Author: Andy Gordon

I made my chops as an entrepreneur and investor with over 30 years of experience at building wealth for myself and others. I graduated from the London School of Economics a year after the bicentennial. By the way, this is the same school that produced 34 heads of state including John F. Kennedy… and another 18 Nobel Laureates…

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New Recommendation: Arbit

Deal Details Minimum investment: $100 Investment type: Crowd SAFE (convertible note) Valuation cap: $5 million Discount: 20% Deadline: November 7, 2017 Investment portal: MicroVentures Conversion provisions: In connection with an equity financing of at least $1 million, the company has the option to convert the Crowd SAFE into shares of a series of non-voting preferred stock, at a discount of 20% of the price per share of the new preferred stock sold in the equity financing…

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Must-Read Stories of the Week

By Andy Gordon on October 12, 2017

This week, I wanted to share five stories from the world of cryptocurrencies and private equity that caught my eye this week. Scouring the web for good insights is a key component of my research, and I want to pass that information along to you. Let’s get started……
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Banks Stepping Up Their Use of Blockchain Technology

By Andy Gordon on October 5, 2017

I still can’t decide what JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon was thinking when he recently dissed cryptocurrencies. He dubbed bitcoin a “fraud.” Was it cluelessness? Self-interest? Fear? If he feels that banks and cryptocurrencies can’t coexist, why is his own bank partnering with privacy-focused cryptocurrecy Zcash? (See my last post here…
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Addressing Missed Opportunities

By Andy Gordon on September 28, 2017

In early September, I recommended a rising startup called Balance. In a nutshell, Balance is capitalizing on the growth of cryptocurrencies and the blockchain by making the platforms easier to use. Here’s my original recommendation that explains Balance in more detail. I was so bullish on Balance that I…
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A Second Chance to Invest in a Now $130 Billion Disruptor

By Andy Gordon on September 14, 2017

The September issue of First Stage Investor hit your inbox last Friday. I hope you’ve already dipped into it. If you haven’t, you’re missing out on seeing me do something I’ve never done before… Double down on a startup recommendation. To tell you the truth, it wasn’t that hard of…
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New Recommendation: Balance

By Andy Gordon on September 5, 2017

Deal Details Minimum investment: $100 Raising up to: $1 million Valuation: $10 million cap (the max your investment will convert into shares at a future equity fundraise) Industry: Blockchain Investment portal: Wefunder Dear First Stage Investor, Balance, the company we’re recommending to you…
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Napa Valley Distillery: Your Chance to Earn Cash Immediately

By Andy Gordon on July 26, 2017

Deal Details Minimum investment: $100 Raising up to: $1.07 million Security Type: Promissory notes (Revenue sharing interests) Length of term: Until the repayment amount of 1.5X is repaid Interest rate: Dependent on two factors: future revenue and amount raised Fundraise period: Ends…
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Update on Two MedTech Portfolio Companies

By Andy Gordon on June 28, 2017

Dear Startup Investor, We have updates on two of our outstanding medical technology companies. They serve as chronological bookends. Medical Surgery Technologies, or MST, was one of our first recommendations from late 2013. And Reliant Immune Diagnostics was one of our most recent recommendations from earlier this year.
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Update: VirZOOM Now Open for Investment

By Andy Gordon on April 3, 2017

Great news – VirZOOM is now officially open for investment. If you recall, we gave you a sneak preview of this groundbreaking virtual reality startup in our March issue of First Stage Investor. And today its fundraise went live on netcapital.com. VirZOOM makes a specialized exercise bike and games…
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New Recommendation: Scrap Connection

By Andy Gordon on February 15, 2017

Deal Details Minimum investment: $200 Security type: Future preferred stock via SAFE (An agreement that grants the holder the right to equity at a later date, typically when the company raises another significant round of funding) Valuation: $4.5 million with a 15% discount Industry: Business-to-business commerce Raising up to: $300,000…
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New Recommendation: EVELO

By Andy Gordon on December 26, 2016

Deal Details Minimum investment: $1,000 Security type: Preferred shares Valuation: $7.5 million Price per share: $1.32042 Industry: Transportation, fitness Raising up to: $1 million Opportunity closes: 1/6/2017 I’m excited to announce our newest recommendation. It’s an electric bike company called EVELO. Electric bikes have taken the European consumer market…
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Update on Geekatoo

By Andy Gordon on May 31, 2016

  Dear Startup Investor, 444 Castro Street, San Francisco. That’s where Adam and I met Geekatoo Founder Kevin Davis last summer. Geekatoo used to call it home. Not anymore. The slightly larger HelloTech recently acquired Geekatoo. HelloTech was Geekatoo’s competitor. It operated in the same market and chased the same…
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Update on Dealflicks

By Andy Gordon on May 2, 2016

Dear Startup Investor, Last time we wrote to you about Dealflicks, it was doing just fine, even exceeding our expectations. That was last October. At the time, the company was pulling in revenue at a $4 million annual rate. And it had expanded to 600 locations.
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Two Outstanding Opportunities: Virtuix and Wefunder

By Andy Gordon on April 19, 2016

Dear Startup Investor, Our friends at The Oxford Club invited Adam and me to come speak at their annual investment conference. That’s where we were last week. As in previous years, we talked a lot and learned a lot. And as in previous years, we’ve come back to Baltimore with…
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Update on Appvance

By Andy Gordon on March 11, 2016

  Dear Startup Investor, I’m pleased to report that Appvance just closed its second post-Series A raise. This one was for $5 million. Half was new VC money. The other half was from a convertible note raise done last February and converted into shares as part of Appvance’s current…
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Update on Care at Hand

By Andy Gordon on February 29, 2016

Dear Startup Investor, Care at Hand is based in Washington, D.C. I’m in Baltimore, an hour away. So when Dr. Andrey Ostrovsky, the founder and CEO of Care at Hand, invited me to dinner, I hopped in my car, drove down I-95 and met him at the Blue Duck…