Episode 34: "Angels Are Always Hopeful" | Incoming ACA Chair Kristina Montague on Growing Women's Capital Networks, Expanding the Investor Tent, and Finding Arbitrage in Overlooked Innovators

Today's episode explores three ideas that caught my attention:

1. Women angels grew 10x in 10 years - Kristina shared that female angels increased from 5% to 40% of all angel investors since 2014. Wow.

2. "Get out of your sandbox" - Kristina's advice to deliberately step into unfamiliar networks struck me as the simplest yet most overlooked strategy for finding opportunities others miss.

3. Let’s be honest: we make investment decisions from the heart - When Kristina quoted Bill Payne that investing ultimately comes from the heart, it validated what I’ve observed again and again. At the end of the day, most angel investment decisions, no matter how well researched or diligenced, are made with our gut.

I explore these ideas and more with Kristina Montague, Managing Partner of JumpFund.

Kristina Montague is the Managing Partner of JumpFund, an investment firm that has catalyzed capital access for women-led ventures across the Southeast. As the incoming Chair of the Angel Capital Association and author of "Jump In: Women Investing in Women," she brings over a decade of gender-lens investing experience along with a proven track record of building innovative investor networks that expand opportunities for overlooked founders and create stronger returns for investors.

During our conversation, Russ shares:

• Her account of launching the first micro-venture fund in the Southeast focused entirely on women-led ventures, illuminating the unique challenges and opportunities of pioneering a gender-lens investment approach in a traditionally underserved region.

• Tactical approaches for overcoming bias in investor due diligence questioning, including awareness of "prevention versus promotion" questioning patterns that can disadvantage certain founders.

• An insider's view of the Angel Capital Association's strategic initiatives, including new individual membership programs and advanced AI tools to leverage 20 years of investor data.

What We Cover:

• 00:00 Introduction

• 02:40 Exciting Innovations and Economic Climate

• 03:49 Access to Capital and New Financing Models

• 05:12 Kristina's New Role and Vision

• 10:15 Gender Lens Investing and The JumpFund

• 13:11 Challenges and Opportunities for New Angels

• 19:07 The Importance of Diverse Perspectives

• 24:25 Intentionality in Angel Investing

Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

Connect with Kristina

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristina-montague-7b1a942a/

• Website: https://www.thejumpfund.com/jump-in

• X: https://x.com/Thejumpfund_

Connect with Andrew

• Newsletter: https://thediligentobserver.substack.com

• X: https://twitter.com/AKazlow

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewkazlow/

• Book: https://angelops.pitchfact.com/

• Website: https://pitchfact.com/

Stuff We Reference

• Jump In: Women Investing in Women: https://www.amazon.com/Jump-Investing-Growing-Capital-Impact/dp/1945064161

• Ron Weissman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronald-weissman-36a3841/

• Marcia Dawood: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marciadawood/

• Kate Brodock: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2459970/episodes/16970255

• Bill Reichert: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billreichert/

• Angel Capital Association (ACA): https://angelcapitalassociation.org/

• JumpFund: https://www.thejumpfund.com/

• Keiretsu Forum: https://keiretsuforumsee.com/

• Sage Growth Capital: https://www.sagegrowthcapital.com/

• Capacity Capital: https://www.capacity.is/

• Mindshift Capital: https://www.mindshiftcapital.com/

• Little Thinking Minds: https://www.littlethinkingminds.com/

• Next Wave Impact: https://nextwaveimpact.com/

• Milestone Capital: https://milestonecapital.com/

• Center for Black Entrepreneurship: https://cbecenter.org/

• Golden Seeds: https://goldenseeds.com/

• Growing Women’s Capital Network: https://angelcapitalassociation.org/syndication/

• Joylux: https://joylux.com/

• Investors’ Circle: https://www.investors-circle.org/

• Queen City Angels: https://www.qca.com/

• Angel Funders Report: https://angelcapitalassociation.org/angel-funders-report/

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All opinions expressed are personal and may not reflect the views of the individual’s organization or of The Diligent Observer. Not investment advice.