Angel Academy Session 3 brings together a panel of San Diego operators who crossed over to the investor side - including Katherine Chapin, Dane Chapin, Ken Potashner, and Bardia Moayedi with backgrounds spanning investment banking, corporate law, and consumer products. The conversation gets honest fast: what it means to bet on a founder who introduces herself as "just a mom," why losing money on a deal teaches you more than any pitch deck, and how San Diego's open, collaborative angel community creates a fundamentally different deal flow than Silicon Valley's closed-door networks.
Key Topics
Operating experience as an angel investor's real edge
The "just a mom" story: why passion beats pedigree every time
Dane Chapin's board game company postmortem and what losing taught him
San Diego's open angel ecosystem vs. Silicon Valley's closed networks
Underestimating risk: the Coin investment and what it revealed
Co-investing with spouses and building shared conviction
Why brand obsession signals a founder worth backing
Pitch contests vs. relationship-driven deal flow
Links & Resources
San Diego Angel Conference (SDAC): https://sdangel.com
SDSU ZIP Launchpad: https://ziplaunchpad.sdsu.edu
Rising Tide Partners: https://risingtidepartners.co
