10th Anniversary of Angel Investing

At 33, I was running my first company. I advocated a policy encouraging everyone to pursue their own side hustles. In 2013, many of the 40 employees at ArmorActive, myself included, were pursuing entrepreneurial ventures on the side. Simultaneously, I was working to launch a mobile app named Voto.

I wanted my company to be an incubator for people to work on their passions. I didn't expect anyone to be passionate about selling iPad cases for the rest of their life. Chandler loved designing and creating e-commerce companies, while David was keen on media, aspiring to make a living with his own production company. Nicki was passionate about acting and engaging in social causes. Kyle, our COO, was crafting sports bras with pockets for cellphones. Zach and Frank had started a premium golf brand.

But the most ambitious of all was Jason Klug, our product designer and engineer. In January 2014, Jason asked for a $10k investment to buy a computer, drafting software license, and a 3D printer. Jason was my first angel investment. He left the company I had hired him for, branching out to start Klugonyx. Over the past 10 years, while many companies have come and gone, Jason's has only grown, expanding to a full team of designers and engineers and launching a brand with his partner Kelsey, called Dorai.

I have seen Jason endure the heartache of having just a few hundred dollars in his accounts and the exhilaration of becoming profitable and having money to buy cars with cash (his favorite pastime, German autos). He has expanded into China with his team, invested in new companies. I get to go with him to see the office in China this April.

He's surpassed his trainer and has become a Jedi, wielding more force than he realizes. I love that he still calls me, thinking I might offer advice he hasn't yet considered. He enjoys sharing his numerous successes with me. He loves telling me how many millions he does on a single day in November and how it is more than my company he worked for made in an entire year.

Jason doesn't often show his deeply emotional side, but at his core, he's just a kid playing grownup. He feels deeply and loves generously. He's built a loving family and a tight-knit circle of close friends. His hallmark trait is his reliability; if he says he can do something, he will do it. Ten years ago, he made a promise to take me on an all expense paid beach vacation on a sticky note, which he fulfilled two years ago.

I have a wonderful family, and then there are people I've met in business who become family. Jason is as family as family can be and always will be.

I look forward to growing older with Jason, confident he'll invent ways for me to float around when walking is no longer an option. Here's to the next 50 years of kicking ass.

Here is Jason on January 9th, 2014, right before he did is own thing. He hasn’t changed a bit. Nothing more satisfying than seeing those you work with win.

SP

His sticky note written in 2024 after getting seed capital

promised fulfilled in Cabo. Most relaxing 4 days of my life