Podcast
Angel Podcast
Behind‑the‑scenes interviews where Jason Calacanis probes elite angels and VCs on how early‑stage tech deals really get done.
Behind‑the‑scenes interviews where Jason Calacanis probes elite angels and VCs on how early‑stage tech deals really get done.
Launched in late 2017, Angel positioned itself as a practical master‑class on technology investing, front‑loaded with Jason Calacanis’s trademark candor. Each season drilled into a specific layer of the capital stack—from individual “super angels” to billion‑dollar fund managers—giving founders, aspiring investors, and limited partners an audio syllabus on sourcing, diligence, and portfolio construction.
Episodes ran 45‑70 minutes and mixed rapid‑fire Q&A with case studies from Uber, Calm, Robinhood, and other Calacanis hits. The show’s tone balanced Brooklyn bluntness with West‑Coast optimism, mirroring Calacanis’s own trajectory from blogger to Sequoia scout to multi‑fund GP.
While Angel never chased mass‑market chart positions, it became required listening inside accelerators and university venture clubs because guests openly dissected term sheets, anti‑portfolios, and punctuated failures that seldom surface at conference panels.
By Season 4, the program expanded beyond angel checks to unpack how nine‑figure VC firms manage reserves and secondaries, foreshadowing its 2024 evolution into the broader Liquidity brand. The archive—56 core episodes—remains a living reference library that complements Calacanis’s book Angel and his LAUNCH curriculum.
In this series, Jason Calacanis pulls back the curtain on how early‑stage startups get funded by interviewing angels and VCs about their investment strategies, biggest wins, and worst misses.
Jason Calacanis is best known today as co‑host of the All‑In podcast and founder of LAUNCH, but his roots stretch back to Web 1.0 journalism and the sale of Weblogs Inc. to AOL. That history informs Angel: Calacanis wields a reporter’s persistence, investor’s pattern‑recognition, and show‑runner’s timing.
He cites two motives for starting the show. First, transparency—exposing opaque early‑stage mechanics so more people, especially outside Sand Hill Road, can play the game. Second, deal flow: smart founders often pitch the hosts they binge, so a knowledge‑dense podcast doubles as an investor’s inbound funnel.
Calacanis records in LAUNCH’s San Francisco studio or on‑location at summits, often layering follow‑up AMA segments to surface listener questions about pro‑rata rights or SAFE vs. priced rounds.
Across five seasons, Angel booked an unusually high‑caliber guest list:
Many conversations later resurfaced as case studies at LAUNCH events, amplifying the podcast’s utility for founders hunting actionable advice.
1. What makes Angel different from other VC podcasts?
Angel avoids “founder origin stories” and instead reverse‑engineers investment memos, giving listeners concrete screening checklists.
2. Who is the target audience?
Accredited or soon‑to‑be angels, emerging‑manager GPs, and founders who want to understand how investors think.
3. Is the show still releasing new episodes?
No. The original feed stopped in 2022 and was folded into the broader Liquidity podcast in 2024.
4. Where should I start listening?
Season 1 Episode 1 with Cyan Banister offers a perfect primer on pre‑seed decision‑making under uncertainty.
5. How many episodes exist?
Fifty‑six core episodes across five seasons plus a few bonus AMAs.
6. Does Angel accept sponsorships?
Early seasons featured Audible and other fintech sponsors, but the archived feed now runs ad‑free.
7. Can I watch on video?
Yes, full video versions live on the LAUNCH YouTube channel under “Angel Podcast.”
8. What skills can listeners expect to learn?
Deal sourcing, diligence frameworks, term‑sheet negotiation, and portfolio‑sizing heuristics.
9. How does it connect to Calacanis’s other projects?
Angel acts as an audio companion to his Angel book, LAUNCH Accelerator, and Founder University workshops.
10. Why was it rebranded to Liquidity?
Calacanis’s fund now manages institutional capital, so the content expanded beyond angels to LP‑GP dynamics and public‑market crossover.
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