Investor at a glance

To start: $1,000,000 in hand (you keep it)
Each year: 3–5 startups · 5–10% stakes
The pay: Dividends only, no salary
What it leaves: Stakes that keep paying after you quit

In US dollars. The game shows the same amounts in the money of whichever country you live in.

The Investor board in OpenLifeSim: 12 holdings, investing level 29 with a $2.0B deal ceiling and estimates still ±72% wide, and a startup pitch showing its users, market, per-user price and what it could pay as ranges. — Investing level 29, and the estimates are still ±72% wide.

Picking startups with limited information

Each startup card shows its market and how much it charges per user, but only as a range. When you're new, the ranges are so wide they tell you almost nothing. They narrow as your investing skill grows, though never to less than 5% either way. Very occasionally a character is born with a knack for it and sees the exact figures.

You get a new batch for free every year, and you can spend a time point to look for another. A stake is 5–10% of the company, and the smallest you can invest is $30,000. The biggest deal you can do goes up tenfold for every eight points of skill, and experienced investors get stakes cheaper.

Sitting on the board

Owning a stake gives you a seat on the board. From there you can coach the founder in any of their four skills (but only up to your own level), push the company in a direction, put more money in during a later round, or rescue a company that has run out of cash. With 5% or more you can force it to go public, and a stake in a business can be sold for five times its earnings.

Startups don't go public on their own. If you want to cash out, you have to make it happen.

How it goes wrong

In any year a company can get sued, see its costs jump or lose a big customer, and the markets can turn. A company that stays in the red for a year folds, and your stake goes with it. The career doesn't pay a salary, so you live on what your investments pay out.