Are you building a future that outlives your paycheck—or just chasing the next income stream?
Meet Abdul Golden, a purpose-driven investor and founder of Ajo Angels, a venture capital firm that backs early-stage startups led by Black and Brown founders. From real estate to venture investing, Abdul is committed to closing the ownership gap and reshaping generational wealth through meaningful access, education, and equity. He discusses how venture capital and intentional investing can unlock lasting financial freedom, especially for Black and Brown communities.
Abdul shares invaluable insights about startup investing, emphasizes balancing one’s investment portfolio, and discusses how venture capital can be a game-changer for long-term wealth building. He breaks down exactly how he makes money through startup investing—by funding early-stage companies with growth potential, taking equity, and building wealth through long-term returns. Tune in to learn more about strategic investment approaches, the risks and rewards of venture capital, and how to get started in angel investing—even as a beginner.
More than just profits, Abdul speaks about purpose. He shares how his faith shifted his focus from hustling for quick wins to building legacy through service and ownership. You’ll also hear his candid take on online “wealth mentors,” the manipulation behind flashy success stories, and why real empowerment starts with access and education.
Key Takeaways:
- 02:55 Abdul’s early hustle and the spiritual turning point
- 04:11 Why faith redefined his relationship with money and legacy
- 09:52 Investing in others’ businesses—and what it taught him
- 12:25 The danger of performative “wealth mentors”
- 14:47 Redefining ownership: beyond money to time, peace, and values
- 17:30 Building real legacy by serving your community first
Connect with Abdul:
- Website: https://ajoangels.com/
- Email Addres: abdul@ajoangels.com
Connect with Corwyn:
- Contact Number: 843-619-3005
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmelette/
Shoutout to our Sponsor: Mellifund Capital, LLC
Need funding for your next real estate flip or build? MelliFund Capital makes it fast, flexible, and investor-friendly. Visit MelliFundCapital.com and fund your future today. Again, that’s MelliFundCapital.com, M-E-L-L-I-L-U-N-D, Capital.com.
Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/corwyn-j-melette/support
ABDUL:
Angel Investor is an individual, a person, they got a full-time job, or maybe they independently wealthy from inheritance or whatever, and they use their own money from their own accounts to invest in companies. Venture capitalists, we raise money from other professional investors, pool that money, and we use that to invest.
CORWYN:
Good morning, good morning, and great morning, guys. Welcome to another fabulous episode of Exit Strategies Radio Show. Hey, I am your host, Corwyn J. Melette, broker and owner of Exit Realty Low Country Group in beautiful North Charleston, South Carolina. Hey, if this is your first time listening to this show, hey, you are in for a treat because our mission here is very simple. That is to empower our community through financial literacy and real estate education, guys. We’re legacy building. That’s what we do. So, I got to give a quick shout out to those who listen to us faithfully, the Q family, you guys tune in. Thank you so much. I want to give a shout out always to Elder and Pastor, and I got to reverse that. Let me say that right, y’all, let’s put things decently in order. Pastor and Elder Evans, thank y’all so much for tuning in and listening and being faithful and tuning in every week. You know I love you. I got to put that senior on that guy name because that guy will jack me up if I don’t get it right. Look here, from those who listen to Hollywood, what you know, no good all the way through monkey’s corner. Y’all know my mama live out there, y’all. Thank you. Muddy Mullins, Marin County, thank y’all for tuning in. And for those who listen to us and pick us up wherever you are, guys, thank you so much. I really appreciate it. So today, always joke and say that when we’re talking about money, we are talking about and speaking my language. And there’s different dialects when it comes to money. All right. Now, today, we’re going to be speaking in a dialect, in a tongue, if you will, and let’s not go too far now. But we’re going to be speaking today in a tone of what you can do with money to help empower and strengthen others. We have an amazing guest today. I’m super excited to have him on. Glad he was able to take some time away from his busy schedule to drop some jewels and nuggets on us. So guys, I want you to pay attention. If you think the show is beyond you, I’m going to challenge you to reach for it yet anyhow. So we have with us today, none other than Mr. Abdul Golden. Now, Mr. Abdul Golden, hey, that dude is a founder. That word founder means he started something. That’s what that means. So he started something, guys, in the venture capital world. He is the founder of Ajo Angels, as well as Shuha Capital. Abdul, welcome to the show. How are you doing today?
