Archive: Early Investing
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E-Commerce Startups Have a Massive Opportunity
By Vin Narayanan on June 16, 2021
E-commerce feels like it’s everywhere. But the truth is that even during a pandemic, e-commerce accounted for less than 15% of total retail sales in the U.S. According to the United Nations, e-commerce only makes up about 19% of total global retail sales. E-commerce has a long way to go before it catches up with the rest of…
Bitcoin 2021: Leverage, Volatility and Other Takeaways
By Adam Sharp on June 11, 2021
Last week I traveled to Miami to attend Bitcoin 2021, the world’s largest crypto conference. Around 12,000 people attended this year. It was an amazing experience. I met fascinating people, learned a ton and discovered many innovative companies doing good work.
Medtech Startups Need to Overcome Cautious Doctors
By Andy Gordon on June 9, 2021
Great technology means a great investment, right? It’s never that easy for investors interested in an early-stage tech company. And for investors like me who are enamored with the medtech startup scene, it’s even more complicated. That’s why I conducted an experiment with my primary physician last year. I wanted…
Three Advantages of Investing in Business-to-Business Startups
By Andy Gordon on June 2, 2021
Every investor has preferences and biases that influence which startups they choose to invest in. And some sectors play to an investor’s values more than others. Whenever anybody asks me which sectors I prefer, I say it doesn’t matter to me. And I mean it. …
AMC Illustrates Market Insanity
By Adam Sharp on May 28, 2021
The hottest stock in the world is AMC. Yes, the movie theater chain. On Wednesday it was the world’s most traded stock and made up 11% of the total volume on the New York Stock Exchange. In March of 2021 —…
The Real Problem with SPACs
By Andy Gordon on May 26, 2021
I’ve never hidden my disdain of special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs). As a refresher, SPACs are shell companies that attract investors and then go public in order to merge with a specific startup, thereby taking the startup public. I laid into them back in January in…
Crypto Regulation Shows Mainstream Acceptance
By Adam Sharp on May 21, 2021
What an absolutely insane few weeks in crypto it’s been. All the Elon Musk drama, the Tether reserve breakdown and now there are further signs of government regulation. Today I’m going to look at the regulatory…
Gojek and Tokopedia Merger Creates Investment Opportunity
By Andy Gordon on May 19, 2021
The merger of two major Asian companies this week barely made a ripple in the U.S. But it’s huge news in Asia — and even bigger news in Indonesia, where they’re based. The two companies merging, Gojek and Tokopedia, are fast-growing and ambitious. They’re both seeking an edge…
Dogecoin Is Meant to be a Joke
By Adam Sharp on May 14, 2021
In the summer of 2014, I met dogecoin co-founder Jackson Palmer in San Francisco during a tech conference. Jackson was instantly likeable, and we happened to know some of the same people at the conference. We hung out that night, and he gave me some insight…
Buybacks Are Bad for Shareholders
By Andy Gordon on May 12, 2021
My old nemesis SoftBank was in the news today. Thanks to some big bets paying off in its $100 billion Vision Fund, it posted a record $46 billion profit for the last fiscal year. I’m not impressed. In fact, I’ve never been a big…
Government Spending Means Investors Should Seek Hedges
By Adam Sharp on May 7, 2021
This week I came across a statistic that shocked me. It turns out that 34% of all US income currently comes from the government. Here’s a chart from an article on ZeroHedge showing the rise of government “transfer payments…
Don’t Count On More Explosive Growth in Remote Work
By Andy Gordon on May 5, 2021
I just returned to the office this week. It was a strange thing. Before working at home during the past year, I spent most of my 40-year career in offices. And I’ve missed the water-cooler chats… the unstructured interaction with my fellow employees… going out to…
Four Assets to Hedge Against Inflation
By Adam Sharp on April 30, 2021
In April 2019, Bloomberg Businessweek magazine’s cover story asked “Is Inflation Dead?” The subtitle accompanying it was “Did Capitalism Kill Inflation?” I recall thinking at the time that this story was probably a contrarian indicator. It reminded me that nearly everyone in the financial world was…
Cultured Meat Startups Are the Trend to Watch
By Andy Gordon on April 28, 2021
Heads up, meat lovers. Biden’s climate plan isn’t the biggest threat to the beef and chicken products you love so much. Neither is plant-based “fake meat.” The biggest threat to traditional meat is the “meat” being developed by new technologies right now. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.)…
Startup Insider: Medical Testing’s Golden Age
By Early Investing on April 21, 2021
We have a special treat for you this week. Our First Stage Investor members (click here to sign up) regularly get to hear Andy Gordon and Vin Narayanan interview founders. This week, we’re releasing a very special interview…
Bitcoin is Finally Going Mainstream
By Adam Sharp on April 16, 2021
This week’s Coinbase initial public offering (IPO) is a major moment for crypto. That amazing $85 billion valuation is turning heads all over Wall Street. I imagine that for some old-school investors, this crypto thing suddenly looks more legit. We were already in the midst of…