Board Bookshelf: Sharing the Wealth, Investing Wisdom with Next Generation (Part 3)

Do Good While Doing Well: Invest for Change, Reap Financial Rewards, and Increase Your Happiness by Marcia Dawood. 2024. Amplify Publishing

Marcia Dawood’s book on angel investing seems particularly relevant as regulators and the market lean toward opening more investing avenues for Main Street investors. Dawood serves as chair on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Small Business Capital Formation Committee and is chair emeritus of the Angel Capital Association, the global professional society for angel investors, among other roles. She writes regularly about broadening the SEC’s definition of “accredited investor” to open market access for more investors.  According to her website, Dawood is on a mission to empower and educate everyone to realize their potential to invest in positive change, and her book does that by opening up the world of angel investing for everyday investors. Investing in start-ups is not only for wealthy Silicon Valley and Wall Street types, Dawood writes, regular investors can invest in early-stage companies they care about with amounts as small as retail fund investment minimums. She breaks down the process of investing in start-ups, describes the risks (out of ten companies, five will fail, she writes), and provides access to resources where readers can find and research companies seeking startup capital. Dawood chronicles her own journey from knowing nothing about investing to achieving success (and failure) in angel investing. A major focus of her work is inspiration. She was moved to invest in a pharmaceutical company after a family member’s medical diagnosis and she shares how the risk-reward dynamic can resonate differently when investors care about the company they are investing in.