The thing that excites me most about today’s crowdfinance-inspired path of capital formation is its unprecedented ability to mitigate shareholder risk and groom more productive businesses. It does this by allowing companies to gauge consumer demand and presell products prior to it outlaying any manufacturing, marketing or other expenses. Now that crowdfunding has reached the […]
Archives for May 2015
Are We in a Peer to Peer Bubble?
I’ve always said that you can gauge the success of an industry by the growth and enthusiasm of its annual convention. It’s also a great barometer of market peaks and bubbles – especially when you have the chance to really get into the psyche of industry participants. With venture capital pouring into online lending businesses […]
Five Telltale Signs that a Startup is About to Implode
It happens all of the time. One minute a company is featured in an article titled, “The Most Promising Startups of the Year”. The next thing you know it is on the brink of insolvency. Going from hero to zero doesn’t happen overnight. Rather, it is often a gradual deterioration with a number of clues […]
Investing Red Flag Number Six: Stay Away From the CEO Sporting an Empty Suit
There are certain west coast venture capitalists who refuse to finance the CEO dressed in corporate business attire. On the other side of the country, there exist financiers who may have missed out on billions of dollars in capital appreciation simply for discounting the hoodie sporting CEO. While I don’t believe in judging someone based […]