LIZ LINDSEY ‒ NYA TEAM SPOTLIGHT
Liz Lindsey is the Executive Director of New York Angels. Over the past 11 years, she has kept the place running and NYA meetings on schedule. Liz maintains NYA’s institutional knowledge and knows more details about our Members and Founders than anyone else at New York Angels. Liz shares how her career as a professor translated into joining New York Angels and the unbelievable exits she has seen. Since Liz has seen ~1,600 founders pitch at NYA, she also shares her top tips for founders.
How did you first connect with New York Angels, and why did you decide to work with them?
At the time, I was teaching part-time at FIT, and I actually posted on Craigslist that I was searching for another part-time job. The New York Angels Director reached out to me because she was specifically looking for someone part-time and thought I had a strong skillset. I had never heard of NYA before, and I didn’t know anything about angel investing. Before that, I had been a tenured professor in New Mexico. When I met NYA’s Director and Treasurer, I really enjoyed our conversations, and it seemed like an area where I could apply the skills I already had while also being intellectually stimulated. It looked like a very good opportunity, so I joined New York Angels.
How has New York Angels evolved over your 11 years?
The group has steadily grown, both in members and in the amount of investment. The investment amounts from angels have increased significantly, and NYA Members work together much more closely. Years ago, it was common to see a round where there was one single angel investor, but now there are usually four or five participating together. Together they bring a lot more money to the table than they used to.
We’ve also expanded member engagement. The backbone of NYA meetings has always been our screenings and investment forums. With Cindy Cook as Chair, and with board members like Alyssa Tam, Michael Costa, and Doug Pearson, we have pursued more innovation. They have introduced a variety of member engagement events, demo days with national accelerators, and have expanded our partnership with other angel groups. The biggest changes in NYA have been in the last year or two.
As Executive Director, how do you balance working with founders and members?
I work more with our New York Angels Members than with founders. I probably know all of our members better than anyone else in the organization, so I serve as a touchstone for them. I like to keep things moving, so I will stay in touch with co-leads on deals, get updates, and help with next steps.
With founders, I tend to have more contact after New York Angels Members invest. At that point, I do my best to make sure founders feel part of the NYA family.
What role has New York Angels played in the early-stage startup ecosystem?
We are the most active single-chapter angel group in North America, including Canada. There are other angel groups with multiple chapters that may be bigger, but as a single chapter we have consistently been in the top three or four most active since I have been with New York Angels.
More recently, we have become more influential by creating initiatives like the national-level accelerator demo days and by opening up our member engagement webinars to the broader angel community. Attendance and engagement have been great at these events. I really appreciate that New York Angels is creating such a strong community and contributing to the larger angel ecosystem.
What has been your most memorable experience at New York Angels?
Always the exits! There have been some incredible exits for New York Angels Members. Some have had extraordinary returns of 40x, 60x, 70x, and even 1,000x on one occasion. It’s always great for me to watch as I can live vicariously through New York Angels Members. I am simply amazed at some of the returns New York Angels Member receive.
Beyond exits, my most memorable moments come from our meetings. My favorite part of working with New York Angels is running our screenings and investment forums. As it turns out, I really enjoy being a moderator, especially one who keeps things on time. Even if a meeting runs four hours, my goal is always to end no more than five minutes past the scheduled time because I truly respect other people’s time.
How many companies have you seen in your time with New York Angels?
Just counting those pitching at screenings and investment forums, I have seen ~1,600 companies. That doesn’t even count the pitches I have seen at founder events, accelerators, or universities where I’ve served as a judge or mentor.
What should founders know before applying to New York Angels?
Complete the application thoroughly, including financials. Be open to listing additional investment instruments.
Do not just email asking for a meeting, that is not how we evaluate companies. We have a clear process. The process is member-driven, and applications go through a three-tiered review. If you are selected, you will start with a 10-minute pitch and 5 minutes of Q&A, which becomes the doorway to a longer discussion.
Go to our website for more information and to apply. It details our investment process and provides a variety of interviews with both NYA Members and founders of our portfolio companies that have some great perspectives on what is important when fundraising with NYA.
What do you wish founders knew before pitching?
It is important to come in with an idea of the terms of your deal, but you also need to be open to negotiating both your valuation and your investment instrument. In a follow-on round, some things cannot change, but if you are coming to Screening for the first time, you should be willing to negotiate.
Founders need to know their competitors and how they differentiate. Have a strong answer for what happens if a well-funded competitor enters. Avoid the pat answers like “they’ll be our acquirer” or “we only need 3% of the market.”
Keep your answers short during Q&A. The five minutes for Q&A are not another chance to pitch; this is your chance to make investors want to move you forward in the process.
Read Founder vs. Investor by Elizabeth Zalman and Jerry Neumann. Elizabeth is very good at fundraising, and the book helps founders see fundraising as offering investors a valuable financial opportunity, not asking for money.
Be coachable. Investors bring more than money, they bring advice, connections, and experience. They want to be assets to you and your company, not just check-writers.
Finally, be confident. You need to be confident and convinced of your own value. As the founder, you are ultimately in control. You decide when you want to close your round; you decide how much you want to raise; you decide if and who you have on your board. You need confidence, but not arrogance.
What do you wish new angel investors knew before joining?
You will get out of New York Angels what you put into it. It is very much a member-led organization. While dues support the backbone of Jon and I maintaining operations and logistics, the real initiatives come from our NYA Members themselves. Our membership, engagement, screening, and pre-screening committees consist of our members. As a New York Angel Member, the more engaged you are in the organization, you will have a more rewarding the experience.
What trends do you see in angel investing today?
Trends come and go. When I started working at NYA, it was all about ad tech. Later on, blockchain and crypto became prevalent, and now, of course, it’s AI.
Another shift I see, especially working with students, is that the younger generation of people who will become founders care more about the planet and social impact. Impact investing is growing. We’re seeing a growing number of companies focused on impact investing, alongside a dedicated group of angel investors who share that same commitment.
On the deal side, there used to be a wide gap between founders who preferred SAFEs and investors who disliked them. That has gradually changed over time, especially with the advent of the post-money SAFE and founders willing to accept a side letter that some of the rights that the investors are more comfortable when they invest. I suspect the next shift, although I am not 100% certain, will be more founders offering common equity, which could create another gap between angel investors and founders.
What’s something about your background that’s helped you in this role?
All of my degrees are in communication. That has shaped my own communication policies at New York Angel, e.g. if you cannot answer the question: why this information, to this person, at this specific time, it is not relevant. I try to keep everything all of our communication relevant and timely.
My background as a professor also helps. Whether I was lecturing to 300 students or leading a seminar of seven graduate students, I had to keep people engaged. Those skills transfer directly to moderating our meetings.
On a personal note, I grew up reading science fiction because of my mother. Now, watching startups pitch to New York Angels, I see so many of those ideas come to life, though not nearly as quickly as in the science fiction novels. Being the Executive Director of New York Angels has been a massively enjoyable, rewarding and stimulating experience.
