Archive: Early Investing
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How Early Investors Can Profit From the Unicorn Explosion
By Andy Gordon on September 1, 2021
Unicorns used to be a rare breed. Not anymore. When Aileen Lee of Cowboy Ventures first coined the term “unicorn” — referring to startups worth $1 billion or more — in 2013, she identified 39 unicorns. The vast majority were valued below $5 billion. Apart from Facebook, the average was $3.6 billion. And 27 of them were based in the San Francisco Bay Area. What a difference eight years makes! 2021 has…
NFT Mania: The Perfect Viral Asset
By Adam Sharp on August 27, 2021
I’ve been following the non-fungible token (NFT) space closely over the last three months. NFTs are a form of digital collectible. They’re based on blockchain technology, which makes each one unique, indivisible and verifiable. NFTs have gotten a lot of attention recently. But they’ve existed for…
How Crowdfunders Can Invest Better Than Venture Capitalists
By Allison Brickell on August 25, 2021
Drake Dukes, co-founder of startup data platform Gravity, shared some interesting data recently from his analysis of 992 unicorn founders. Now for our secret sauce… Here is the FounderDNA™ of every unicorn founder (992 analyzed): 53% are Serial Founders 35% are Technical…
Institutional Investors Likely to Grapple With Crypto FOMO
By Adam Sharp on August 20, 2021
Back in December 2020, I wrote the following in “Institutional Bitcoin Is Here to Stay:” Insurance giant MassMutual announced last week that it had purchased $100 million worth of BTC. It also took a $5 million equity stake in New York…
Why the “Friends and Family” Round Needs to Change
By Vin Narayanan on August 18, 2021
I am a true believer in the American Dream — the idea that anyone, regardless of race, social class or birthplace can find success in this great country. I believe because I’ve witnessed my family’s journey. My dad immigrated to the U.S. from India 50 years…
A Brutal Market for Shorting Stocks
By Adam Sharp on August 13, 2021
In 2008, I had a big short and put position on mall REITs (real estate investment trusts) and big bank stocks. It worked like a charm at first. My positions were up anywhere from 30% to more than 140%. These companies were leveraged to the hilt.
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…
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.