谢谢关注缓慢思考！
原文来自AngeList Blog 。 这是我看到的最好的对天使投资的建议。其中的很多建议，不光对天使投资适用，对风险投资也有参考价值。如果你真的理解了这些规则，你就可以上路了：-）
In the words of Charlie Munger, investing requires a latticework of mental models. Here are 11 lessons to begin filling out your angel investing lattice:
用查理.芒格的话来说，投资需要一个思维模型网络。如果你做天使投资，下面的11条可以开始填充你的网络：
1. If you can’t decide, the answer is no 如果你不能下决心，就说：不
If you can’t decide on an investment, the answer is no. For practical purposes, there are an infinite number of investments out there, so pass.
如果你不能决定投资，就说“不”。考虑一下现实，市场上的项目数不清，所以：过！
That doesn’t mean you won’t regret it. But the next investment is just as good
a priori
.
这并不意味着你不会后悔。但经验表明，下一笔投资也不会差。
Also, your experience and judgement is only going to get better by the time you see the next deal.
此外，只有当你看到下一笔交易时，你的经验和判断力才会变得更好。
2. Proprietary dealflow means “they want you” 私有的项目源意味着“他们需要你”
Nobody thinks they have a shortage of dealflow. The hard problem is getting your money into the startups you want. That means the company wants you over other investors. Without “‘they want you,” you will get cut out of good investments and end up with adverse selection of weaker companies.
It’s okay to pass on investments, but you don’t want them to pass on you
.
没有人认为他们的项目源不足。困难的问题是让你的钱进入你想要的初创公司。这意味着公司希望你胜过其他投资者。如果没有“他们需要你'”，你不会进好的投资，并最终导致被较差的公司逆向选择。放弃投资是没问题，但你不要被他们放弃你。
Missing out on a few investments can mean losing all your money because of the power law returns of investing. The top deal in a good portfolio of N investments returns as much as deals 2 through N combined. The 2nd best deal returns as much as deals 3 through N combined. If you miss out on the top deal because they didn’t think you were good enough, you’re going to miss out on most of your returns.
由于投资的幂次分布法则，失去一些投资就可能意味着你失去所有的投资。 一个含有N个项目的投资组合中最好的项目的回报等于第二个到第N个项目的回报总和。第二好的项目的回报等于第三个到第N个的总和。如果你错过了最重要的项目，因为他们认为你不够好，你会错过大部分回报。
3. Investing takes years to learn, and longer to see returns 投资需要数年时间才能学习，而且需要更长时间才能看到回报
Get started with angel investing now. It takes years to learn and longer to see returns. You want to invest in 30 companies at a minimum–that takes time.
立即开始学习天使投资。学习需要多年的时间，看到回报需要更长的时间。你需要至少投资30家公司，这需要时间。
You will start with small investments because your later ones will get better as you gain expertise and brand. That means your returns will take even longer.
你应该从小额投资开始，因为随着你获得技能和品牌，你后面的投资会变得更好。这意味着您的回报需要更长的时间。
It takes a long time to learn, but investing is one of the few professions where you can improve until the day you die.
学习需要很长时间，但投资是少数几个职业你能活到老学到老的。
4. Valuation matters
估值很重要
Valuations for pre-traction companies between 2005–2010 were $1–5M pre-money for the first non-friends-and-family round. Funds that invested during this time period made 4x-100x returns.
那些还没有走上正规的公司，2005-2010年时候第一轮外部投资的投前估值（非朋友和家庭轮）为100万-500万美元。在这段时间内投入的资金回报可以达到4倍-100倍。
These valuations moved to $4–6M pre-money after 2010, with some demo days in the $8–10M range. This likely cut returns by 2/3 or more.
2010年之后，这个轮次的估值提到了400万~600万美金，一些路演的项目会到800万美元~1000万美元的范围。这可能会使回报减少2/3或更多。
You can’t build a portfolio of pre-traction investments at $8–10M pre-money and expect to make a venture return. On occasion, you can make an exception, but you can’t do all of your investments at this price.
你无法以800万至1000万美元的估值建立一个投资组合，并期望获得风险投资回报。有时候，你可以例外，但你不能以这个价格做你的所有投资。
You will have to pass on great teams because the valuation is too high. You will have to pass on future iconic technology companies because the price is too high. But passing on a future iconic company at a $40M pre-money gives you the capital to take 10 shots on goal with unknown companies at $4M pre-money.
由于估值太高，你将不得不放弃优秀的团队。因为价格太高，你将不得不放弃未来的标志性科技公司。但是放弃一个以4000万美元估值的未来标志性公司的资金可以让你以400万美金的估值对不知名的公司进行10次射门。
You can’t negotiate valuation unless you’re putting in one-third to one-half of the round. Or you’re the first check into the company. In this case, say “I like you but I can’t make the valuation work, but I would invest if the valuation were X.”
