Discussion
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Naval Ravikant
@naval
Hi Product Hunt. On the heels of Republic's launch, Kendrick and I will be taking questions about equity crowdfunding and the changing landscape of fundraising. Since 2013, AngelList has facilitated some $350M in investments from wealthy angels and funds into more than 1,000 companies. Republic now provides the general public with access to angel investing. We're excited to be here today, so please do ask away.
COSTAS ANDRIOPOULOS
@candriopoulos · https://medium.com/strictly-curious
Hello Naval and Kendrick, and thank you for taking our questions today.
1. What kind of tools/websites do you use or consult to identify experts to help you with your ventures or your investments? 2.Where do you look for emerging trends (e.g. sources, events, websites, etc.)?
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Naval Ravikant
@naval
@candriopoulos I'm obviously a pretty advanced user so I don't really use other people's websites. I find what I need on AngelList, Venture Hacks, Republic, etc. But if you're just starting out:
• http://futureinvestor.co/
• https://venturehacks.com
Lots of great people to follow on Twitter in the tech industry. Follow the deep thinkers like Nick Szabo, Chris Dixon, Balaji Srinivasan, Keith Rabois, Semil Shah, etc.
Fundamentally, though, you don't make the best investments by chasing trends. You make money by being there before it's a trend. So read science and technology journals. If you understand CRISPR and Bitcoin at a fundamental level, you have a large advantage over most investors, even VCs!
COSTAS ANDRIOPOULOS
@candriopoulos · https://medium.com/strictly-curious
@naval Dear Naval, thank you so much for your insightful answer. I really appreciate it.
Andrew Bass
@andrewdbass · Startup junkie and improving hacker
How does personal branding help someone raise funding?
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Naval Ravikant
@naval
@andrewdbass Depends what kind of branding. If you're famous for being famous (i.e., a celebrity) it even backfires. But if you're branded because of what you've built and have high credibility as a technologist, then it's extremely helpful. VCs and entrepreneurs love building companies around great technologists who have build major products. I.e., John Carmack joining Oculus was a big deal.
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Kendrick Nguyen
@kendrickesq · Co-Founder, Republic
@andrewdbass Personal branding matters with everything we do, and fundraising is no exception. If founder has an established network and/or a reputation of getting sh!* done, then he's gonna have an easier time fundraising for any project.
Andrew Flynn
@andrewpflynn · Growth, Staance
Hi guys! How do you think the Title 3 fundraising platforms will change platforms like Kickstarter that are more focused on giving something tangible instead of equity stake in exchange for investment?
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Kendrick Nguyen
@kendrickesq · Co-Founder, Republic
@andrewpflynn Hi Andrew. The market can accommodate both models, but we've already got interest from companies that otherwise would have gone to reward-based platforms like Kickstarter. If customer loyalty is important to a company, and it's willing to deal with regulatory complexity, then Title III is likely the optimal choice.
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Naval Ravikant
@naval
@andrewpflynn Not sure but I don't think Kickstarter is going to play in Title III. Kickstarter is more about creative projects that have passionate fan bases but aren't necessarily taking huge risks to build winner-take-all businesses. Different creators, different intent, different financing structures, different returns and outcomes.
Andrew Bass
@andrewdbass · Startup junkie and improving hacker
@naval @andrewpflynn thanks!
[deleted user]
@deleted_user
Hello Kendrick and Naval,
Are you planing to add comprehensive portfolio displays and charts similar to E*Trade and such?
How will you deal with situations when goal is not met, but a very significant amount was raised ?
P.S Very clever "pass test before invest" user flow!
Thank you.
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Paul Menchov
@pmenchov · Co-Founder, Republic
@victorpolyushko Hi Victor! Republic will be working to make the portfolio pages as useful as we can. Given the nature of private early-stage investments, though, there is often less meaningful data we can display compared to a public market portfolio.
Generally speaking, if the goal is not met, then we'll return everyones investment. In the right set of circumstances we can also work with the company to change their goal amount and ask all existing investors to re-confirm their investment.
Thanks for the support :)
Sunny Clark
@sunny_clark · CEO ComplexNerve
Whats the smallest number of team that you heard of and could actually scale decently? (both technically and by revenue) Thanks for your time.......
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Naval Ravikant
@naval
@sunny_clark It takes very few people as long as they are "makers" and building an amazing product. Most of Instagram was done by 4-6 people. Bitcoin was invented by 1-2, most likely. Look at Notch with Minecraft. We truly live in the age of the 1000x programmer.
Karim Daghari
@karimdaghari · i make stuff.
Hey Kendrick and Naval ! I have a few questions regarding the platform and finance:
- Why did you launch Angel List in the first place ? Was it out of a need ? and how did you pulled it off ?
- Funding has become more accessible with the help of platforms like Angellist, Indiegogo, Kickstarter to name a few but with the rise of new (fin) tech (e.g bitcoin) how do you see this evolving ? both on a national (US) and international level. Do you think that funding is strictly related to money or is it has more to do with the mentality of taking (calculated) risks?
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Naval Ravikant
@naval
@karimdaghari We created AngelList because we are deep believers in the power of the individual to do great things. The industry is full of confusion and middlemen which make it un-necessarily hard to start a company. AngelList (and it's predecessor Venture Hacks) demystified startup creation and fundraising, brought it online, and now help companies recruit talent from all over the world. We'll keep hammering on it.
Thomas Stöcklein
@tomstocklein · FoundersFundersFuture.com
Hi Naval & Kendrick, Great to have you on PH and Congrats on Republic!
1) How do you see Reg CF* evolve over the next few years?
2) If you could rewrite Reg CF, what changes would you make and why?
3) Would you say that equity crowdfunding is still facing opposition from the 'financial services industrial complex', lobbyists and politicians?
*Regulation CF is the set of rules and forms that will implement securities crowdfunding in the United States.
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Kendrick Nguyen
@kendrickesq · Co-Founder, Republic
@tomstocklein Hi Thomas - 1) RegCF campaigns should be easier and cheaper to execute over time, making it competitive in market size to pre-seed financing from traditional angels. 2) I would remove GAAP accounting for pre-seed companies, raise the annual cap from $1M to $5M, and allow for syndication of investors through a joint entity.
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Kendrick Nguyen
@kendrickesq · Co-Founder, Republic
@tomstocklein 3) less of an "opposition", and more doubt and reservation IMO, which is not unfair and should lessen over time.
Francois Patry
@patry_francois · Founder, Nser.io and FifomeApp
Hi Kendrick and Naval. What is your most important advice for a startup to be noticed on AngelList. Thanks.
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Naval Ravikant
@naval
@patry_francois Depends for what. If fundraising, put together the best team, product, and investor / advisor group possible and apply at https://angel.co/intro . If recruiting, fill out a great profile, be aggressive with your salary or equity offer, post on https://angel.co/jobs . You can find great candidates by using the filters (i.e., check out "new and popular" under "status"), and reach out to them first with a custom note.
Sarim Haq
@sarim_haq · AI Whisperer @ caspy.com
Hey Naval & Kendrick, I had been searching for a platform like Republic for a while now. Kudos for making it! As a recent grad, I dont have 1000s of dollars to meet the minimum investment requirements of other syndicates.
My questions is: what type of stocks are being offered?
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Kendrick Nguyen
@kendrickesq · Co-Founder, Republic
@sarim_haq Companies can offer a wide range of securities on Republic, from common to preferred to debts to YC Safe. We have a legal product called the Crowd Safe. Check it out here: republic.co/crowdsafe