Archive: Early Investing

Envisioning a Better System for Women’s Health

By Allison Brickell on August 11, 2021

As the senior editor at both KingsCrowd and Early Investing, I do a lot of reading, editing and research on startups.  At KingsCrowd, I edit dozens of analyst reports on a regular basis. These reports provide detailed analysis of different startups, including the company’s market opportunity, financial performance, risk factors and more. The reports also explain the overall rating the company received from the KingsCrowd investment team…

PayPal Censorship Highlights Bitcoin’s Importance

By Adam Sharp on August 6, 2021

When I talk about bitcoin, I usually focus on its importance as independent, scarce money.  And how it’s a hedge against inflation. What I don’t talk about enough is the importance of bitcoin’s uncensorable nature — the fact that no one…

Startup Origin Story: Univoice

By KingsCrowd on August 4, 2021

Editor’s note: A founder’s origin story is incredibly important. It’s essential to understand why a founder started their company and how they envision the future when you’re considering their company as a potential investment. It also helps you understand the advantages or disadvantages they bring to the table.

Gold and Bitcoin Are Critical Inflation Hedges

By Adam Sharp on July 30, 2021

The entire U.S. stock market is currently valued at around $53.9 trillion. That’s all the companies on the NYSE, Nasdaq and OTC markets combined.  During the 2008 global financial crisis, the whole stock market was valued at just $11.4…

The Disruptive Force That Shaped My Life

By Vin Narayanan on July 28, 2021

All startups have an origin story. So do all founders. These origin stories are important. They explain why a startup began. Or why we believe particular founders will be persistent, constantly fight for success and never give up on their…

My Favorite Financial Thinkers

By Adam Sharp on July 23, 2021

As investors, we live in very interesting times. It’s a challenging environment that’s complicated by actors like the Federal Reserve, which can move markets like nothing else I’ve ever seen. In such a crazy environment, smart, independent thinking is priceless. These are some of the independent…

The Inside Scoop on “Outside” Founders

By Andy Gordon on July 21, 2021

Ali Tamaseb has written an interesting book called Super Founders. Super founders are the founders of unicorns — aka startups valued at $1 billion or more.  These days, $1 billion is the price of entry to what used to be a very…

How To Deal With Crazy-High Startup Valuations

By Adam Sharp on July 16, 2021

I saw a pretty interesting thing on Twitter this week. Founders Fund general partner Keith Rabois posted the following. Biggest change in the venture landscape now: There are no VC funds with pricing discipline. All of us…

Why CPG Startups Cost More Than Pharma Startups

By KingsCrowd on July 14, 2021

Editor’s note: Our friends at KingsCrowd produce a ton of data on startups. This week, they created a fascinating chart (see below) exploring the relationship between product type and funding stage. We’re sharing this chart with you because it provides useful insights that can help…

Why the Fed Is Bluffing

By Adam Sharp on July 9, 2021

The Federal Reserve is in quite a pickle. Inflation is heating up, as evidenced by May’s 5% annualized inflation rate (according to dubious official numbers). Economists assure us that these price hikes are “transitory” — i.e., not permanent.
Many Americans prepared for their July 4th festivities last week. But for thousands of Americans, celebrating was the furthest thing from their minds. Instead, it would be another weekend of coping with opioid addiction.   As COVID-19 finally shows signs of winding down, America’s other pandemic —…
Over the past few years, several notable traditional investors have come out in support of bitcoin, including Ray Dalio, Carl Icahn and Bill Miller. But the most recent addition really caught my eye. Ricardo Salinas Pliego is a Mexican billionaire. The founder of Banco Azteca, Pliego…

How Congress Is Trying to Regulate Big Tech

By Vin Narayanan on June 30, 2021

Apple, Amazon, Google, Facebook and Microsoft are under assault. If Congress succeeds in its all-out war against these tech giants, you will have to rethink how you invest in tech startups. If you’re surprised by this news, I don’t blame you. The…

Market Changes Favor New Startup Investors

By Adam Sharp on June 25, 2021

I’ve now been investing in startups online for seven years. Over that time, I’ve invested in around 125 individual startups and three funds (those funds in turn invested in another 30 startups). The vast majority of deals were early — seed stage, pre-seed or Series A. And over…

How to Evaluate Deep Tech Startups

By Andy Gordon on June 23, 2021

When you’re vetting tech startups, it’s not enough to simply note their sectors. Identifying a startup’s sector is merely the first step.  You need to ask yourself what kind of tech has you intrigued.  Is it a frontier technology company? Frontier technology…
Every time Elon Musk tweets about bitcoin and its price moves, I cringe. Why? WHY? There are much bigger issues we should be watching. But for some reason everyone focuses on Mr. Musk.  Don’t get me wrong,…