How to Navigate Angels, SPVs & AI Hype: Wisdom from Kate Brodock

Angel Gambino
Jul 17
4 min read

TL;DR

Kate Brodock, GP of W Fund and CEO of Switch, joined Angel Club for our July Virtual Lunch and delivered an honest, highly tactical session on how to fundraise smarter at the early stage. She covered:

🧠 The difference between pitching a VC fund and an angel-led SPV
📋 What really matters in a clean cap table
💡 How to use WeFunder strategically (and when not to)
🤖 Why founders should use AI, but not lean on it as the core story

“Most founders have angels in their network — they just don’t know it yet.” — Kate Brodock

Meet the Mentor: Kate Brodock

Kate Brodock is one of the leading voices in inclusive early-stage investing. As GP of the W Fund and CEO of Switch, she has built a career advancing women-led tech startups and training new angel investors. She’s spent 25+ years in the startup world, from CMO to co-founder to fund manager — and she’s seen it from all sides.

That range made her the perfect guest for our Virtual Lunch series, where we bridge candid community conversation with sharp founder takeaways.

💰 SPVs vs. VC Funds: What Founders Need to Know

Kate opened with a clear breakdown of special purpose vehicles (SPVs) — a tool many founders encounter, but few fully understand. Her take:

An SPV is a temporary LLC created for the purpose of investing in a single company.
It allows many small investors to roll up into one line on your cap table.
SPVs often work well for angel-led syndicates, but founders should pay attention to who’s leading the SPV and how it’s structured.

“Cap table clarity is critical — especially at the early stage. SPVs can help, but only if done right.” — Kate Brodock

She compared this with VC funds, which have more formalized processes and need to account for portfolio-wide returns. The result? Angels might move slower and be more varied, but they’re often willing to invest earlier and more flexibly than funds.

🧪 WeFunder and Equity Crowdfunding: Helpful or Harmful?

The discussion then moved into equity crowdfunding, with a founder asking whether using WeFunder might hurt their broader fundraising.

Kate’s take was nuanced but direct:

WeFunder can work well, especially for consumer-focused startups with large user communities.
It’s not a shortcut. In fact, it requires significant marketing investment (sometimes $60K+).
Founders must align terms between their crowdfunding raise and any parallel VC/investor rounds — mismatched terms are a red flag to institutional investors.
Doing multiple WeFunder rounds can create messy cap tables, which become a problem at Series A.

Angel Gambino added that successful crowdfunding campaigns often frontload commitments before going public, treating the launch like a product campaign.

“It’s worse to launch a campaign and fail than to not launch at all.” — Angel Gambino

🤖 How to Talk About AI Without Getting Dismissed

Kate offered one of the best framings we’ve heard on pitching AI right now:

Don’t say you’re an AI company unless AI is truly your core product.
Instead, position AI as a powerful tool you’re leveraging to solve a bigger, meaningful problem.
Investors want to see novelty, not buzzwords — and the difference is in execution, not hype.

Angel backed this up with a story from her past ventures, reminding founders that every startup must be ready to defend their differentiation, especially when competing with well-funded incumbents like OpenAI.

“AI can’t be the story — it needs to power the story.” — Kate Brodock

🧭 Kate’s Process: How to Pitch the W Fund or Switch Angels

Kate broke down how her fund and angel network evaluate startups:

Switch Angels takes a founder-first approach — sometimes even co-creating SPVs with founders.
W Fund uses a more traditional funnel: pitch deck → intro call → deeper diligence.
Warm intros help, but Kate encourages cold outreach too, especially if the founder clearly articulates alignment.

She also reminded founders: it’s OK to have “just check” angels — value-add is great, but not required.

“You might have an angel in your network who doesn’t even know they’re an angel yet.” — Kate Brodock

🙋‍♀️ Final Advice from Kate

As the conversation closed, Kate left founders with a call to think creatively about their network.

That old boss who loved working with you? They might write your first check.
Your cousin’s friend who sold a company? They might be your SPV lead.
Your babysitter’s roommate from college? That’s how Angel got her lead investor once.

“Most investors aren’t looking for perfection — they’re looking for founders who are scrappy, clear, and know what they’re building.”

🎯 Want to Pitch Kate or Angel Club?

✔️ Pitch the W Fund if you're a women-led early-stage tech startup with clear traction ✔️ Use Switch Angels if you want a thoughtful partner in building an SPV ✔️ Apply to Angel Club to access our syndicate and a founder-investor network that gives back