ABDUL:
Nice to be here, Corwyn. I’m doing well, man. I’m doing well.
CORWYN:
So first, thank you for taking some time out to be with us today. Now, look, you know, some people on our show, you have a gambit of guests, right? I mean, look, we go from one end of the spectrum to the other as it relates to building and creating wealth and empowering people in order to be able to do the same. So you’re right there, smack dab, quote unquote, in the middle of it. So I want to first ask you to tell our listeners who you are from a high level perspective and what you do.
ABDUL:
Yeah, exactly. I’m happy to. As you said, my name is Abdul Golden. I’m going to add a little bit more to what you talked about in terms of my introduction. That’s OK. But I’m an ex-tech exec for multiple Fortune 50 companies. I’m actually a three-time founder of a few startups, one being a technical startup, one being a consumer products brand startup. So I’m an executive startup founder turned venture capitalist, right? And so I run a venture capital firm called Suju Capital, and I also run an angel investor syndicate called Ajo Angels, which you talked about, right? And so via Ajo Angels, that’s where we take everyday black folks and we turn them into savvy investors into high growth companies. So I’m here today to talk about how startup investing can actually complement real estate investing in terms of trying to build legacy and wealth.
CORWYN:
So there’s some people listening to this show that are thinking, hey, because I bump into people all the time, talk to people, I really want to do this or this would be a great idea or what have you. So as a venture capitalist, how does that tie into that and what does that look like? To be honest, venture capital is not for most businesses, right?
ABDUL:
Let’s start with that. It’s funny you brought that up because I was talking to a colleague of mine just last night about this topic. And so people throw the word VC around because it’s trendy, it’s prestigious, quote unquote prestigious or whatever, but most businesses ain’t ready for venture capital. Venture capitalists, we are professional investors. We invest in brand new or relatively new companies for a living. That’s what we do for a living. And our goal for doing that is to make a whole bunch of money when those companies blow up. The reason why I say venture capital is not right for a lot of businesses is because number one, we take a nice chunk of equity up front for the money that we’re going to give. And number two, because we want large returns, depending upon what venture capital you get with, they’re going to drive you hard to boost those returns, right? And being completely honest, that’s not always good for the business, number one. And number two, some businesses are never just going to grow big enough to warrant that. So that’s what I would say. If you’re starting a business or you’re looking for money for a business, more than likely, venture capital is not right for you. There’s a specific subsection of businesses that make sense of venture capital, and those are businesses that could end up being billion dollar businesses. If you don’t see your business being a billion dollar business, it’s probably not right for venture capital.
Let’s take a short break.
You found a perfect property. You got the vision. Now you need the capital. At MelliFund Capital, we specialize in funding real estate deals for investors who want to build, flip or hold and don’t have the time to chase after banks. Whether it’s new construction, a fix and flip or long term rental, we offer simple terms, fast approvals and access to private capital. We even work with manufactured housing projects because we know what it takes to build value from the ground up. Simple. You bring the deal, we bring the money. Visit MelliFundCapital.com or call 843-619-7038 to get pre-qualified today. MelliFund Capital, we fund what you build. That is very good information to kind of segue and sort for those people that are looking or envisioning something much grander, this is the direction they go. For someone who’s just starting, I can completely understand that. So, you guys invest your own money, obviously, but you also pool investors too, yes?
ABDUL:
Well, it depends, right? So, there’s a couple of different levels to it. If you’re an angel investor, which the angel investor is an individual who’s using his or her own money to invest in startup companies. If you’re a venture capitalist, most venture capitalists have raised the money from other investors. They pool that money that they’ve raised from other investors and they use that to invest in companies. That is the difference. An angel investor is an individual, a person, they got a full-time job, or maybe they’re independently wealthy from inheritance or whatever, and they use their own money from their own accounts to invest in companies. Venture capitalists, we raise money from other professional investors, pool that money, and we use that to invest. In this realm, that’s a broker.
CORWYN:
I like that. That’s a good comparison, yeah. So, why should, and in this particular realm, let’s get it from both sides if you don’t mind, but why should someone, again, entertain this type of strategy in order to fund, grow their business, or reach the next level, as well as why should someone that has money that, hey, I want to serve somebody, help somebody, or whatever, why should they invest in this particular realm?
