Hustle Fund

Get early-stage capital, practical growth guidance, and investor connections to help build and grow your startup.

Learn angel investing, explore vetted startup opportunities with low investment minimums, and build relationships with a global investor community.

Founders can practice pitching, get direct investor feedback, learn how investors evaluate startups, and connect with other founders and investors at no cost.

Founders can learn from experienced peers, ask candid questions, and connect with other founders at free, intimate events.

Connect with investors, refine your investment thesis, and expand your dealflow at a Hustle Fund investor event.

Helps founders make progress on starting, running, fundraising for, and scaling a startup with practical advice and strategies.

Learn about angel investing through weekly insights and practical lessons from Hustle Fund’s experience.

Learn the fundamentals of angel investing, assess opportunities, and explore how to get started with $1,000.

Helps aspiring founders and investors build practical knowledge for starting companies, raising capital, and understanding venture capital.

Reach founder and investor communities through customizable newsletter, event, and virtual-program sponsorship opportunities.

Investment and investor-network capabilities offering pre-seed to Series A capital, strategic guidance, board or observer support, and introductions to accelerate startup growth.

Products: Hustle Fund Startup Investment

Structured education for investors learning to evaluate startups, assess deal terms, conduct due diligence, and build investment portfolios.

Products: Angel Squad

Services that enable individual and accredited investors to access private-company investment opportunities with lower minimums and pooled/ diversified exposure.

Products: Angel Squad

Conferences, forums and curated event listings that facilitate relationship building, networking and direct access between investors, GPs and advisors.

Products: Angel Squad, Camp Hustle

Paid media and sponsorship services that enable brands to reach consulting executives via newsletters, events, and publisher channels with custom quoting and media kit support.

Products: Hustle Fund sponsorship packages

Hustle Fund Startup Investment

Hustle Fund invests in pre-seed startups, primarily in the United States, Canada, and Southeast Asia. It is a software generalist that does not favor particular verticals and typically makes a first investment of $150,000. The firm can set terms and invest as a company's first check, or evaluate investing alongside an existing lead. Beyond capital, Hustle Fund supports portfolio founders with sales and customer acquisition guidance, mentors, and access to its network of VCs, angels, and operators. Its investment process generally takes one or two meetings, with decisions often communicated within 24–48 hours after a call and funds wired within a week of a yes.

• Access Pre-Seed Capital
  Founders can seek investment at the pre-seed stage, before their startup's story or metrics are fully established.
• Secure A $150,000 First Check
  Founders can approach Hustle Fund for a $150,000 initial check, including when they need an investor willing to set terms and invest first.
• Move From Meeting To Funding Quickly
  A short decision process and a stated goal of wiring within a week of approval can help founders get an investment decision and capital without waiting for another investor to lead.
• Strengthen Sales And Customer Acquisition
  Founders can draw on practical guidance, knowledge, and mentors as they work on sales, customer acquisition, growth, strategy, and fundraising.
• Expand Your Investor And Operator Network
  Joining the Hustle Fund portfolio gives founders access to a broader network of VCs, angels, and operators.
• Match Your Startup To Early-Stage Criteria
  Founders can assess fit against the firm's stated focus on pre-seed companies, business models and unit economics, founder hustle, a minimum viable product, and full-time commitment.

Angel Squad

Angel Squad is a global angel investing community from Hustle Fund. Members can learn Hustle Fund’s investing framework through five curriculum tracks and more than 150 recorded workshops, access vetted startup investment opportunities from pre-seed to pre-IPO, and connect with other investors through member meetups and matching features. Opportunities may allow investments starting at $1,000, with no obligation to invest. Membership includes a complimentary 14-day trial.

• Build Angel Investing Skills
  Learn about startup funding, deal evaluation, portfolio strategy, due diligence, and fund building through structured tracks and recorded workshops.
• Explore Vetted Startup Deals
  Review investment opportunities selected from Hustle Fund’s deal flow, Scout-sourced companies approved by its team, and pre-IPO allocations.
• Start Investing With $1,000
  Consider startup investment opportunities with a stated minimum of $1,000, without being required to invest.
• Connect With Global Investors
  Meet and connect with fellow investors through local gatherings, opt-in member calls, and matches based on professional interests, location, or alumni connections.
• Review Deal Details
  Understand the company, founding team, investment terms, and Hustle Fund’s rationale before deciding whether to invest.
• Try The Membership For Free
  Explore the membership during a complimentary 14-day trial and cancel if it does not meet your needs.

