09: Angels of Shopify investing collectively and lessons on following your gut - Atlee Clark, Angel

First Funders

What do you get when you mix U.S. national security, angel investing, and kids’ pajamas? Atlee Clark. Proud Canadian Atlee took a hard pivot from the public sector to the tech world, first through a nonprofit called the C100, which supports entrepreneurs, and later at Shopify, focusing on 0 - 1 initiatives. Similar to other angel collectives emerging at the time like Hashtag Angels and Operator Collective, Atlee tapped into her executive network at Shopify to connect with other female leaders who were looking to invest on the side.

What began as informal conversations about investing and advising after the working day coalesced into Backbone Angels, a collection of executive tech women sourcing angel opportunities collectively and making investments individually. Backbone was started in 2021 and has amassed a portfolio of over 40 early-stage startups, including Bird&Be, 1Password, and Blume.

Atlee tells us what it’s like to balance functioning as a cohesive unit while making individual investment decisions. Plus, we get to hear about her journey as a small business owner and what motivates her to invest in what she wants to see in the world.

Atlee writes angel checks of $10k to $20k, ideally at the friends and family round or at pre-seed, focusing on startups that address challenges for parents, small business owners, and Big Tech execs—three areas she intimately understands as the end user. Backbone Angels focuses on companies led by Black, Indigenous, and Women-led startups.

Highlights:

• Atlee hopped on a one-way plane to San Francisco and left her U.S. national security gig in Washington, D.C., behind to head up a nonprofit organization supporting Bay Area Canadian tech entrepreneurs (and she’d never even worked in tech!)
• She met early Shopify execs who convinced her to come work for the company doing developer relations and the app ecosystem. Casual conversations about investing and advising with her peers led to the creation of Backbone Angels.
• Atlee prefers to follow her own intuition with early-stage investing, but she does have a tried-and-true framework for determining if a deal is right for her. She shares her tips for working as a collective and the reason she believes you should never overthink a “no.”
• Angel investing is a side hustle for Atlee (Remember, she’s also a Shopify exec, small business owner, and mom), and she prefers it because it fulfills her in a way that going full-time wouldn’t.

Resource:
Want to Angel invest with other operators and learn from the team at Hustle Fund? Check out Angel Squad and resources created by Brian Nichols

• (00:00) - Atlee Clark, Angel: Canadians breaking into tech and now investing with intuition and purpose
• (01:33) - Building an ecosystem for Canadian tech founders: the story of becoming the first CEO of the C100
• (06:38) - Meeting Tobi Luke and joining Shopify: a new adventure pre IPO
• (09:34) - Founding Backbone Angels: a collective of senior leaders at Shopify coming together to write checks
• (15:27) - First Investment: The power of patience and a developing a personal investment thesis
• (23:21) - Worst Investment: Trust your gut and staying patient
• (29:20) - The art of feeling a "no"
• (30:54) - Best Investment: Highlighting Top Performers Calico and MIrza
• (32:59) - Resilience in Founders: Overcoming Challenges
• (34:15) - Current Investment Strategy: Today's Focus
• (38:21) - Sourcing Deals: Networking and Connections
• (44:46) - Lightning Round ⚡