The angel investor behind Uber & Twitter

Naval Ravikant has a track record most venture capitalists can only dream of. Early investments in Uber, Twitter, and Postmates earned him a reputation as one of Silicon Valley’s sharpest investors. So what sets his approach apart, and why has it changed how startup investments are made?

This week, we explore how Naval Ravikant became one of Silicon Valley’s most influential investors and the philosophy that drives his decisions.

• 🧬 From Founder to Angel Investor

• ♠️ Betting on Uber, Twitter, and More

• 🧠 A Calculated Approach to Investing

— Investor Briefcase Team

Naval Ravikant’s journey began far from Silicon Valley. Born in New Delhi, India, he immigrated to Queens, New York, at the age of nine. After earning degrees in Computer Science and Economics from Dartmouth College, he started his career in consulting and law. However, the pull of entrepreneurship during the dot-com boom shifted his focus to the startups of Silicon Valley.

In 1999, he co-founded Epinions, a consumer review platform designed to help users make informed purchases. Backed by $45 million in venture funding, the startup merged with Dealtime in 2003 to form Shopping.com, which went public in 2004 at a valuation of over $750 million.

While Epinions gave Ravikant his first big win, it wasn’t without challenges. Internal disputes and leadership conflicts made him rethink how startups should be built and funded.

These lessons drove Ravikant to shift from building startups to investing in them. By 2007, he founded Hit Forge, a venture fund focused on early-stage startups.

Through Hit Forge, Ravikant quickly made a name for himself as a savvy tech investor. He was an early investor in Uber, when ride-sharing seemed niche, and Twitter, which many investors dismissed as trivial. His success has come from the ability to find the right founders behind ideas that other investors have deemed too ambitious or risky.

Ravikant’s portfolio includes more than 200 startups, including Notion, StackOverflow, FourSquare, Poshmark, Wish.com, Thumbtack, and Clubhouse. With more than 70 successful exits and over 10 unicorns, his track record places him among the most successful angel investors of this generation.

The willingness to have a contrarian approach has defined his investment style. Ravikant’s early investment in Uber came when the startup was valued at just $4 million. Today, Uber’s valuation exceeds $90 billion, showing his ability to back visionary founders ahead of the curve.

Other successes include Postmates, which Uber acquired for $2.65 billion, and Yammer which sold to Microsoft for $1.2 billion.

Ravikant’s strategy avoids following trends. Instead, he looks for founders with the vision and grit to turn their bold ideas into a viable startup, even if that involves pivoting from their original pitch.

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Naval Ravikant’s investment philosophy centers on the belief that founders, not ideas, determine the success of a startup. He looks for founders with resilience and adaptability, qualities he sees as essential for navigating the risks of a startup.

This conviction was the reason he backed startups like Uber, Twitter, and Notion at a time when others dismissed their potential.

Following his conviction of backing early-stage startups, Ravikant co-founded AngelList in 2010, addressing the inefficiencies in startup funding. By connecting founders directly with investors and introducing smaller scale investor Syndicates, AngelList has funded over 12,000 startups, including more than 190 unicorns.

Ravikant’s contrarian approach, prioritizing founders over their ideas, has changed how startup funding works in Silicon Valley. His focus on clarity, alignment, and founder capabilities has influenced how startups and investors collaborate, setting a practical standard for a successful startup portfolio.

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Other founders turned investors

> Reid Hoffman in Airbnb: Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn, invested in Airbnb during its early stages, providing mentorship and resources.

> Max Levchin in Yelp: Levchin, the co-founder of PayPal, was an early investor in Yelp, supporting the company's growth in the online review space.

> Sean Parker in Spotify: Parker, the co-founder of Napster, invested in Spotify, aiding its growth in the music streaming industry.

> Alexis Ohanian in Instacart: Ohanian, the co-founder of Reddit, invested early in Instacart, supporting its rise in the grocery delivery market.

Each week we profile the most notorious investment stories.

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