Hello family, friends, classmates, and coworkers!
I’m thrilled to share a project that has been quietly taking shape behind the scenes for the past four years. If you know me, you’re aware of my passion for supporting early-stage founders through mentorship, introductions, and investments. But what you might not know is that I’ve been part of creating an operator angel community that has been investing in some of the most exciting startups coming out of Y Combinator since 2020.
Four years ago, a simple idea took root: what if we used our experiences, networks, and funds to give early-stage YC companies an unfair advantage? Starting from scratch wasn’t easy—there were no directions, no lifelines, and no shortcuts. But when you get the chance to build a passion project with your best friends from childhood, something beautiful happens—it doesn’t actually feel like work at all. It feels like being a kid again, hanging out with your friends and doing the things that pique your curiosity and make you lose track of time because you truly enjoy what you’re doing. I’m very fortunate to have found that. In 2020, two friends and I began this journey with a vision to support startups in a unique way. Through word of mouth, our small, nameless project started to grow. We weren’t entirely sure what we were building at first, but we had conviction and good data to guide us.
Today, with over 100 community members, 47 deals closed, and more than $2M deployed, I’m excited to officially introduce Halo Labs!
The name “Halo Labs” reflects our mission: many of our members are first-time angel investors. We’ve created an amazing onboarding ramp for these operator angels to leverage their experience and networks to empower early-stage startups. As our small operation grew into an angel investor factory, “Halo Labs” became the perfect name to capture our vision. Our goal is to mint new operator angels while helping our portfolio companies succeed through our expansive networks from today’s most influential organizations.
Why go public now? For years, I’ve asked myself this, but we didn’t start Halo Labs for recognition or LinkedIn applause so it was never a high priority. We’ve spent our time in 1:1 conversations, product deep dives, making introductions, and countless jam sessions with our portfolio companies because that’s how we add value. But as our community grew, we realized we had a new superpower: amplifying the incredible work of our founders and members. Going public allows us to share these stories and successes more broadly, to boost the messages of our portfolio companies, and to celebrate our victories together.
Thank you to everyone who helped make this possible. Here’s to the future of Halo Labs and the incredible startups and investors we support! If you’re interested in learning more, please don’t hesitate to reach out at https://halolabs.app.
LFG!!!
Joel
