Archive: startup insider
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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 very different. And vice versa for companies starting on the coasts. This challenge raises a few questions. How do startup founders break out of their home region? How…
Startup Insider: A Shocking Amount of Exit Experience
By Early Investing on August 23, 2021
For years, venture capital (VC) firms have favored founders who have experience leading companies to successful exits. “Look for founders with prior exits,” VC investors say. “They know what they’re doing.” But Drake Dukes, co-founder of data company Gravity, analyzed 992 unicorn founders and…
Startup Insider: Trade Secrets vs. Patents
By Early Investing on August 2, 2021
A key part of a startup’s success is its defensibility — how it protects itself from the competition. It’s not enough for a company to offer a high-quality product. It needs to provide something that’s valuable and different from anything else out there. And…
Startup Insider: Venture Capital Learns From Crowdfunding
By Early Investing on July 26, 2021
Equity crowdfunding is often seen as the balancing force to traditional venture capital. Venture capital is exclusive and focuses on writing large checks to a few companies. Equity crowdfunding prioritizes inclusivity and the power of many small investments added together. But what if there were a…
Startup Insider: Filling the Biopharma Funding Gap
By Early Investing on July 12, 2021
There’s a funding gap in medical research known as the “valley of death.” When research begins, it’s funded by government grants and nonprofits. But drug research and development is very time-intensive. It typically takes around 10 years to bring a drug to market — and nine…
Startup Insider: (Don’t) Follow Your Passion
By Early Investing on July 8, 2021
Venture capital legend Marc Andreessen — founder of Andreessen Horowitz and one of the earliest architects of the internet — has some advice for young people. Don’t follow your passion. “Your passion is likely more dumb and useless than anything else. Your passion should be your hobby, not your work.
Startup Insider: Oracle Health Joins Y Combinator and Makes Promising Progress
By Early Investing on June 24, 2021
Andy Gordon first recommended Oracle Health to First Stage Investor members in February. The company is developing a long-term insertable cardiac monitor for heart failure. Oracle has ambitious — but achievable — plans to get FDA clearance…
Startup Insider: Why Startups Shouldn’t Fear Amazon
By Early Investing on June 21, 2021
It’s Amazon Prime Day, which means millions of people across the world are scanning Amazon’s marketplace for deals on everything from portable ice makers to dog DNA tests. This shopping holiday has historically generated massive sales. On Prime Day in 2020, third-party sellers on Amazon made more than…
Startup Insider: Why Startups Don’t Need a Technical Founder
By Early Investing on June 7, 2021
One of the most popular investing myths is that a good technical startup needs a co-founder who can handle all of the technology or software development. And the lack of a Silicon Valley tech wizard spells failure or doom. But that’s really outdated thinking. As Vin…
Startup Insider: InnaMed Co-Founder Discusses Medtech
By Vin Narayanan on May 17, 2021
InnaMed is one of the rare startups that has earned a thumbs up from Andy Gordon twice. It’s current raise — which Andy believes is a very good investment opportunity — closes on May 28. With just…
Startup Insider: The Lesson in Verizon’s Failed Experiment
By Early Investing on May 3, 2021
Verizon has reportedly sold Yahoo and AOL today for around $5 billion. But Verizon spent $9 billion total to acquire both companies! Today’s sale marks the end of Verizon’s attempts to break into digital advertising. In this week’s Startup Insider, Andy Gordon and Vin Narayanan take a look…
Startup Insider: How Startups Go Public
By Early Investing on April 29, 2021
For startup investors, a company going public is the holy grail. That’s when the relatively small amount of money they invested into a young company turns into (hopefully) big bucks. There are three paths startups can take to going public — initial public offerings (IPOs), direct…
Startup Insider: Talking Crypto and ETFs with Frank Holmes
By Vin Narayanan on April 12, 2021
When Frank Holmes reaches out and asks to talk to you, you always say yes. And then you make sure your members can see the conversation. Frank is the CEO and chief investment officer for U.S. Global Investors (which runs the JETS ETF…
Startup Insider: How to Judge Cannabis Startups
By Vin Narayanan on April 5, 2021
Andy Gordon and I have run across plenty of cannabis startups raising capital over the past few months. But none of them stood out as good investment opportunities. So we decided to sit down today and talk about what we’re looking for in a good cannabis startup —…
The Most Interesting Person in Startups: Buck Jordan
By Early Investing on March 22, 2021
Some of you may remember the Dos Equis Most Interesting Man in the World TV commercials. Buck Jordan, the CEO and founder of Wavemaker Labs, is the startup equivalent of the Most Interesting Man in the World. And Andy Gordon and Vin Narayanan interviewed him Friday for this…
Startup Insider: Equity Crowdfunding vs. Venture Capitalism
By Early Investing on March 15, 2021
Equity crowdfunding and venture capitalism share some similarities. But they’re also fundamentally different ways to invest. So it’s important to understand how they’re different. That way, investors can make the right decision when they’re crowdfunding a startup. In this week’s Startup Insider,…