Archive: First Stage Investor

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Deal Details Startup: UpCounsel Security type: SAFE Valuation (cap): $28 million  Minimum investment: $250 Where to invest: Wefunder Deadline: December 9, 2021 UpCounsel began as a traditional online marketplace play. There were lawyers on one side and clients needing legal assistance on the other. Making legal services cheaper…
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Crypto Insider: A New Crypto Investor’s Perspective

By Early Investing on November 18, 2021

If you’re new to crypto investing, you’re not alone. Crypto adoption is growing steadily, but it’s far from being a mainstream asset class. Crypto is still a nascent industry that has a lot of maturing ahead of it.  Some investors still see crypto as an exciting…
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In the first three quarters of this year, U.S. venture capitalists (VCs) invested around $59 billion in European startups. And European VCs aren’t worried about it — as long as their startup ecosystem keeps growing. This has a lot of implications for startup investors in the…
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Deal Details Startup: Curastory Security type: Crowd SAFE* Discount: 0% Valuation (cap): $9 million Minimum investment: $250 Where to invest: Republic Deadline: January 28, 2022…
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Crypto Insider: Regulators Set Their Sights on DeFi

By Early Investing on November 8, 2021

DeFi — or decentralized finance — is a hot topic in the crypto world these days. And regulators have their sights set on DeFi. In part, regulators are worried about potential fraud and scams. But, interestingly enough, they’re also focusing on what they think are centralized…
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“We need decarbonization now, across every sector in every country,” U.N. Secretary General António Guterres tweeted earlier this week. Don’t kill the messenger here, but he’s spitting in the wind. A plea for governments to pick up the pace of decarbonization will do little good. Not…
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Startup Insider: What Makes a Bad Founder

By Early Investing on November 1, 2021

At First Stage Investor, we spend a lot of time talking about founders. We usually focus on what makes a good founder — the qualities that investors should look for before they sink money into a startup.  But since we just celebrated…

KingsCrowd Is a Very Unique Investment Opportunity

By Andy Gordon on October 28, 2021

It’s hard to believe, but I’ve presented nearly 100 startup investment opportunities to First Stage Investors.  All of these companies impressed the hell out of me. But there’s one startup that stands apart from all the rest. It’s the only one I’ve…
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Startup Insider: The Most Promising Cannabis Companies

By Early Investing on October 25, 2021

Last week, one of the leading marijuana business conventions — MJBizCon — took place in Las Vegas. And First Stage Investor’s own Vin Narayanan was there to see firsthand what’s going on in the cannabis industry. Many people have been disappointed by…
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Pierre Rogers, the founder and CEO of First Stage Investor holding Yahyn, thinks he’s on to something very big and immensely disruptive. He thinks it will upend America’s incredibly convoluted alcoholic beverage industry. It should make life much better for…
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It’s an exciting week to be a crypto investor. After years of waiting, we finally have a bitcoin ETF!  At least… as close as we can get to a bitcoin ETF right now. ProShares will launch its Bitcoin Strategy ETF tomorrow. The ETF is…
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New Pick: The Startup That’s Cleaning Up Space

By Andy Gordon on October 14, 2021

Deal Details Startup: Launchspace Technologies Corporation Security type: Common stock Round size: Up to $1.07 million  Share price: $100.26 Valuation: $48,999,970 Minimum investment: $100.26 Investment portal:…
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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…
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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.
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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…
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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:…