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TradeFox’s COVID-19 Pivot May Change Industry

By Andy Gordon on June 1, 2020

COVID-19 has hit TradeFox harder than most companies in our First Stage Investor portfolio. As a trade analytics company (primarily in scrap metal and recyclables), TradeFox provides business reports on more than 110,000 companies worldwide. It was doing great before March. Then sign-ups fizzled. Potential customers were busy getting their shipping containers released from ports. Or seeing their business dry up due to plant closures.  TradeFox could…
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More Institutional Proof for Bitcoin

By Adam Sharp on May 29, 2020

This week we received more proof that institutions are buying up Bitcoin. I highly recommend reading this recent Decrypt piece titled “Hedge funds are buying Bitcoin despite Goldman Sachs’ skepticism.” Here’s an excerpt: Since Bitcoin’s block reward halving, digital asset manager Grayscale Investments has purchased more…

The New Work-From-Home Economy

By Adam Sharp on May 29, 2020

I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about the long-term effects of the COVID-19 crisis lately. And the one thing I keep coming back to is the new work-from-home trend. This is going to change our economy in ways we can’t even imagine yet. Facebook’s…
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Invest In A Wine Startup With A Massive Inventory

By Andy Gordon on May 28, 2020

Deal Details Startup: Yahyn Security type: Common equity Round size: Up to $20 million Valuation: $4,955,781 Share price: $44.38 Minimum investment: $133.14 Raise: Seed Investment Portal: Netcapital Deadline: June 30, 2020 COVID-19 is changing our world in so many ways. Socially. Professionally.

Crowdfunding Shows Its Strength

By Andy Gordon on May 27, 2020

Crowdfunding reached the ripe age of four years old earlier this month. It’s come a long way in a relatively short time. And we know much more about it now than we did back then. Last week I gave you five of my top 10 observations about crowdfunding’s past…
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How to Cope With a Lack of Startup Updates

By Adam Sharp on May 26, 2020

I was very excited when I first began online angel investing in 2014. I loved the concept. So I invested in 15 deals within just a few months on AngelList and FundersClub. I thought they were high quality picks. And I eagerly waited to see how they would do. But…
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Much has changed since we recommended Winc last December. The popular direct-to-consumer wine company was one of the last pre-pandemic recommendations we made. Now lockdowns and quarantines have become our normal. And with so many of us stuck at home, meals have taken center stage in our lives. So it’s…

Crowdfunding Keeps Getting Better Four Years In

By Andy Gordon on May 20, 2020

Crowdfunding celebrated its fourth anniversary last week. The SEC greenlit it on May 16, 2016. A year before Regulation Crowdfunding (better known as Reg. CF) began, the SEC began to allow companies to raise funds under Regulation A+ (Reg. A+). But startups needed considerable money and time to comply with…
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Raise Your Personal Investment Bar

By Adam Sharp on May 19, 2020

As I mentioned last week, there’s been a significant decrease in the number of startup deals coming across my desk lately. On the bright side, though, the quality of deals on accredited sites like AngelList is much higher (on average) than I’ve ever seen. This is a common trend during…
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NowRx Facing “Unprecedented” Demand

By Andy Gordon on May 18, 2020

When we first recommended NowRx to you in July 2018, its valuation was $20 million. Last November, we recommended you invest in the company again at a $65 million valuation — a more than 3X increase on your original investment price. We were impressed by its execution and…
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The bitcoin halving has finally happened. And things are certainly looking up in the crypto world. As I write this on Friday morning bitcoin is trading over $9,500. Last week I told you that respected institutional investor Paul Tudor Jones announced he was bullish on bitcoin. I think that…

Not All Hot Sectors Have Staying Power

By Adam Sharp on May 15, 2020

In today’s world of quarantines and lockdowns, there’s a huge divide between winners and losers. Brick-and-mortar retail, travel, and construction are all getting hammered. But some sectors are still thriving. Today we’re going to take a look at a few of them — and discuss whether they’re worth investing in…
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Deal Details Startup: Elemeno Health Security type: Crowd SAFE Discount: 0% Valuation (cap): $12 million Minimum investment: $100 Where to invest: Republic Deadline: September 16, 2020 View Elemeno Health’s latest 2024 funding round analysis on Kingscrowd here. Timing is everything — especially…

New Crowdfunding Rules Bring New Opportunities

By Andy Gordon on May 13, 2020

Economic crises can reveal a lot about established companies. Are they nimble enough to pivot? Can they come up with creative solutions to adapt to a new environment? Was the company prepared for an emergency? Apple and Google were sitting on a pile of cash. They were definitely prepared for…
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Startup Deal Flow Changing

By Adam Sharp on May 12, 2020

One of my favorite AngelList syndicate leaders recently wrote a note to all the members of his syndicate. He told us the volume of new deals he’s seeing is down about 90%. Many of the startup deals we’re seeing right now were arranged before the COVID-19 quarantines started. These deals…
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Crypto Update: Bitcoin Halving Edition

By Adam Sharp on May 11, 2020

The big day is finally here. Today marks the third bitcoin “halving” event. Halvings happen roughly every four years and reduce the amount of new bitcoin created by half. As many of you know, bitcoin is slowly “mined” over time by specialized computers that solve complex math equations. A new…