Archive: Founders
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Angel Insider: Investing Beyond Silicon Valley
By Early Investing on November 15, 2022
Silicon Valley is the most well-known startup hub in the world. But it’s far from the only home of innovation. There are hardworking and talented founders all around the world. And it’s in investors’ best interests to not ignore founders outside of the Bay Area. So with that in mind, Allison Brickell and Vin Narayanan are here to highlight some of the lesser-known cities and states that are home to promising startup talent. Tune in to…
A Truly Terrifying Tale of a Terrible Investment
By Allison Brickell on October 5, 2022
My friend Jason told me it was a great idea. “He’s already got tons of regulars,” he said. “They love his drinks. And we would get shares at a discount because he knows my brother! He just needs some money to get this new place started.”…
Why Competition Is Critical for Startup Investors
By Vin Narayanan on September 7, 2022
I had a chance to play poker with some founders a few weeks ago at LA Tech Week. I mostly kept my mouth shut at the table. Between the game and flowing drinks, the founders were in a chatty mood. And I didn’t want to interrupt the flow.
Startup Insider: Inside LA Tech Week
By Early Investing on September 1, 2022
LA Tech Week is an event for founders, investors and all manner of tech enthusiasts to connect and learn. This year’s event, which ran from August 15 to August 21, was expected to draw a small number of people. But thousands showed up.
What You Can Learn From the Investor Community
By Vin Narayanan on August 16, 2022
As you read this, I’m probably attending an LA Tech Week event. Tech weeks have become increasingly popular over the past few years. They’re like an industry conference on steroids. Tech weeks are designed to bring a community’s tech industry together…
Startup Insider: When a Startup Is Worth the Hype
By Early Investing on June 6, 2022
Sometimes it can seem like every founder claims that their company is “revolutionary.” Startups love to highlight how innovative they are. They’re doing something no one else has managed to do. They’re changing the world. Of course, many of those startups aren’t nearly as…
Crypto Needs to Solve the Stablecoin Problem
By Vin Narayanan on May 20, 2022
Demo Day Alert Before we get to the crypto markets, we wanted to alert you to a really cool demo day opportunity. One of the things I love the most about being a startup investor is meeting founders and having them demonstrate their products to me. It’s a…
Startup Insider: Exploring Equity Crowdfunding’s Explosive Growth
By Early Investing on April 25, 2022
Our friends at KingsCrowd have been tracking online startup investing since 2018. They gather data on deal volume, industry growth, investor check sizes, founder demographics and everything in between. So we were excited to learn about their…
Three Principles That Determine a Crypto Project’s Success
By Vin Narayanan on March 25, 2022
On Tuesday, I attended a founder event hosted by Wefunder and Brex in New York. It was a chance for founders and investors to meet and get to know each other. And it was hopping! I spent so much time speaking to founders and other investors that I…
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…
Startup Valuations Remain High, But There Are Exceptions
By Adam Sharp on January 18, 2022
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…
Crowdfunding Challenges the VC Preference for Serial Founders
By KingsCrowd on January 12, 2022
Note from Early Investing Senior Editor Allison Brickell: It takes a lot of work for a startup founder to secure funding. As our own Vin Narayanan wrote back in 2019, “Raising money is hard. It’s a grind. No matter…
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…
3 Qualities to Look for in a Startup Before You Invest
By Allison Brickell on September 15, 2021
If you’re at all new to startup investing, you might feel a little overwhelmed. I know I’ve felt that way. It’s one thing to invest in the stock market. At least there, you’re investing in a public company that has years of financial data…
Online Startup Investing Is the Future
By Adam Sharp on September 14, 2021
One of the concerns people have about online startup investing is getting a read on founders over the internet. However, I don’t think this is a real problem. The best way to evaluate founders is to simply evaluate their business. How much progress have they made?…
Startup Insider: How Founders Can Expand Beyond Their Home Region
By Early Investing on August 26, 2021
A founder’s ability to break out of the region where they started their company is a major factor in determining their success. Starting a small business in the suburbs of Ohio is one thing — expanding that business to Chicago, New York and San Francisco is…