Angel investing insights with Edwina Johnson, GM of MoneyGram Online and formerly Head of Global at Alloy.

Join us for a good conversation with a passionate early-stage business builder that always loves a good challenge, and to always work alongside founders.

Patricia Borlovan

Feb 05, 2024

Transcript

Join us as Tom Wilson from Seedcamp and Anthony Danon from Cocoa talk to Edwina Johnson, GM of MoneyGram Online International, responsible for growth outside of the US.

Previously Head of Global at Alloy, leading company strategy to expand our product into key markets worldwide and launch a GTM team in the UK/EMEA. Before that, COO at Alloy in NYC, taking the team from Seed to Series C and $1.55B valuation. Alloy is the global end-to-end identity risk solution that helps banks and fintechs automate and manage their decisions for onboarding, ongoing fraud & AML monitoring, and credit underwriting.

Edwina is also an active angel investor, primarily through Ada Ventures, under the Economic Empowerment thesis, a mentor through Innovate UK’s Women in Innovation program, and an Expert in Residence for Sie Ventures.

We invite you to listen to this discussion below for some wonderful stories; besides the actionable advice, you can have a sneak peek at the below.

Scroll on ⏬ For the chapters & core learnings 🧠

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Chapters:

00:02:08 - Building and Investing in Startups
00:03:51 - The Importance of Strong Founders in Startups
00:05:30 - Taking the First Step into Angel Investing
00:06:57 - Angel Investing and Building a Network
00:08:29 - Tangental Benefits of Angel Investing
00:10:13 - Angel Investing Qualifications
00:11:57 - Evaluating Investment Opportunities
00:13:31 - Investing in Founders with a Clear Mission and Vision
00:15:07 - Providing Value to Founders After Investment
00:16:45 - Providing Value and scaling challenges
00:18:16 - Collaborating with VC's and Diversifying Portfolio
00:19:49 - Diversifying Deal Pipeline
00:21:22 - The Importance of Networking in Angel Investing
00:23:09 - The Herd Mentality in VC Investment
00:24:44 - Balancing Objectivity and Excitement in Investing
00:26:21 - Excitement for Investing in Familiar Industries
00:28:01 - Being Open to Changing Business Models
00:29:32 - Expanding Networks and Diversity in Angel Investing
00:31:09 - The importance of founders in early-stage businesses

Q: What’s the most counterintuitive thing you’ve learned in venture?

How valuable or important the founders are to the success of the business compared to how many businesses you see at an early stage and the time you actually get to spend getting to know a founder.

Q: Tips for angels wanting to do international investments.

Talk to other investors in the space. Learn about market dynamics.
What's interesting, who's interesting to invest with, and getting connections and network and knowledge in the market.