Archive: Pre-IPO Profits Update

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Market Inefficiencies Are an Investor’s Best Friend

By Vin Narayanan on July 19, 2022

There are many different ways to think about which startups to invest in. Some prefer investing in highly disruptive technologies or businesses — like Uber, Tesla or Impossible Foods. Others prefer startups with large or rapidly growing markets. Others like to focus on strong traction or a high level of defensibility. Early Investing co-founder Andy Gordon would argue a good startup investment needs all of these attributes. A…
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The amount of venture capital flowing into startups dipped below $40 billion last month, according to a Crunchbase report. That’s the lowest monthly investment rate in more than a year and well below the $70 billion invested in November, according to…
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Our Five Criteria for Evaluating Startups

By Vin Narayanan on May 10, 2022

Hopefully you’ve noticed the changes at Pre-IPO Profits recently. We emailed you an interesting startup investment opportunity last month. This month, we’re bringing you an exclusive webinar about investing in the KingsCrowd Capital Fund. In June, we’ll…
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Watch for Red Flags Around Boards of Investors

By Vin Narayanan on April 19, 2022

Those of you who follow me on Twitter (you can follow me @vinistic) know that I’m obsessed with Elon Musk’s bid to buy Twitter and take it private. In case you missed this story, here’s a quick timeline: April…
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Investing With a Potential Recession on the Horizon

By Vin Narayanan on April 5, 2022

I broke my ankle pretty badly a couple of weeks ago. It’s going to take four to six months to heal. I’m wearing a walking boot now. And as far as I’m concerned, the walking boot might be the greatest invention since the printing press. The…
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Angel Insider: VCs Are Missing Out on Female Founders

By Early Investing on March 29, 2022

Historically speaking, funding for female founders has been pretty paltry in the venture capital (VC) world. From 2011 to 2020, the amount of VC money going to female-only-founded startups never went above $4 billion. In 2020 — despite U.S. startups raising a record $143 billion — funding to…
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Startup Deals for Accredited Investors Only

By Vin Narayanan on March 15, 2022

Early Investing co-founder Andy Gordon and I recently met with several founders in Los Angeles and San Francisco. We’re looking for startups that you might be interested in investing in. The startups we looked at included cutting-edge robotics companies, medtech disruptors and moonshots that could change…
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Keeping an Eye Out for Startups That Automate Work

By Vin Narayanan on March 8, 2022

The labor market is tight. The American economy added 678,000 non-farming jobs in February as the unemployment rate fell to 3.8%. New jobless claims are at their lowest levels since the start of the…
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Investing in Alternative Social Media Platforms

By Adam Sharp on February 22, 2022

There’s a war going on in social media. Government is applying pressure to platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to censor “misinformation.”  There are many examples, but conversations around COVID are especially prone to being censored. For example, for much of 2020 and 2021, talking…
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The Biggest Problem Remote Working Startups Need to Solve

By Vin Narayanan on February 15, 2022

Remote work isn’t going away. Workers want it — even if the companies that employ them don’t. And because companies are competing hard for top talent, they have to offer some flexible working options.  That doesn’t change the fact that it’s HARD to collaborate remotely. It’s…
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Take Advantage of the Golden Age of Medtech Investing

By Vin Narayanan on February 8, 2022

A basic market inefficiency has created a massive opportunity for startup investors interested in medical technology and drug development startups. And angel investors savvy enough to understand what’s going on have a rare opportunity to invest in medtech startups with massive upside that have been significantly…
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Lower Startup Valuations Are on the Horizon

By Vin Narayanan on February 1, 2022

Last week I wrote about how some of the country’s biggest asset managers are investing in startups because they simply can’t find a better alternative (and they really want one!). As a result, they’re all trying to identify and invest in the best…
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The Real Reason VCs Are Investing So Much In Startups

By Vin Narayanan on January 25, 2022

Last month, I flew out to Seattle for an event to meet up with angel investors, venture capitalists and some of the largest players in wealth management and private equity. The people in the room represented firms that had more than $10 trillion in assets under management combined.
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I had hoped that the dramatic startup valuation increases in seed and Series A rounds would start slowing late last year. Unfortunately I haven’t seen much evidence of that so far. I’d guess that seed stage startup valuations are still up around 2.5x since I started…
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Crypto Startups Keep Attracting Massive Investments

By Adam Sharp on December 21, 2021

NYDIG is a startup that specializes in solutions for institutional bitcoin investors. And it recently raised a whopping $1 billion at a $7 billion valuation.  Here’s an excerpt from CoinDesk’s reporting: NYDIG said Tuesday it raised…
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Five Ways to Balance Your Microbiome

By Adam Sharp on November 9, 2021

I’ve been spending a lot of time lately researching the importance of the microbiome — the trillions of microbes (including bacteria, viruses and fungi) that live in and on our bodies.  What’s mind-blowing is that a healthy microbiome plays a key role in preventing so many…