#79 - Running an angel group vs. running a traditional fund, subsections of proptech worth betting on, and growing a paid community to 200 members with Matt Knight (Founder @ Proptech Angel Group)

Confluence.VC

Guest: Matt Knight (@JustMattKnight)

Company: Proptech Angel Group

Location: Atlanta, GA

Background: Proptech Angel Group is an angel group out of Atlanta that, as the name suggests, invests in companies shaping the future of real estate. The group has grown to ~200 members, and Matt is the founder and leader of the group. If you invest in proptech, he's a great guy to know.

Talking points (five-second version):

• Running an angel group vs. running a traditional fund
• Subsectors of proptech worth betting on
• Non-obvious takeaways growing a paid community to 200 members

Key takeaways (30-second version):

• Angel groups are a great source of inside information. If you're looking to get answers to questions you can't find on Twitter, try an angel group.
• Angel groups are slow because members notoriously don't have free time. Many of these people are running their own companies, so chasing down capital is the biggest con to running an angel group.
• You have much more flexibility running an angel group than a traditional fund. This is the two-sided coin of having less structure.
• You can learn things academically, but you don't really understand things until you get anecdotal evidence. To better understand academic concepts, practice them in real life.
• Any community is going to follow a Pareto's principle. 20% of members will produce 80% of the value. Find those people, and reward them to keep them engaged.
• When you're in an up-cycle, everybody wants things that are growing to expand revenue. During a down-cycle, people start focusing more on cost-cutters and other things that can streamline operations to reduce overhead.
• People are renting for longer periods of time for a few different reasons. Some are priced out as home prices have increased, but others are choosing to avoid homeownership because it is more convenient for them to rent.