Batter Up!

Batter Up! is a free live pitch event designed for founders and investors. Founders can RSVP and submit a pitch deck; up to eight are selected to pitch for 2.5 minutes to a panel of three investors from Hustle Fund’s Angel Squad. The investors ask follow-up questions and provide feedback in a format modeled on a real VC meeting. Attendees can learn from other founders’ pitches, ask questions, and connect with founders and investors. The event page lists gatherings in Austin, Atlanta, Singapore, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Bentonville.

• Practice Your Startup Pitch
  Selected founders present their startups in a live event, giving them a chance to practice pitching to investors.
• Get Direct Investor Feedback
  Founders receive questions and feedback directly from experienced investors, helping them understand how their pitch is received.
• Understand Investor Decisions
  By observing pitches and investor responses, attendees can learn more about how investors assess companies and reach investment decisions.
• Attend The Event For Free
  Founders and investors can attend the event without an attendance fee.
• Learn From Other Founders
  Attendees can watch other founders pitch and take away lessons without submitting their own deck.
• Connect With Founders And Investors
  The event brings founders and investors together to meet and connect with others in the startup community.
• Submit Your Deck For Consideration
  Founders can RSVP and submit a pitch deck for a chance to be selected to pitch live.
• Ask Questions At The Event
  Attendees have time to ask questions during the event and learn from the discussion.
• Compete For A Prize
  Founders pitching at the event can compete for a prize awarded to the winner.

Founder Friends

Founder Friends is a curated series of intimate, free events for founders. Each event features a fireside chat between a founder and a Hustle Fund investor, followed by audience Q&A. Attendees can connect, learn from founders’ experiences, and hear candid insights in a casual, fun setting. Fourteen events were planned for 2025 across locations including Miami, New York, Singapore, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.

• Learn From Founder Experiences
  Hear insights through a conversation between a founder and a Hustle Fund investor.
• Get Answers To Your Questions
  Participate in audience Q&A to ask questions and get answers during the event.
• Connect With Other Founders
  Meet and connect with other founders through events designed to bring people together.
• Join Intimate Founder Events
  Take part in curated, intimate gatherings centered on sharing wisdom, learning lessons, and inspiration.
• Attend For Free
  Attend Founder Friends events without an attendance fee.
• Attend Events In Multiple Cities
  Find events planned across multiple cities and regions, including Miami, New York, Singapore, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
• Enjoy A Casual Event Setting
  Meet and learn in a casual, fun atmosphere with pizza and bubbly water.

Camp Hustle

Camp Hustle is a multi-day event for investors hosted by Hustle Fund. It brings together the investor community in person to connect and learn. The event is presented as a place to grow an investor community, refine investment theses, and expand dealflow.

Category: Industry Conferences

• Meet Fellow Investors In Person
  Join an in-person gathering for investors and connect with members of the investor community.
• Refine Your Investment Thesis
  Use the event as an opportunity to learn from other investors and sharpen your own approach to evaluating startups.
• Expand Your Startup Dealflow
  Grow your dealflow and find more founders who embody hustle through participation in Camp Hustle.

The Founder Playbook

The Founder Playbook is Hustle Fund’s newsletter for founders, sharing tactical, non-BS advice on starting, running, fundraising for, and scaling a startup. Its articles cover fundraising, startup growth, customer acquisition, and founder experiences, with practical detail intended to help readers understand how to put strategies into practice.

• Navigate Startup Fundraising
  Get practical guidance on fundraising topics, including how investors think and how founders can approach pitch decks and investor commitments.
• Build And Scale Your Startup
  Explore practical approaches to growing a startup, including customer acquisition, retention, marketing, and sales.
• Handle Day-To-Day Startup Challenges
  Find guidance on common company-building topics, including hiring, operations, co-founder relationships, and challenges founders encounter.
• Receive Advice Every Week
  Get tactical startup content delivered weekly through the Founder Playbook newsletter.
• Learn From Founder Experiences
  Read founder stories that share experiences and lessons from building and growing companies.

