Grace Belangia didn't build her startup ecosystem in Silicon Valley. She built it in Augusta, Georgia, a city with medical, military, and energy communities but no established tech community. On Getting Rich Together, host Syama Bunten talks with the cofounder and executive board member of Make Startups about her path from writing angel checks on her own to becoming an LP in a VC fund.

Grace traces her money instincts back to her mother, an immigrant who taught her that saving and investing are two different things. That lesson followed her into a research role at a private equity firm in her twenties, where she saw firsthand how the investment world worked and started learning how capital actually moves.

She talks through how she learned to angel invest through Pipeline Angels, what it took to learn the space through a six-month investing cohort, and why she eventually expanded from direct angel investing into funds run by managers she trusts. She also explains economic mobility through entrepreneurship and the philosophy she calls reserve and deploy.

If angel investing for women feels out of reach, or you're curious about what it takes to become an LP in a venture capital fund, this conversation lays out the real path Grace took. Press play, then find a salon near you or grab a seat at the Wealth Catalyst Summit in San Francisco on October 16 at wealthcatalyst.com.

 

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Grace Belangia's Childhood in LA and Palo Alto

05:12 High School Years and Early Community Building

07:43 College, Political Science, and Career Uncertainty

10:49 Learning Finance Inside a Private Equity Research Desk

14:44 Marriage, the Navy, and the Move to Georgia

20:10 Founding a Startup Ecosystem in Augusta

23:07 Learning to Angel Invest Through Pipeline Angels

29:20 How Grace Became an LP in a VC Fund

33:39 Reserve and Deploy, Grace's Investing Philosophy

38:04 Economic Mobility, Legacy, and Building the Bridge

 

Find more from Syama Bunten:

Your money story may be shaping your financial life more than you realize. After hundreds of conversations with women at all stages of their financial lives, Syama distilled the questions that helped her understand her own patterns into The Money Story Reset, a free guide featuring five guided reflections and personal stories from her journey.

Download The Money Story Reset and begin uncovering the beliefs behind your financial decisions.

 

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Join Syama's Substack: https://thewealthcatalystwithsyama.substack.com/

Website: https://wealthcatalyst.com

Download Syama's Free Resources: https://wealthcatalyst.com/resources

Wealth Catalyst Summit: https://wealthcatalyst.com/summits

Speaking: https://syamabunten.com

Big Delta Capital: www.bigdeltacapital.com

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