A hardcover from Nicolaj Højer
The Burden of Being Right
An Insider's Guide to Angel Investing
Eight companies founded, sixteen backed, and a portfolio that taught its lessons the expensive way. This is how angel investing works once the panel talks are over: the sourcing, the term sheets, the founders you misread, and the arithmetic nobody puts on a slide.
$50 · Hardcover · 240 pages
Free shipping · Satisfaction guarantee
- Written by an active angel investor
- ·16 investments
- ·Satisfaction guarantee
- ·Free shipping
What's inside
Six things the panel talks leave out
How deals actually get sourced
The good rounds are quietly filled before they are announced. What it takes to be in the two or three conversations that matter.
Reading founders, not decks
Decks are written to be liked. A one-hour conversation tells you more — if you know which four questions to ask and what silence means.
Term sheets in plain language
Liquidation preference, pro rata, pool shuffle, ratchets. What each clause costs you in a good exit and in a bad one.
How to size a first cheque
Why your first cheque should be smaller than you want, how many you need before the maths works, and how to reserve for follow-ons.
The psychology of saying no
You will say no to the company that returns the fund. Making peace with that is the difference between investing for ten years and quitting after two.
What a portfolio really returns
Honest numbers from a real Danish portfolio: the write-offs, the flat ones, the two that carried everything.
“Being right is easy. Being right early, with your own money on the table, is the expensive part.”
Early readers
“The book I wish someone had handed me before my first cheque. Blunt about the losses, which is rare.”
Name Surname · Founder, Company
“Reads like a night with an investor who has stopped performing and started telling the truth.”
Name Surname · Partner, Fund
“Concrete, Nordic, unsentimental. I've bought copies for our whole angel syndicate.”
Name Surname · Angel Investor
About the author
Nicolaj Højer
Danish entrepreneur and angel investor. He has founded eight companies and invested in sixteen Danish startups, among them Soundboks and Zetland, where he also sits on the board.
His first book, the Danish bestseller Mine 100 første opgaver som iværksætter, was written for people starting companies. This one is written for the people who fund them — with the same refusal to tidy up the numbers.
- Companies founded
- 8Companies founded
- Startups backed
- 16Startups backed
- Board member
- ZetlandBoard member
Questions
Before you order
Who is this book for?+
Operators, founders and executives with some capital and no map. It assumes you understand business but not venture — and it never explains what a startup is.
Do I need capital to start angel investing?+
Less than most people assume, but more than one cheque's worth. The book explains the minimum portfolio you need for the maths to work, and what to do if you are below it.
Is this specific to Denmark or does it apply anywhere?+
The examples are Danish, the mechanics are universal. Term sheets, founder psychology and portfolio construction behave the same in Copenhagen, Berlin and Austin.
Is it a hardcover?+
Yes. Sewn hardcover, 240 pages, foil-stamped cover, printed on uncoated paper. Made to sit on a desk, not in a download folder.
What is the satisfaction guarantee?+
Read it. If it gives you nothing you can use, write within 30 days and you get your money back — keep the book.
Notes from the portfolio
One letter a month, on real deals
What crossed the desk, what got a cheque, what did not, and why. No promotions.