Small Bets

Small Bets is Hustle Fund’s free weekly newsletter for investors. It demystifies angel investing by sharing how Hustle Fund invests in startups, along with lessons and mistakes readers can learn from. Its articles cover topics including deal flow, investor-founder relationships, investor stories, fundraising, and complex investing concepts.

• Understand Angel Investing
  Explore angel investing concepts and practical topics through content written for investors, helping make the subject easier to understand.
• Learn From Investing Experience
  Learn from Hustle Fund’s startup investing approach and mistakes, so readers can gain perspective without having to make every mistake themselves.
• Get Weekly Investor Insights
  Receive free, weekly content focused on angel investing, with tactical insights for investors.
• Apply Frameworks In Practice
  Use investing frameworks alongside examples of their practical application to better understand how investors approach startup decisions.

Angel Investing Starter Kit

A free Hustle Fund guide for people exploring angel investing. It introduces fundamental investment concepts and frameworks, explains how to vet opportunities and assess deal terms, and shares tips for getting and winning deals. The guide also helps readers decide whether angel investing is right for them and shows how to begin with $1,000.

• Learn Core Investment Concepts
  Build a foundation in angel investing by exploring core concepts, investment frameworks, and deal terms.
• Evaluate Investment Opportunities
  Learn how to assess startup investment opportunities using the fundamental concepts and frameworks introduced in the guide.
• Explore Investing With $1,000
  See how the guide frames getting started in angel investing with $1,000.
• Improve Your Deal Approach
  Get tips on pursuing deals and positioning yourself to win them.
• Assess Your Personal Fit
  Consider whether angel investing aligns with your personal circumstances before getting started.
• Discover The Angel Squad Community
  Learn a little about Angel Squad and its focus on education, investing, and networking.

Democratizing Knowledge

Democratizing Knowledge is a book collecting Hustle Fund co-founder Elizabeth Yin’s tweetstorms and insights on building startups, raising money, running a venture capital firm, and related topics. It covers startup ideas and product-market fit, fundraising from an investor’s perspective, customer acquisition and unit economics, finding investors without strong connections, startup best practices and common pitfalls, and the importance of understanding metrics. The e-book is available as a free PDF by email, with paperback and Kindle versions also available.

• Develop Stronger Startup Ideas
  Readers learn about evaluating startup ideas and working toward product-market fit.
• Navigate Startup Fundraising
  The book helps founders understand fundraising from an investor’s perspective and learn how to approach the process.
• Improve Customer Acquisition
  Readers gain guidance on customer acquisition as part of building a startup.
• Understand Unit Economics
  The book explains the unit economics associated with acquiring customers.
• Find Investors Beyond Your Network
  Readers learn about finding investors even when they do not have strong existing connections.
• Build Startups More Effectively
  The book offers practical guidance on building a startup.
• Understand Key Startup Metrics
  The collection highlights the importance of understanding metrics as founders build their companies.
• Explore Venture Capital Insights
  Readers interested in venture capital can learn from the book’s insights on running a VC firm.
• Avoid Common Startup Pitfalls
  Readers learn about common startup-building pitfalls and can use that guidance to inform their decisions.
• Choose A Convenient Book Format
  Readers can access the book as a free PDF or choose a paperback or Kindle edition.

Hustle Fund sponsorship packages

Hustle Fund offers customizable partnership packages for brands seeking to reach its founder and investor communities. Options include sponsored newsletter content and placements, event sponsorships ranging from Camp Hustle to founder gatherings, and virtual programming such as webinars and office hours. The newsletter audience includes more than 50,000 engaged subscribers, and Hustle Fund reports an open rate above 45%.

• Tailor Your Partnership
  Choose a sponsorship approach suited to your goals, from newsletter placements to prominent event partnerships.
• Reach 50,000+ Subscribers
  Put your brand in front of Hustle Fund's founder and investor readership through newsletters with more than 50,000 engaged subscribers and a reported open rate above 45%.
• Promote Your Brand In Newsletters
  Use sponsored newsletter content or a Welcoming Committee ad to introduce your brand to subscribers, including people who have just joined.
• Sponsor In-Person Events
  Partner with gatherings that bring together founders and investors, from larger events such as Camp Hustle to founder meetups, dinners, and summits.
• Support Virtual Programming
  Connect with founders through online webinars and office hours, or explore partnership opportunities around Hustle Fund's live Uncapped Notes show.