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Crypto News Roundup: Bank of America Can’t Ignore Bitcoin
By Vin Narayanan on October 7, 2021
Much has happened in the crypto world since we spoke to you just last week! As I write this, bitcoin is trading for more than $51,000. Big banks are pushing hard to release crypto products. And the SEC is doing SEC things. Let’s take a look at the news that’s driving the markets. U.S. Bank launches crypto custody solution News: U.S. Bank is the fifth-largest retail bank in the United States. And it…
Why I Will Never Invest in a Scooter Startup
By Vin Narayanan on October 6, 2021
I love riding scooters. They’re ubiquitous in big cities and college towns. Everywhere you walk, there they are — just waiting to be used. Electric scooters are perfect for trips that are too far to walk, but too short to drive. It requires almost no effort…
Investing in Indian Startups
By Adam Sharp on October 5, 2021
Indian startups are booming. The country’s middle class is growing rapidly, the population is technologically savvy and the economy is doing well. Unfortunately, I have only one Indian startup in my portfolio. But it’s a banger. The company is ClearTax, and it is killing it. ClearTax…
Startup Insider: Investing Lessons From the Toast IPO
By Early Investing on October 4, 2021
Toast — a provider of hardware and software to restaurants — went public a week and a half ago at a roughly $30 billion valuation. But unlike most billion-dollar startups, Toast wasn’t on venture capitalists’ radar from the beginning.
How to Avoid Getting Hacked
By Adam Sharp on October 1, 2021
This week news broke that up to 6,000 Coinbase customers were hacked between March and May 2021. Here are the basics of the situation via Coindesk: Between March and May 20, the hacker or hackers used a flaw in…
Bitcoin ETFs Are Almost Here
By Adam Sharp on October 1, 2021
This week Coinbase sponsored an article in the prestigious Institutional Investor publication titled “Expect Growth in Crypto Funds and SEC-Approved ETF Soon.” Here’s an interesting excerpt from the article. …Confidence remains high among…
Crypto Insider: Regulators Push for Crypto Rules
By Early Investing on September 30, 2021
Legislators have caught crypto fever once again. In August, we covered Congress’ $1 trillion infrastructure bill, which includes overly broad language that forces most anyone who touches a crypto transaction to report it to the IRS. That requirement isn’t feasible for…
The Ideal Startup Portfolio Size
By Andy Gordon on September 29, 2021
Most meetings I attend aren’t very exciting. But yesterday’s was fascinating because we discussed one of the most important questions an early investor can ask. What is the ideal number of companies for a successful startup portfolio? Many opinions were put forward. So what…
The Perfect Environment for Startup Investing
By Adam Sharp on September 28, 2021
While you all know I’ve been a bit frustrated with the high valuations of startups today, there is a lot to be said for investing in this asset class in our current environment. Many bonds are yielding -5% after inflation is…
New Pick: Medical Robotics Company Still Leads Innovation in the Joint Replacement Space
By Andy Gordon on September 27, 2021
Deal Details Startup: Monogram Orthopaedics Security type: Common stock Offering Maximum: $34.9 million Valuation: $89.9 million Price per share: $7.52 Minimum investment: $250.80 Where to invest:…
Beware the Cardano Price Mirage
By Adam Sharp on September 24, 2021
This week I struck up a conversation with another parent at my kid’s tennis lesson. The topic of cryptocurrency came up. This gentleman — whom we’ll call Bill — told me that he likes Cardano (ADA) and Dogecoin (DOGE) because they’re so much cheaper than bitcoin…
China Bans Crypto Again
By Adam Sharp on September 24, 2021
China is banning crypto — again. And markets are selling off hard in response. It’s deja vu all over again. It reminds me of a great quote from venture capitalist…
Illusio’s Future Remains Bright
By Andy Gordon on September 23, 2021
I first presented Illusio to First Stage Investor subscribers in April 2020. It was interesting timing, to say the least. We were finally realizing just how serious COVID-19 was. It certainly affected Illusio… and not in the best of…
Equity Crowdfunding Shows More Growth Than Venture Capital
By KingsCrowd on September 22, 2021
Note: The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted everything from education to events to healthcare. So it makes sense that it’s impacted the investment landscape too. But while traditional venture capital firms have had to change some of their methods, investing online is nothing new for crowdfunders. So did 2020…
Startup Investing in 2014 vs. Startup Investing in 2021
By Adam Sharp on September 21, 2021
When I first started investing in startups in the summer of 2014, seed-stage deals were typically valued between $4 million and $5 million. I remember seeing a few deals at $1 million and a few more at $2 million and $3 million. Today I’d estimate the…
Startup Insider: Mailchimp Proves There Are Many Ways for Startups to Succeed
By Early Investing on September 20, 2021
Last week, financial software giant Intuit confirmed it was buying Mailchimp — an email marketing/content tool — for a whopping $12 billion. The buyout proves there are lots of different ways for a startup to succeed. But it also raises a lot of questions — namely,…