ABDUL:
That’s a lot of reasons, right? If you’re looking at investing holistically, if you’re trying to build a diverse portfolio that you’re using to build wealth or whatever, it’s very advantageous for that perspective because you can balance your portfolio with some of the more short to medium-term things like stocks, options, and real estate in some cases, and then you can balance that with a much more long-term, forward-looking investment, which are in startup companies. I tell people, you don’t have to choose one or the other of anything, but if you really approach building your investment portfolio holistically and you want a balanced portfolio, investing in startup companies is a very great long-term play. Long-term, but also it has tremendous upside because if you do it right and you hit the right one, you’re talking about 100X, 200X, 1,000X returns on some of these companies. That’s the advantage. You can have great returns. It’s passive. Once you’ve made the investment, it’s completely hands-off, and it’s really potentially large returns for the long-term basis. That’s the biggest benefit to looking at investing in startups.
CORWYN:
Let me put this in as somewhat of a segue because oftentimes people have this, and I’ll call it a misconception, right? That people with means and wealth don’t help others. What we’re talking about here is the exact opposite of that is the way I’m interpreting it. You correct me if I’m wrong. Yeah. This is people with money that are investing in people who don’t have money in order to help them build and create wealth for them. I grant they’ll benefit from it. Let’s be reasonable. Yeah. You’re helping and create wealth for other people. Is that yes, no?
ABDUL:
That’s absolutely right. Let me be completely honest. Please. That’s not why this asset class was invented. It was definitely invented to get rich. It was invented as a mechanism for people to get stupid rich, and it has worked very well for that. What you do with it, it’s a tool just like any other tool. The tool was invented by wealthy people to get even more wealthy. But the tool can be used for the purpose that you just stated, which is how I’m using it. You can use the tool to help fund other individuals, other companies, and help them build what they’re trying to build, which you get a return out of it. But you can do it from the standpoint of helping others, helping them build what they’re trying to do. The approach, the way I’m using this tool is to help build wealth in our community. That’s how I’m using the tool. That’s why I built my angel collectives, so I can teach people how to use this particular asset class for good. I teach black folks how to invest in startups, particularly black-owned startups, and it creates a cycle of economic empowerment. If you think about people who start their companies, 9 times out of 10, if they need some money to start and operate their company, 9 times out of 10, they’re going to talk to friends and family first. In our communities, it’s not a whole lot of us in our communities that can write a $25,000 check to help somebody out in their business. Of course, some of us can, but a lot of us can’t. What I’m doing is teaching people how to invest in this particular asset class to help generate some of those wealth-building opportunities that historically has been not really shared with us. It’s a tool invented by the wealthy to get more wealthy that I am repurposing to help close the wealth gap, if you will.
CORWYN:
I like that. You’ve been doing this now, Abdul, how long? Have you been in this?
ABDUL:
I’ve been investing in startups for about six years as just any other person who has a land of five would invest in stocks and bonds off to the side. That’s how I started investing in startup companies, but about three years ago, I transitioned to doing it professionally when I lost my venture capital firm.
CORWYN:
I imagine you picked up a lot of knowledge. Matter of fact, let me phrase that. I ain’t going to imagine. I know that you’ve picked up a lot of knowledge, had a tremendous amount of experiences during this time period, especially obviously with the transition. What nuggets can you drop on our listeners from both sides, from the side of investing, but also from the side of seeking investors?
ABDUL:
I’ll start from the side of seeking investors because what I do for a living is talk to people who are seeking money from investors. Yeah, yeah.
CORWYN:
Show me the money.
