What's the difference between a "user profile" and an "investor account"?

User Account

A user account or user profile serves as a login entry point. It is your unique access gateway to our platform. Each profile is associated with an email address. 

Investor Account

An investor account is one of the three account types an AngelList profile can house (Invest account, Lead Account, Build Account). Each investor account can have multiple team members that have various permissions. Each team member is added based on their user profile. The invest account’s owner can add team members and adjust permissions.

• A user profile may have multiple investor accounts associated with it.

Investment Entity

An investment entity is the formal legal entity that makes an investment. An investor account can be an individual, a trust, or an entity like an LLC or LP.

• A user profile may have multiple investment entities associated with it.
• An investor account may also have multiple investment entities associated with it. (See How do I add another investment entity to my account? if you wish to add another investment entity to your account.)

Each investor account can have multiple investment entities, as well as team members that have various permissions. Each team member is added based on their user profile. The investor account's owner can add team members and adjust their permissions. 

For example:

• Jane Doe may use her Jane Doe user profile to log in.
• Within her Jane Doe user profile, Jane may create the Doe Family investor account to use for her family's investments. Under the Doe Family investor account, Jane can have several investment entities, such as a trust for each of her two adult children, Charlie and Emma. She may then add her adult children and her spouse as team members for this investor account so that they can see the trusts' investments when logging in with their own user profiles.
• She may also create a separate Jane Doe investor account to invest personally as an individual. Both investor accounts are associated with Jane Doe's user profile, but her adult children and spouse will not have access to this investor account.
• She may also create the Doe Business investor account to invest through her LP and Corporation. She may add her business partner as a team member of this account so that he can also make investments via the company through his own user profile.
• Jane Doe may then add her accountant John Smith as a team member of both of her personal investor accounts so that he can access the Jane Doe investor account and the Doe Family Revocable Trust investor account to review tax returns and financial reports. John Smith will do this using his John Smith user profile. 
• All 3 investor accounts (Doe Family Revocable Trust, Jane Doe, and Doe Family Business) are associated with Jane Doe’s user profile. Jane’s profile would look like this:
  • Profile: Under the email Jane.Doe@Example.com
    • Investor Account: Doe Family
      • Investment Entities: Charlie Doe Revocable Trust and Emma Doe Revocable Trust 
    • Investor Account: Jane Doe
      • Investment Entity: Jane Doe
    • Investor Account: Doe Business 
      • Investment Entities: Doe LP and Doe Inc.
        
        

You can find recommendations about configuring your account based on your needs here.