Why Your Best Angel Investors Are Founders Who Just Raised Their Series C

Early-stage founders tend to raise angel money from the easiest people to reach instead of the most useful ones.

You start with wealthy individuals, friends of friends or local angel groups. It’s usually enough to close the round. But it rarely shifts your company’s trajectory.

There’s one overlooked group of angel investors that consistently delivers outsize value: Founders who are two or three stages ahead of you and have just raised a significant round.

At Nacelle, I leaned heavily into this strategy across our pre-seed, seed and Series A rounds. The impact wasn’t subtle. One angel helped reshape our product strategy. Another introduced us to the VC who led our $50 million Series B. A third brought us our first paying customer.

That experience changed how I think about early-stage fundraising. It has to be about more than closing a round. If you want to build something big, you need to think about assembling leverage.

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Angels are more than capital; they’re force multipliers

Traditional angels often bring impressive résumés. Many come from finance, legal or corporate leadership backgrounds. They can add value and open doors. But most haven’t recently built a company through the terrain you’re navigating now.

A founder who just went from Series A to Series C has current, relevant insight. They know when to hire executives, how to test sales strategies under pressure, what boards do in tough moments and which product bets actually pay off.

They also know the common mistakes. J.P. Morgan’s Vice President in Startup Banking notes that there are “infinite mistakes a founder can make, and the best thing startups can do is surround themselves with networks including investors, advisors, law firms, financial institutions and peers — that understand common pitfalls.”

Use this simple filter when considering angels: Would this person’s operating experience help us avoid a major mistake in the next year? If not, the check size matters less than you think.

Relevance matters more than reputation.

Why Series C founders are uniquely motivated

There’s also a structural reason this works.

Founders at later stages understand dilution. According to Carta, founding teams own 56.2% of their company after raising a seed round. That drops to 36.1% at Series A and falls again to just 23% by Series B. These founders have felt real dilution. Many have also taken some secondary capital along the way to offset that exposure and derisk personally.

That doesn’t make them short-term focused. It often does the opposite. As Brian Halligan, co-founder and chairman of HubSpot, shared after his own experience with secondary during a later-stage round: “It ‘stiffened’ our backbone when it came to acquisition interest and kept us focused on building a company our grandkids would be proud of.” He added, “It was likely one of the worst financial decisions I’ve ever made, but I don’t regret it … the pie’s plenty big.”

SaaStr featured the quote above while echoing that “Secondary sales done right truly align founders and the company and incent them to go long.”

These founders tend to back early-stage companies where they can offer more than money. They invest where their experience can make a real difference.

You’re also giving them access. You’re offering a deal they might not otherwise see, at a stage where their input can shape outcomes.

Operator signal attracts more than capital

When a respected founder invests in your company, others notice.

This isn’t the same as a passive angel who writes dozens of checks. Operator angels bring domain expertise and hard-won credibility. VCs take that seriously. It compresses diligence, reframes risk and changes the tone of the conversation.

Founders talk. One high-signal name on your cap table can quietly open the door to a new tier of investor meetings.

If you’re optimizing your angel round purely for check size, you’re missing the compounding value of credibility.

Business development you can’t manufacture later

There’s a practical benefit that doesn’t show up in pitch decks: actual business traction.

If your angel runs or has recently run a company in an adjacent space, you’ve built optionality. Whether through partnerships, integrations or customer intros, there’s a real chance your angel can accelerate your go-to-market.

As J.P. Morgan says, there are many things to consider in your due diligence, and key public information “includes the investor’s reputation in the startup community, areas of expertise and preferred level of involvement.” That’s not a nice-to-have. That’s leverage you can’t build later.

How to target the right people

This strategy only works if you’re deliberate.

Before you open your next round, build a list. Identify 10 to 15 founders who’ve recently raised Series B, C or D rounds. Look for operators two or three stages ahead of you, ideally in adjacent spaces. Crunchbase and tech press are useful tools, but your current investors and advisors are often the fastest path to warm introductions.

Warm intros matter. These founders are busy. Cold outreach sometimes works, but conversion rates are low. Be clear with your network about who you want to meet and why.

When you get to the meeting, lead with your product. A demo is more powerful than a deck. You’re not asking for a favor. You’re inviting them to engage with something interesting.

And a tip from experience: don’t pitch the tax angle. Sophisticated founders already understand QSBS and secondary. If you have to explain it, you’re probably talking to the wrong person.

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What to expect and why it’s worth it

Most of these checks are modest, usually between $10,000 and $50,000.

The value is in insight, signal and leverage. Some angels may become active. Others might make one key introduction and step back. Both outcomes are valuable. Just be clear upfront about what kind of involvement you’re hoping for.

What compounds is momentum. One smart, well-placed operator angel makes the next conversation easier. And the one after that.

Don’t just close the round. Build the right table.

Fundraising at the early stage isn’t about stacking as many checks as possible. It’s about surrounding yourself with people who increase your odds of success.

Series C founders are an underutilized category of angel investor. They’re liquid, relevant, experienced and often eager to stay close to the early-stage building process.

Before you close your next round, take a hard look at your target list. If it’s filled with people who can write checks but can’t shape outcomes, you’re leaving leverage on the table.

The best angels aren’t always the wealthiest people in the room. Often, they’re the ones who were in your shoes just a few years earlier.