ABDUL:
Yeah, yeah. I have some very specific kind of advice for that kind of stuff. First and foremost, if you’re seeking money, you got to know how to ask for whatever you’re asking for. Knowing how to ask for it based on who you’re asking for it from. That’s number one. I get approached by people asking me for different things and I don’t even operate in that realm. Number one, you even asked the wrong person. Identifying the right target to even ask. Once you’ve identified that right target, make sure you approach that target the correct way. Bring some credibility to your ask. Show that you have some skin in the game, that you’ve done something, that you’ve risked something of yourself, whether it’s your time, your money, your house, home, make a lot of credit, whatever. Show me that you have some skin in the game. It’s easy to approach somebody with an idea, a pitch deck or something, right? Especially these days, because AI can write the whole thing for you. But show me that you’ve put in the work, that you’ve risked something of your own before asking somebody else to risk something of theirs. I think that’s one of the biggest things. And then once you get past that, because I think that’s fundamental, whatever you’re asking for, just be very sound in that. What is it that you’re building? Why are you doing it? Why are you the best person to be doing it? And then why is what you’re doing going to work? And I’m trying to say those in very general terms, because your listeners could be doing different things in different industries. So I try to put that in general terms. Identify the problem that you’re trying to solve. Identify why your solution is the best solution for that problem. And be very clear about why you or your team, you and your team are the best people to do it. If you are very clear on that and you show that you have skin in the game, then that gives you a good deal of credibility when you’re asking for whatever funds you’re asking for.
CORWYN:
So what I heard you say is don’t ask someone to buy in unless you’ve already paid in. Yeah.
ABDUL:
Don’t expect me to buy in if you haven’t bought in and paid in yourself.
CORWYN:
Uh huh. Yeah. I definitely can see that. So you mentioned the bridge between this and real estate as well. Let’s start building that one. Explain that to our listeners. We live in such a polarized society these days.
ABDUL:
People often look at stuff like it’s black and white, either or. But that’s not always the case. Just like anything in life is about balance. Your personal life, your relationships, anything you’re doing, you’re more likely to have success at it if you take a more balanced approach to it. And investing is no different. And so I’ve said that to say angel investing or investing in startups is not something that you would do instead of investing in real estate or any other asset class. It’s something that she can do in addition to that. If I can think about that analogy, I look at angel investing as like planting seeds, planting seeds that’s going to take five to seven years to bloom. Whereas real estate investing is more like the act of farming. You plant those seeds, you cultivate those seeds and they start to bloom. You tend to them and you can get some returns from them pretty quick. They both feed your wealth. But one does it on a more long term basis. And one can do it on a more kind of ongoing basis at a point time starting now. And so that’s the kind of the difference I see between the two. But they can be used together as a part of having a kind of balanced approach to how you manage your investment portfolio.
CORWYN:
All right. So the big picture, ultimately, what you’re trying to get to. And essentially you just kind of work to balance.
ABDUL:
You’re balancing. A lot of people get into real estate because of cash flows. They can have a few rental properties or whatever, and they can throw some monthly cash for a month. And that’s great. You’ve increased your cash flow. You stack that with a couple of Asian investments that are five, seven, eight years down the line can return one hundred, two hundred percent. Right. You’ve got your steady income going, which are real estate investment portfolio. Then you have your long term things baking as well with the startup investing. And so they work together very nicely.
CORWYN:
So I never want to paint a picture that there is not risk. Right. There’s not.
ABDUL:
Oh, yeah. Yeah.
CORWYN:
So if you don’t mind, speak on that. What is the risk and potential pitfalls, if you will, for for investors as well as those who say, show me the money?
ABDUL:
Yeah. The biggest risk is that the business could fail. If you invest in a startup business and that business lasts for two or three years and then goes out of business, then that investment is gone. That is the biggest risk with angel investing, because your investment could go to zero. It can go to 1000 X, but it can also go to zero. That’s the biggest risk. The other risk is it’s an illiquid investment. If you invest today and then you change your mind next month, that money is already invested. You can’t call that founder back and say, hey, give me my money back because they’ve already used that money. They’re using that money to grow their business. That money is used up. So those are the two biggest things. Number one is definitely the high risk investment, because if the business shuts down and your investment goes to zero and then it’s illiquid. That’s what makes it a long term investment, because it’s illiquid. You put your money in, it bakes. It’s going to take five, 10 years to bake before it’s ready. You can’t touch it in the meantime. Now, there are a couple of things you can do that are more kind of sophisticated things to do to get some return before then. But basically, it’s illiquid. When you invest, that money is set, it’s there. But what I teach people is there’s a strategic approach to how you do that. And there’s different ways where you can mitigate those risks. You don’t invest in one startup. You invest in one startup. It’s a 50-50 chance it’s going to zero. Those are not good odds. So the strategy that I teach people is you need to construct a portfolio of startups. You need to have anywhere between 10 to 15 startups in your portfolio over the course of years. You can take as long as you want to create that portfolio, depending upon how much free cash you’ve got to invest. But if you take, say, like five years to construct a portfolio of 10 to 15 companies, then there’s a good chance that out of the 10 to 15 companies in your portfolio, a good three, four or five of them are going to do very well for you. And those four or five of them that will do very well will give you a nice return and make up for all the other ones that may crash and burn or do mediocre. So those are some of the strategic principles that you follow or should follow when you are doing angel investing. Just like anything else, right? There are different strategies you approach that you use for real estate to minimize your risk and maximize your upside. The same concept applies to this. There are different things you do to minimize your risk and maximize your upside.
