Ask El Diablo

[ryanj247]

it sounds like you went to college, got a job for a couple years, and then started your own tech company which wasn't a big success.

from there, you apparently found other startups to invest in. my question is: with what money? after your first business failed, did you have a substantial net worth at that point? were you able to borrow money from your family?

did you get involved with a business/investment that took your net worth from <$10K to >$100K in a short period of time?

if you set out to be an investor, and you have $500K (or even $100K), you're set. you have a little bit of money, and you can go about trying to find profitable ventures to invest in. but if you set out to be an investor, and you have $0, you can't be an investor yet. first, you have to figure out how to get from $0 to some kind of minimally meaningful stake...say $100K or so. how did you do that?