/Operating-Manual

Our angel investment philosophy, thesis, and process shared openly with founders.

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Ramen Ventures Operating Manual

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Angel investing in people inventing the future.
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Table of Contents

  1. Who We Are
  2. Why We Exist
    1. Our Philosophy
    2. Our Mission
  3. How We Help Founders
  4. Our Investment Thesis
  5. Our Investment Process
    1. Screening
    2. Meeting
    3. Research
    4. Deciding
    5. Diligence

 

Who We Are

Ramen Ventures is an angel fund in Toronto, Canada. We're run by:

Adam is a founder (3x), angel investor (50+), and first VP Product at Shopify (NYSE: SHOP, $100B+).

Josh is a founder (3x), angel investor, and first Head of Engineering at Shopify (NYSE: SHOP, $100B+)

Ali founded Vanhawks, a Y Combinator-backed startup that made the world's first smart carbon fibre bike.

 

Why We Exist

Our Philosophy

“Technology not only moves the human race forward, it’s the only thing that ever has. Without technology, we’re just monkeys playing in the dirt.” - Naval Ravikant

We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to be happy, healthy, wealthy, and wise, and that we should all live sustainably on Spaceship Earth.

Our Mission

Our mission is improve the lives of billions and the long-term future of humanity. We invest in mission-driven founders using emerging science and technology ‍to solve important problems.

We'll back world-changing, crazy-sounding ideas across all markets: AI, aerospace, biotech, cleantech, fintech, health, SaaS, AR/VR, and more.

How We Help Founders

We help founders in a few unique ways.

We're friends first and investors second.

Our number one priority is that you're healthy and happy. We know how hard being a founder is - we're founders, too. That's why we're friends first and investors second. You can always be honest with us because, no matter what happens, you come first.

We're independent.

Unlike VCs, we invest our own money. We'll always act in your long term best interest because our interests are 100% aligned with yours, and no one else.

We help you grow into World-class founders.

We know first-hand what it takes to build a World-changing startup. We can help you build one, too.

We help you create a World-class company.

We've hired and lead hundreds of developers, product managers, and UX researchers. We can help you create a great culture that attracts and grows great people.

We help you create World-class products.

We've built products that have scaled to billions of dollars in revenue. We can help you create massively successful products.


We watch your investor updates for opportunities to help. But, the best founders call, text, and email us asking us with specific asks.

 

Our Investment Thesis

First, we look for a "Mission That Matters", like fixing important problems in Food, Health, Climate, Space, Transportation, etc.

Next, we look for a moonshot solution that's first, best, or unique. We call this having a "Bold Vision."

Finally, we look for founders with the passion, guts, and ability to actually create it. We call this having the "Right Team".

Our first cheque is $100,000-$250,000 and more later.

 

Our Investment Process

The process of getting an investment from us is fast, honest, and transparent.


Step 1. Screening

Step 1 is to quickly understand if what you're working on fits our mission and investment thesis.

Questions

We ask ourselves our Screening Questions.

What We Need From You

  1. Your deck (if you have one)
  2. A link to your MVP

Next Steps

If it's a fit, continue to Meeting.

If not, we share why it's not a fit.


Step 2. Meeting

Step 2 is to meet you and learn about your team, mission, and vision.

Questions

When we meet, we'll ask you our Meeting Questions.

What We Need From You

  1. To meet you :)

Next Steps

If we're excited, we start our Learning.

If not, we share our feedback.


Step 3. Research

Step 3 is to learn about you and your market from others.

Questions

We'll reach out to your users and people you know and ask them our Learning Questions.

What We Need From You

  • Three (3) most recent monthly update emails

Next Steps

If things look good, we start Analysis.

If not, we share our learnings and feedback.


Step 4. Deciding

Step 4 is where we write an Investment Memo to decide whether to invest or not.

What We Need From You

Nothing :)

Next Steps

If we think we should be supporters, we start Investment Diligence.

If not, we share our analysis.


Step 5. Diligence

Step 5 is our investment due diligence. It's just a quick check for red flags.

Questions

We ask ourselves our Diligence Questions.

What We Need From You

The big things we need are:

  • Cap Table (on a fully diluted basis including all option, note, and warrant holders)
  • All past and current financing documents
    • Subscription/Share Purchase Agreements
    • SAFEs, Kisses, and Convertible Notes
    • Right of First Refusal and Co-Sale Agreements
    • Side Letters
  • Important contracts (with suppliers, major customers, partners, etc)
  • Your core patents

Next Steps

If there are no red flags, we invest and start helping.

If we can't, we tell you why.