How to develop multiple streams of income

Andy Ayim is the creator of The Angel Investing School, which trains professionals from all backgrounds on how to get started with investing in startups.  In this article, you will find out How to develop multiple streams of income as well as how to build your investment portfolio.

The first cohort was in April 2020 in London, with at least 70% of the cohort from diverse backgrounds. This community serves as part of the first money to support founders when raising their first round of funding.

What decision would have changed his life?

In 2015, Andy was working in San Francisco. He was connecting the VC stock portfolio to clients in Africa and in the UK. Andy had the opportunity to build his life out in San Francisco. However, he decided to sacrifice that opportunity to come back to London and start a family. Safe to say his life would have looked very different if he had stayed!

Why did Andy start the angel investing school?

Andy was always fascinated by technology when he was growing up. He grew up in an environment which made him appreciate culture, and think about the intersection of technology and culture. Over the years, he developed great interest in investing across asset classes as well. Andy was always thinking about how he can operate at this intersection between investing in business and our culture.

Tell us more about The Angel Investing School.

It was originally designed to democratize access to education so that people can learn how to invest disregarding their background.

There were two big problems.

1. People didn’t know what angel investing was or how to get started
2. People are not making educated investment decisions, and therefore they are  taking risks that they don’t understand. So this is why he wanted to create a way to teach people on how to make better investment decisions.

What opportunities people are missing out on?

People are confusing the term being rich with the term being wealthy. Being rich is when you earn a good amount of money through a job or something that requires your time. Whereas being wealthy means that you use wealth to create wealth.

For example, imagine you were to create an eBook and sell it for £11.99 online. It may take time to create that eBook originally, but now free promotion and word of mouth is selling itself. You no longer need to exchange time for that value. 

People are missing out on this opportunity. They can invest in education on how to make smart decisions, rather than taking unnecessary risks.

Where can someone start?

The first place to start is always around self-awareness, being introspective and learning. A great way to do that is to ask questions to your friends, family, colleagues, and other people you know. This is because once you have that self-awareness, then that gives you an indication of what you should do. Step one is really about self-awareness. Step two is about thinking about long term goals.

What British people can learn from American mindsets?

Americans have a philosophy that has been designed around the American dream. The American Dream says that anyone, regardless of their circumstance, can become something. A lot of people genuinely believe that over there. 

For example, Donald Trump has been bankrupt a number of times. However, he was then an entertainer, he had his TV shows, and he became the president of the United States.

When you set a vision down, it’s important for you to:

1. Firmly believe that you can undoubtedly do it.
2. Surround yourself that will support you throughout your journey.

What are Andy’s different streams of income?

Andy has published eBooks that are free online, but he has also published eBooks that are paid. Another stream of income that he has is that he gets paid to speak at events. Previously, Andy has been paid to blog. He has published over 200 blogs over the last five years. 

Moreover, he has been getting paid ad revenue on YouTube based on subscriber and view count based on the content that he is putting out to the world.

Three days a week, Andy runs his productized consulting service. This is where he goes into large corporations in highly regulated industries, such as FinTech or Life Sciences and healthcare. He then creates manuals on how to do Product Management at work. 

Additionally, he runs The Angel Investing School that charges £495, plus taxes, for up to 30 people. He does a six week pop-up school, which is live online training by experienced angel investors, operators and founders. Currently, he is considering doing in-house training for corporates, as well around angel investing. Moreover, Andy has started getting small payments to collaborate with brands on Instagram.

He has long term value investments such as a few one or two stocks and shares. However he is not a big believer in investing in stocks and shares because of the concentrated risk. But despite this, he also has investments in index trackers, and some investments in mutual funds. 

Finally, actually, Andy has earned equity from working for companies.

How has the Angel investing academy impacted it’s students?

The students were asked for the most beneficial thing they got from the course. Their answer was that the academy gave them a window to be part of the financial systems that’s previously been dark for them. The knowledge, as well as the network, is what enables them to have the confidence and the knowledge. This then allows them to know the practical steps to take when getting started with investing. There was one person that actually said that this is “definitely not another online course for investing”. In fact, they weren’t aware they could get this kind of good quality knowledge in such a short timeframe.

How to find the right balance between investing in the community and making the right investment.

1. The first value that Andy shares is that Angel investments should not be the first investment you make. The first investment you make should be in yourself, learning and education
2. The second value is playing the long game and embracing the downside. You need to set up your mindset for that discipline to play the long game.
3.  The third is really to take your time, be patient and do your due diligence.
4. The fourth value is about getting all the information regarding taxes and tax relief. In the UK, you can get something called SDI. These are tax reliefs that give you up to 50%, with 30% back on the investments that you’re making into start-ups.
5. The fifth thing is that when you invest in a business and are founding a team, you become an extension of their team. So you should nurture a long term relationship.
6. The last one is really investing in things that you understand. If you don’t understand it, either you learn it or you stay away from it. 

Thinking about legacy, how does Andy want to be remembered?

Andy has democratized access to opportunities, networks and capital that exist in this world of tech and tech enabled companies. He wants to be remembered as someone who is passionate about helping people. Especially those who grew up working class like himself, and are really interested in investing in themselves and going on this journey to create prosperity and create wealth. There are a lot of people that can relate to that. So he wants to be a relative motor that people can look up to.

About the speaker

Andy Ayim is the creator of The Angel Investing School. They train professionals from all backgrounds on how to get started with investing in startups. He also runs a Productized Consultancy that creates Product Playbooks for large corporations in highly regulated industries.  He enables them to set up new product teams to work with agility, and create products that customers love. 

Like this article, why not read “How to become a lucky tech millionaire”?