#20 Angelinvesting.it - From idea to Series A - Weekly Newsletter

Michelangelo

Jun 03, 2023

When Michelangelo Buonarroti was asked how he had been able to create the beautiful statue of the Pietà, where Jesus is held by Mother Mary after the crucifixion, he would respond that the statue was already within the block of marble and that his work as an artist was to free the statue from the superfluous so that it could emerge freely. His art lay in making visible something that was potentially already there, just not yet visible.

Very few people have the gift of seeing the world of possible things. Even fewer have the ability to transform that world of possibilities into reality. Steve Jobs called it a reality distortion field, the idea that reality is like a magnetic field that entrepreneurs, like artists, with great polarity, can bend to their advantage.

Believing that there is a David to be liberated within a cube of marble is not a job for everyone. Distinguishing an artist from a wannabe is equally difficult. I like to believe that it is somewhat easier for me to believe because I have seen an artist at work. I have witnessed the willpower of my father, the hard work, the luck, and an idea transform the cardboard suitcase of a boy who left a God-forsaken country in southern Italy into a company capable of employing 5000 people around the world, and from which the fruits, even three generations later, we still benefit.

Perhaps also motivated by this romantic idea, the passion for angel investing transcends the purely financial aspect for me. For me, the work of an angel investor lies in the ability to believe in the vision of an artist, to recognize those who have the magnetism to bring David out of the marble. To these visionary artists, we angels extend the chisel and the tools they will need to create.

2 Resources to pro level

His majesty Paul Graham, founder of Y-Combinator, the accelerator that invested in Pinterest, Airbnb, Dropbox, and many more. He talks about the interconnection between hackers and painters. A must-read to understand the startup culture. Amazon link

Feelings, yes, but only to a certain extent. Numbers tell whether I'm doing well or poorly as an angel investor. You can find my numbers at this link.