AngelList is a platform that helps startups with fundraising, recruiting, and networking. It is run by only 22 people who leverage code to automate processes and scale the platform. They prioritize building infrastructure early, hiring self-motivated people, and admitting mistakes. Employees wear many hats, are given significant responsibility, and enjoy above-market compensation in the form of salaries and equity, as well as perks like regular offsites.

1. The
AngelList
Way
Joshua Slayton
https://angel.co/joshuaxls
@angellist, @joshuaxls

2. AngelList is a platform for startups.
We help startups fundraise, recruit, network and
more.

3. Since 2010
$500M invested offline (estimate)
$83M invested online (launched 2013)
600K applications to incubators
290K intros between talent and startups
127K registered startups
11M API requests a day

4. 22 people
Just 22 people run all of AngelList

5. A bit about our culture, and how we run such a
small team with such a big impact.

6. Do It in Code

7. –Marc Andreessen, VC
“Software is eating the world.”

8. AngelList is the operating system of the
startup world.

9. Team AngelList
FT coder, PT coder, has coded, doesn’t code

10. Fundraising
$2.5M invested online per week

11. Recruiting
75 hires per week

12. Engineering
100M requests per week

13. Do It in Code
Team doesn’t grow exponentially
Leverage per person grows exponentially
Codebase as complex as an operating system
Works while product-oriented
Sales orientation changes dynamics

14. Sweat the Plumbing

15. AngelList is a single platform supporting multiple
applications.

16. What is AngelList?
Trust
Community
Platform
Scale
Syndicates, Talent, Incubators
{
{Venture Hacks
AngelList

17. AngelList’s Plumbing
User Profiles Company Profiles
Private Messaging Search
Funding Data Press Data Tag
Taxonomies “Signal” Rankings
References Q&A Updates Follow
Graph Connection Graph Intros

18. Sweat the Plumbing
Start with community and customers
Build a platform to serve their needs
Build plumbing early, while you’re young
Exponentially harder to build plumbing later on
Good plumbing means massive leverage

19. Hire Lazy People

20. –Someone
“Necessity is the mother of invention.”

21. –Me
“Necessity is the mother of invention.”
Laziness

22. Case Study: Talent
Algorithmically moderated
Algorithmically ranked
No sales
No marketing
3.3K intros per week
75 hires per week

23. Case Study: Talent
The coder who built Talent basically put
himself out of a job. In a good way.
0people run it

24. As coders, our job is to destroy work. Not to
create it.
Our work is a creative endeavor. It’s not
something we do to stay busy.

25. Hire Lazy People
The ideal product runs itself
The ideal product sells itself
Don’t do the same thing every day
Innovate yourself out of a job

26. Wear Many Hats

27. –Babak Nivi, AngelList cofounder*
“Specialization is for insects.”
*actually, a Robert Heinlein quote

28. Responsibilities
System operations
Customer service
Recruiting
Product development
Social media
Marketing

29. Responsibilities
Inbound deal processing
Customer service
Deal closing operations
Investor marketing
Product development

30. Responsibilities
Product design
Front-end development
Operations
Management
Team building

31. With great power comes great responsibility.
People who are not self-aware or have no humility
must be let go.
People who do not want to take on so much
responsibility must also be let go.

32. Wear Many Hats
Top talent loves the “founder”-like responsibility
Let people choose their own path
Let them fail, at least once
Don’t get “too many cooks in the kitchen”
Enforce self-awareness and humility

33. Admit Defeat

34. “Smooth seas do not make
skillful sailors”

35. Docs
Attempt to replace lawyers. Too
complex. Boondoggle project.
Market didn’t want it. Lawyers
didn’t want it.
Talent
monetization
Not well thought out. Damaged
our brand. Internal issues
establishing a strategy. Axed after
much consternation.
AngelList Defeats

36. Admit Defeat
AngelList is a high-stress environment
You’re completely responsible for your decisions
Move fast, be bold, expect failure
Failure is okay, repeated failure is not
Resiliency is the sign of a great team

37. Big Perks

38. Salaries and Equity
AngelList pays above the
market rate for talent, in
both salary and equity.
We care about how
productive each member
is, not how many
members we have.
$150K
salary
0.2%
equity grant

39. Perks
Standard
office space, health insurance,
retirement plans
Valley
standard
catered meals, commute
reimbursement, in-office massage
Not so
standard
quarterly nearby offsites, annual
overseas offsite, lax scheduling
requirements, remote okay

40. Playa del Carmen
2013
Cabo San Lucas
2012
Puerto Vallarta
2013

41. Big Perks
Above-market salaries and equity grants
All the standard perks and then some
Regular offsites build camaraderie and memories
Best perk is working with top quality people
And having an awesome mission
Top talent wants culture more than anything

42. The most difficult work of a company is establishing
a culture, and building a team.
AngelList’s greatest accomplishment is that we’ve
herded so many intelligent people, and big egos,
into one unit.
A great team is defined by how it overcomes
adversity, not how it celebrates success.

43. Thank
You!
Joshua Slayton
https://angel.co/joshuaxls
@angellist, @joshuaxls