By Frederick Hamilton, CEO of Your VC
As someone who’s spent over a decade in venture capital, I’ve seen how professional investors build discipline and conviction into their decisions. Angel investing in startups is exciting — but to do it well, you need structure and patience.
Professional venture capitalists (VCs) follow a process that helps them balance risk, diversify and back the winners when they emerge. Here’s how you can apply the same principles when investing through Your VC:
1. Decide how much you want to invest
Set your budget for a given period (e.g. £25k in a single tax year). Think about what you can afford to put into higher-risk investments, as startup investing should only be a small percentage of your overall portfolio.
2. Build a portfolio, not just one bet
Venture investing is a game of odds. A few companies may do very well, many may fail and some may return modest amounts. Decide how many investments you want in your portfolio — for example, 5–10 across the year — and spread your capital evenly at the start.
Rule of thumb: Invest the same amount into each new company. Don’t try to guess your winners upfront — even the best VCs can’t do that.
This way you won’t regret having too much in the losers and too little in the winners.
3. Plan for follow-on rounds
Once you’ve built your base portfolio, you can concentrate capital where it matters: in your winners. Startups usually raise several rounds of funding. Decide how much to invest initially in each company, and set aside some cash to back your favourites later.
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Planned follow-ons: many early-stage companies with high growth ambitions expect to raise every 18–24 months.
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Unplanned follow-ons: even companies that don’t plan on raising further funding may need to. Often things cost more or take longer — so be prepared.
Double down on the strongest performers as they raise later rounds, and allow the weaker ones to fade.
Think of your initial investments as “options” — you’re buying the chance to back future winners more heavily.
4. Review opportunities carefully
Your VC gives you access to professionally vetted UK startup investments that qualify for SEIS and EIS tax reliefs. For each opportunity:
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Read the Executive Summary and Investment Memorandum.
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Attend the Meet the Management session (or watch the recording).
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Do your own due diligence — ask questions, test the business model and don’t be afraid to probe – it’s what the Your VC team are here for!
5. Make your investment
When you’ve chosen a deal:
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Pledge your investment through the Your VC platform or by contacting your Relationship Manager.
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Once the round closes, you’ll receive your EIS1 certificate — pass this to your accountant to claim EIS reliefs (see our EIS Guide for details).
6. Monitor your portfolio
After investing, keep track of progress:
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Check the Your VC investor portal for updates.
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Review biannual company reports (sent each April and October).
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Follow Your VC and the companies on LinkedIn to keep up to date with news as it happens.
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Decide which companies you’d like to support in follow-on raises, and which may no longer merit more capital.