除非你投资本轮金额的三分之一到二分之一，否则你无法进行谈判。或者你是第一个写支票的人。在这种情况下，你应该说 “我喜欢你，但这个估值做不了，但如果估值为X，我会投资。”
Despite high valuations, it’s still possible to make money in angel investing.
If you can’t make money in tech, you can’t make money anywhere.
尽管估值很高，但天使投资仍有可能赚钱。如果你不能在技术投资上赚钱，你无法在任何地方赚钱。
5. Back $0B companies 支持$ 0B公司
To quote Vinod Khosla, invest in “$0B companies” that are worth $0B today but could be worth $1B tomorrow. Focus your attention only on companies with the potential for a 100–1000x return. Otherwise, pass.
引用Vinod Khosla的话，投资于今天价值0亿美元但明天可能价值10亿美元的“$0B"公司。只关注可能获得100-1000x回报的公司。否则，放弃。
Without these large exits, your portfolio will not achieve a venture return.
如果没有这些大型退出，你的投资组合将无法实现风险投资回报。
6. Judgment is important but overrated 判断很重要但被高估了
Some markets are obviously bad and should be avoided. But judgment about markets is less important than you think, because there is so much luck and randomness involved. For example, companies can do hard pivots into new markets like Twitter, Slack and Instagram.
有些市场显然很糟糕，应该避免。但是关于市场的判断并不如你想象的那么重要，因为涉及到如此多的运气和随机性。举例来说，公司可以不断转型进入新市场，比如Twitter，Slack和Instagram等。
Judgment is not about doing a lot of research, digging and homework. By the time you figure it out, you will have missed the deal.
判断不是做大量的研究，挖掘和家庭作业。当你弄明白的时候，你会错过这笔交易。
Instead, learn a few markets really well. Of course you will learn about new markets over time. But learn a few markets really well.
相反，要真正了解一些市场。你当然会随着时间的推移了解新的市场。但要真正了解几个市场。
Buy all the products and try them. Find the best scientists in the market and invest in them. They can help you with research on your next set of investments. This is an unfair advantage.
购买所有产品并尝试使用它们。找到市场上最优秀的科学家并投资他们。他们可以在下一组投资的研究上帮助你。这是一个不公平的优势。
You can’t read about new markets unless you’re reading research papers. Waiting to learn new markets by reading about it on TechCrunch is too slow. Start with research papers and then call the grad students who wrote them.
除非你正在阅读研究论文，否则你无法阅读新的市场。通过在TechCrunch上阅读学习新市场太慢了。从研究论文开始，然后致电撰写研究生的研究生。
7. Invest only in technology 只投资于技术
The best returns come from investing in technology companies. Avoid companies that don’t develop meaningful technology (either software or hardware).
最好的回报来自投资科技公司。避免那些不开发有意义技术的公司（软件或硬件）。
The 5 largest companies in the S&P 500 (Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Facebook) are all technology companies. The largest private companies are also technology companies.
标准普尔500中最大的5家公司（苹果，谷歌，微软，亚马逊和Facebook）都是科技公司。最大的私营公司也是科技公司。
There are exceptions like Dollar Shave Club. Their early investors had good returns. But you should only invest in technology as a rule of thumb.
有一些例外，例如Dollar Shave Club。 他们的早期投资者收益很好。 但作为一项经验法则，你应该只投资于技术。
8. Some of the best investors have no opinions 一些最好的投资者不设自己观点
“I have no idea what’s hot. But I’m certainly always listening. Big Dumbo ears. Just listening.” — Doug Leone, Sequoia
“我不知道什么是热门。但我一直在倾听。用大飞象一样的耳朵。只在倾听。“ Doug Leone （美国红杉合伙人）
Some of the best investors on the planet have no strong opinions about a particular business. They try not to project into the future, so they can listen intently in the present.
这个星球上的一些最好的投资者对于一个特定的业务没有强烈的意见。他们尽量不投射未来，所以他们可以专心听取现在。
Almost any entrepreneur will be smarter in their market than an investor. The investor’s job is to listen and have intuition about whether the founders are smart, honest, and hard-working.
几乎所有的创业家都会比投资者更聪明。投资人的工作就是听，用直觉判断创始人是否聪明，诚实和勤奋。
These investors don’t fall in love with the business. When it comes time to do a new round, they re-evaluate the business from scratch and ignore sunk costs.
这些投资者不会爱上业务。当需要进行新一轮的时候，他们从头开始重新评估业务并忽略沉没成本。
If you’re thinking about all the great things you could do if you were running the business, you’re going down the wrong path. You’re not running the business.
如果你正在思考，如果你在经营经营业务时，有哪些你能做的伟大的事情。那么，你走错路了。你不是那个经营业务的人。
If you are telling the entrepreneur what to do, don’t invest. Thinking like an investor is different than thinking like an entrepreneur who is determined to make a business work.
如果你要告诉创业者该做什么，那么不要投资。投资人的思考方式与创业家的思考方式不同，企业家的能力就是必须让业务能行。
