Mitra Miller from Houston Angel Network

Writing the check is the easy part. The marriage that comes after is what nobody warns founders about until they are five years deep. Mitra Miller, President and Board Member of the Houston Angel Network, gets into what actually makes a startup investable, why she hunts for red flags fast, and how being a founder herself rewired the way she writes checks. Plus where Texas capital needs to go next, why AI is quietly soaking up all the oxygen, and how 25 years reshaped the Houston ecosystem.Click here to watch a video of this episode.Join the conversation shaping the future of energy.Collide is the community where oil & gas professionals connect, share insights, and solve real-world problems together. No noise. No fluff. Just the discussions that move our industry forward.Apply today at collide.ioClick here to view the episode transcript. 0:00:00   Intro0:00:28   Inside the Houston Angel Network at 250:02:12   From the dotcom boom to angel investing0:05:44   Why being a founder makes a better investor0:09:43   How new angels learn the game0:13:38   Pitching HARN and what makes a company investable0:18:18   Why investing is a marriage, not a check0:27:25   Reading founders and spotting red flags0:36:48   What has changed in 25 years0:42:01   When venture money is not the answer0:46:29   Houston, Texas, and the energy transition0:51:25   All of the above: data centers, the grid, and fusion0:58:02   Public vs private capital in Texas1:02:44   The capital outlook and AI's pull on funding1:09:16   Secondary markets and finding liquidityhttps://twitter.com/collide_aihttps://www.tiktok.com/@collide.iohttps://www.facebook.com/collide.iohttps://www.instagram.com/collide.iohttps://www.youtube.com/@collide_iohttps://bsky.app/profile/collide-ai.bsky.socialhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/collideai