Gil Penchina

Buying a banner, you have no control whether ten different people see your ad once, or one person sees it ten times. ”

A mistake I've made is investing in my idea rather than the entrepreneur's. Sometimes I'm excited about an idea that is similar to the entrepreneur's idea - but not the same. A smart entrepreneur will convince me it is the same, until I write a check! ”

I started angel investing because I like hanging out with entrepreneurs. ”

There are lot of ways people get non-economic payback - learning, networking, and relationships. These drive most angels more than the money. ”

Crypto today is a libertarian paradise. If you send your money to the wrong place, it's gone. If you send it to a merchant and don't receive the goods, you have no recourse. This is cash. Treat it as such. ”

When I first started as an angel investor, I was excited to start investing in startups - but I didn't know much. I couldn't tell the good ones from the bad; I didn't understand all these venture capital terms, so I would invest somewhat blindly. ”

For merchants, it is an amazing opportunity. Compared to Paypal, crypto has no credit card fees, no charge backs, no 'Oops, we decided to hold your cash for 3-12 months while we investigate something we can't disclose.' ”

I was one of the early folks at eBay, and by 1999, it was completely overrun by consultants from McKinsey, Bain, and BCG. It went from being a cool, fun startup to an MBA factory. ”

Along the way, I learned the key to launching a company. It's all about storytelling. ”

When trying to start a company, your enemy isn't criticism, anger or insults. Your enemy is apathy. ”