Key Takeaways
- An experienced angel investor, Immad Akhund, regretfully passed on investing early in Scale AI, now valued near $14 billion, due to the founders’ young age.
- This missed opportunity taught him a crucial lesson about underestimating youthful ambition and the need to suspend personal biases.
- Akhund emphasizes that investors should support founders’ visions rather than imposing their own ideas.
- He advises aspiring angel investors to build a diversified portfolio of at least 20-30 startups.
Immad Akhund, an angel investor with over 350 startup bets under his belt, learned a tough lesson about his own biases when he passed on an early investment in Scale AI. The company is now worth nearly $14 billion.
“I saw Scale AI and I was like good idea but these people are so young,” Akhund recalled on the “Twenty Minute VC” podcast, noting the founders were around 19 or 20 at the time. He admitted thinking he could run the company better and couldn’t see how they would succeed.
Looking back, the serial entrepreneur and founder of banking startup Mercury said he was “just so wrong.” He realized there’s a unique power in youth that’s hard to judge, requiring a leap of faith in a founder’s ability to grow a major company.
This misstep was formative for Akhund, who generally invests in ventures he believes will seem “inevitable 10 years from now and can be $10 billion companies,” according to Business Insider. His portfolio includes successes like Rappi, Airtable, and Rippling.
Another significant lesson from his investing journey was learning to check his ego. As an entrepreneur himself, Akhund initially tended to suggest his own ideas to startups, and young founders would often agree.
However, he realized this wasn’t fair, as it wasn’t their idea. “You really have to actually remove your ego and your ideas and really listen,” Akhund stated. He learned the importance of backing founders for their vision, not his own. “You’re much more along for their journey,” he added.
Akhund also shared his preference for investing in serial founders, especially those with “a chip on their shoulder.” He believes their willingness to endure the hardship of building a company again signals genuine passion and determination.
For other investors, Akhund strongly recommends diversifying. “Do at least 20 or 30 investments — that’s when you start entering the game,” he advised. He believes a varied portfolio is essential to see any return in the early-stage investment space, as you learn more with each subsequent investment.