CORWYN:
You know, as you were talking, thank you for that. But I want to give our and forgive the reference and what have you. But I want to paint the picture for our listeners. Guys, we’re talking Shark Tank.
ABDUL:
We talk a short term. We talk a less dramatic Shark Tank, but that’s what it is. So Mark Cuban, Mr. Wonderful, whatever his name is, Death and John, those are angel investors. They’re taking their personal money. They’re investing in these companies for a piece of equity of their company or whatever. And Shark Tank is a much more dramatic form of it. But fundamentally, all those same things happens. You meet a founder. They pitch you. You challenge them on that pitch. They try to respond back in kind. The difference is it doesn’t happen over five minutes. When I’m dealing with founders, the way I approach it, I talk with a founder probably three times just getting to know the person even before I get into the business. And then it may be a three or four more meetings just digging deep into that person’s business. So you take Shark Tank as a much more condensed and more dramatic form of it. But fundamentally speaking, the concepts are correct.
CORWYN:
So, Abdul, we’re quickly getting to the end of today’s show, but how can people get in contact with you? How can people find out more about you, your companies? Where can they connect with you?
ABDUL:
So they can look at my company. They can go to AjoAngels.com. That’s the website. Or they can get me directly at Abdul@AjoAngels.co. That’s my email. So the website, the email is the best way.
CORWYN:
All right. Awesome. And listeners, guys, I just hit the website. Plenty of information, lots of content, questions and answers and all that stuff there. But obviously a method to contact Abdul and his team. So guys, please check it out. Let’s not sit here and twiddle our thumbs and act like we don’t know what we could have found out. So Abdul, hindsight question, man. You’ve been doing this and you’ve been making an impact and difference, if you will, in black and brown communities. Thank you so much for doing that, for being someone who leads versus someone who waits. I love to do it. Love doing it. So along that vein, knowing what you know now, if you had to go back to the beginning and start all over, what, if anything, would you have done differently?
ABDUL:
To be completely honest, I would have done this 20 years earlier. To be completely honest, right. I am very grateful and appreciative for all the experiences that I’ve had over my 30 year professional career doing different things. But if I had known about this 20, 25 years ago, I could have been one of the first investors in some of the biggest companies. I could have been one of some of the first investors in Microsoft, of Apple. There are individuals who invested in Apple when Steve Jobs was first kicking that idea around in his head. And obviously they’re billionaires now and they just wrote one check. So that’s what I would say. If I had, I wish I had known about this 20 years ago and I could have started making a difference. I would say this level of difference 20 years earlier.
CORWYN:
That is awesome. And just imagine what that could have looked like. I get it. You stay your head bent to the grindstone, so to speak, and eventually begin to figure things out. So again, to you. So, so, Abdul, I want to thank you for taking time out to be with us on today. Your insight, your expertise, man. And most importantly, thank you again. Continue to do what you’re doing in the community to help and serve and help people to grow, man. And create wealth for them, their families, for generations yet to come. Really a pleasure to meet and have you on with us today.
ABDUL:
Thank you for having me. I appreciate it. It was a pleasure.
CORWYN:
So for our listeners, guys, look, y’all got some great information. Most importantly, y’all know where to go to it. You got not only information, but you also got the resource. Hot dog. So y’all winning today. So I want you to do something for me. One, I want you to go connect. Number two, I want you to overcome. And three, I want you to succeed. Now, y’all know how I feel. You know what I say. I always put the two of those things together. I give it to you this way, which is to tell you that I love you. I love you. I love you. And we’re going to see you guys out there in those streets.
