolio
45:59 Ed’s close relationship with his parents
49:04 How we’re using AI
54:04 Incubating companies
58:38 Investing beyond spreadsheets and DCF models
1:05:49 How to trust your intuition investing
1:09:47 How to move fast
1:14:24 What most people get wrong when incubating companies
1:18:40 How to hire your first employees
1:26:27 Navigating hype when building and investing
1:29:59 Venture math and the Power Law
1:35:33 How Ed and Pareto’s strategy might break
1:38:45 Differences between the US and Europe
Referenced
Pareto: https://pareto20.com/
Misfit Market: https://www.misfitsmarket.com/
Catalina Crunch: https://catalinacrunch.com/
Zamp: https://zamp.com/
Magnus Carlsen on Joe Rogan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybuJ_nIXwGE
Follow Ed
Twitter: https://x.com/edwardlando
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwardlando/
Substack: https://edwardlando.substack.com/
Follow Turner
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TurnerNovak
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/turnernovak
Subscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/