A softcover from Nicolaj Højer
The Burden of Being Right
An Insider's Guide to Angel Investing
More than fifty investments, 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 founders you misread, the dangerous angels, and the arithmetic nobody puts on a slide.
$50 · Softcover · 240 pages
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- Written by an active angel investor
- ·More than 50 investments
- ·0% 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.
What founders to avoid
The red flags that look like confidence. The charm that empties the bank account. How to spot the ones who never make it easy.
Betting on the founder rather than the idea will get you further, but what founders have what it takes
The idea will change. The founder will not. What to look for in the people who have to survive the pivot.
Dangerous Angels you don't want to share a cap table with
Most investors have no idea what they are doing, but some will actually be counterproductive. Block their path to your investment.
Real emails and text leaks
Read the actual communication between me and founders, investors and VCs.
“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
Nicolaj Højer
Look at that smug face. That's the face of someone who is right a lot.
A word of warning from the Editor
“Nicolaj is great at many things. Being subtle, sophisticated, and edited are not among them. When he first sent me this manuscript, I took it upon myself to save him from himself. I cut the worst jokes and softened the most deranged stories; he responded by changing my editor rights to comment rights, then doubled down on the jokes and added a footnote about my cowardice. In the end, we compromised. The book stays exactly as he wrote it, and I get this page. If you are a fragile little snowflake, please put the book down. This was not written for you.”
— Nick Traulsen, Editor
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 softcover?+
Yes. Softcover, 240 pages, 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.
Things I got wrong
One letter a month, on expensive mistakes
A deal I passed on too early. A founder I misread. A clause I ignored. The honest post-mortems nobody puts in a pitch deck.