Archive: Early Investing
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What to Do When a Startup Goes Public
By Andy Gordon on November 18, 2020
Every investor would love to have my dilemma. One of my First Stage Investor portfolio companies will be listing on a public stock market (also known as going public or IPO’ing) in a couple of months. I first recommended this company back in 2016 — and I recommended follow-up investments two more times in the following years. Investors who acted on my first recommendation have seen the company’s valuation go higher and higher. And…
Startup Investing Just Got 5x Better
By Adam Sharp on November 6, 2020
Something monumental happened for startup investors this week. The SEC increased the limit for public startup fundraising rounds from $1.07 million to $5 million (per year, per company). This is a very big deal. Startups can now raise almost five times…
Brick-and-Mortar Retail Isn’t Dying
By Andy Gordon on November 4, 2020
Thank goodness this isn’t the 80’s. If COVID-19 happened back then, we’d be in a full-blown depression by now. The rolling shutdown of non-essential stores and restaurants across the country would have maimed and crippled the economy. The 80’s had great music but no internet — and no…
Big Tech’s Growing Vulnerability
By Adam Sharp on October 30, 2020
Today we’re going to talk about big tech censorship — and how it makes established social media platforms vulnerable to disruption. I’m going to try my best to avoid the political side of things and focus solely on the investing implications. YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Apple and…
SEC Limits on Startups Raising Money Will Be Eased in 2021
By Andy Gordon on October 28, 2020
The slow-moving, overly cautious SEC is finally doing the right thing. It’s reportedly raising the limit on Reg CF funding from $1 million to $5 million. That means when a startup raises money through crowdfunding, they can raise up to $5 million. And that’s a big…
Invest in Technological Disruption
By Adam Sharp on October 23, 2020
These are strange times, economically and socially. The future seems as uncertain as it’s ever been. At first glance, now might not appear to be a good time to invest in startups. But I truly believe it is. The primary reason I’m still investing…
Webinar: The Next Generation of Fintech
By Early Investing on October 21, 2020
Fintech is making an interesting transition — from disrupting big banks to disrupting the disruptors. Companies like Robinhood, Lemonade and Credit Karma grew by addressing consumer needs that banks had ignored. Now a new generation of fintech companies is emerging. And they say their solutions are even better.
Bitcoin is Looking Better Than Ever
By Adam Sharp on October 16, 2020
Long-time readers know I’m always bullish on bitcoin over the long-term. But recently I’ve become extremely bullish over the short- and mid-term. Let me tell you why. On October 7th, Square — a publicly-traded $82 billion financial giant — announced that they purchased $50…
The American Startup Surge
By Andy Gordon on October 14, 2020
There’s no denying that the economy is weaker than it was pre-pandemic. While industries like gaming and work-from-home tech have soared, many other businesses have struggled to survive. But in the midst of all this economic hardship, something rather fascinating has happened in the U.S. The…
Why Crowdfunding Is Better Than VC Funds
By Andy Gordon on October 7, 2020
I don’t envy venture capitalists these days. The economics of startup investing are changing. And as of today, crowdfunders like you and me hold a significant edge over VCs. I know that may seem like a bold claim. Right now, VC investors get all the respect…
Secondary Markets Have Hidden Benefits
By Adam Sharp on October 2, 2020
This month, U.S. equity crowdfunding platform StartEngine plans to open a “secondary market” where investors can buy and sell investments in startups that have already raised money using Regulation Crowdfunding and Regulation A+. This new service is…
Economic Freedom Plan
By Vin Narayanan on September 30, 2020
I’ve been thinking a lot about freedom in the wake of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s passing. As Americans, freedom is in our DNA. It’s written into the Declaration of Independence. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created…
The 60/40 Portfolio Doesn’t Work Anymore
By Adam Sharp on September 25, 2020
It can be hard to see a bubble when you’re smack-dab in the middle of it. I think that describes our situation today. Let’s look at a few large tech stocks’ price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios. Amazon: 115 Tesla:…
Keep An Eye On the U.S.-China Tech War
By Andy Gordon on September 23, 2020
The U.S. government doesn’t trust big Chinese tech companies. Their close ties to the Chinese government mean that they can be used as instruments of the Chinese state. Hence, Trump’s ultimatum to TikTok to transfer ownership to willing U.S. buyers. The Chinese internet colossus…
The Real Lesson of the Snowflake IPO
By Adam Sharp on September 18, 2020
On Wednesday, Snowflake (SNOW) went public in one of the most highly anticipated IPOs ever. Snowflake is a cloud data platform that helps companies efficiently organize and analyze huge databases. The company’s revenue is growing at a rapid 133%…
How Startups Can Help Protect Our Elections
By Andy Gordon on September 16, 2020
We’re in the midst of a presidential election. Along with the campaigning, speeches and crowds is the inevitable increase in disinformation. I hate it. It gets in the way of an honest national discussion on issues that engage us and divide us. …