Truth #1: Investing in startups is a numbers game. If you invest in enough companies, you will have many failures. However, if you invest in enough companies, you will have several successes as well and consistently produce overall returns with an IRR of at least 25-30% if not more. The more companies in which you invest, the more likely your whole portfolio is to generate higher returns. It's a good idea to invest in a lot of companies evenly over a long period of time (ideally over a 5-10 year period).
Truth #2: Investing in private companies can be very lucrative. If you invest consistently, intelligently, and over a long period of time, the results are demonstrably repeatable and quite lucrative. The Law of Large Numbers suggests and data supports the idea that you will make a much better return than from any mainstream investment class.
Truth #3: Investing in private companies takes patience--money that is invested in a particular company today can't be touched (illiquid) and you won't likely see this money again for up to 5-7 years or more depending on when/if a company gets acquired or goes public via an IPO (some may come sooner and some may take a bit longer). Successful investors in private companies are usually the ones who take a long-term view of things.
Truth #4: Because investing in private companies is still outside the mainstream as compared with investing in the public stock market, the idea of it will likely make you or your spouse a bit nervous. Again, this is a long term investment but one that can make you an incredible amount of money if you stay the course and diversify by participating in enough investment opportunities that you accumulate investments in lots of different companies.
Truth #5: It's hard to keep investing money in private companies when you aren't getting any immediate returns and can't withdraw that money. Think of any money being invested today as setting you up for future success. Because unsuccessful companies tend to fail early, and big exits from the successful ones tend to take a long time to develop, when you graph it on a timeline the overall value of a venture capital portfolio makes a shape like the letter "J."
A typical venture capital portfolio begins dropping for several years as soon as you start investing, and only after a fair amount of time does it change direction and begin to be worth more than the original investment. The fact that early profitability is so rare can be frustrating and likely to cause anxiety and/or strain on your marriage--but keep in mind the right-hand side of the chart.
Truth #6: Almost everyone knows someone who has invested in a private company and whose investment didn't go well. In practice, most investors invest in far fewer early-stage companies than preferable to diversify their investments. It is recommended for an investor to build a portfolio of investments in around 40 or more companies in order to achieve proper diversification. This can be challenging and most investors fail to do this. In a survey of Keiretsu Forum members (angel investor group), despite knowing that diversification was the key to success 81% of members reported they had fewer than 15 deals in their personal portfolios and only 17% reported having between 15 and 30 investments. The most common reason given for not participating in more investments was "My net worth will not allow me to invest in enough deals since companies often have a $25,000-$50,000 minimum investment."
(If this is you, and you want a way to participate in more deals with a smaller minimum investment, consider participating in our Quarterly Rolling Fund which gives you access to 3-5 companies each quarter).
Truth #7: By participating as an investor in private companies, you can involve yourself directly at the cutting edge of the latest, coolest developments allowing you a glimpse into the future of rapidly advancing technology. The biggest, most valuable companies of tomorrow are just being formed today. Private investors can invest in and support these companies from their very beginnings while public stock market investors do not have any way to participate in these companies during the explosive growth phase of their value creation.
Truth #8: Being an active investor in startup companies is the next best thing to being an entrepreneur/founder and doing it yourself. It is effectively entrepreneurship without the responsibility (just part of the financial responsibility). You get much of the thrill while at the same time being able to go home at night and put the company behind you. It's like being a grandparent (or so I'm told)--all the fun of parenting, but someone else gets to change the diapers and suffer the sleepless nights.
Truth #9: A lot of startups fail and no one knows which ones are not going to fail. There are too many factors affecting business outcomes for anyone to be able to pick only winners.
Truth #10: All companies always need more money. As an early investor you will likely have a chance to participate in follow-on rounds with an additional investment. If you choose not to do so, your interests in the company will likely be diluted by the additional capital that is raised (equity dilution).
If you are ready and want to take the next step and be a part of this with us, please send me an email and we can discuss further and answer any questions or concerns that you may have.
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