Tag: Angel Investing

The Lazy Entrepreneur – And Why It Isn’t Bad

I achieved many of my goals by the time I turned 24, and most by the time I turned 28. Of course, my goals weren’t as big as many others have. They were rather small.

I tried to find happiness in things outside of work accomplishments and financial success and also tried to live a modest lifestyle. I also slowed down at 28 because I felt burnt out by working really hard in the past 10+ years. I felt that I don’t have the same kind of energy anymore that I used to have before, and I turned lazy.

I understand this could be a controversial opinion, and others may disagree. But I think laziness isn’t as bad as it sounds. In fact it can be good. Initially I didn’t like the fact that I’ve turned lazy. Even now, sometimes, I don’t like it especially when I FOMO about interesting opportunities. But I’m in a transition to becoming what I call the lazy entrepreneur. I haven’t achieved the status properly, but I wish to.

The lazy entrepreneurs don’t like working actively. They are tired of working. So they find lazy solutions to the problems that need to be solved. They like investing in things to create passive income. Lazy entrepreneurs also build lazy stock portfolios. But my favorite kind of lazy entrepreneurs invest in and empower active entrepreneurs.

Lazy entrepreneurs wish to move from being CEO of 1 company to having CEOs for multiple companies. Unfortunately, I have already achieved being lazy but haven’t yet mastered the art of being a lazy entrepreneur. Although, it’s a journey I’m excited about.

Integrity Vs Intellect

As part of angel investing, I get to meet many interesting entrepreneurs. My general investment mantra is that I need to understand the line of work, I need to have some sort of experience in it and the founders that I’m investing in offer talent which is miles ahead of our own team, of course.

If they have shown the ability to execute that business before and failed for whatever circumstances, that’s even better. I try to help them avoid the circumstances and let them execute the business again. I have had some sort of success with this strategy so far and I have been able to meet my investment goals with it.

In addition, one important quality that all founders should have is integrity. Lack of integrity, even if only outside the work, is a stage set for disaster. As a general rule, I would avoid investment in a team with lack of integrity even if they fit all other investing criteria making integrity a more attractive attribute over intellect.