Early Investing Podcast

Dreams.Build is a crowdfunding platform with a mission to help entrepreneurs see their dreams come true. They are starting out with rewards-based projects with plans to quickly evolve more into equity crowdfunding. The difference, we hear, is in the community that they are creating among founders and funders alike.

TEDCO is one of the most successful examples of how governments can participate in the business of startup companies. In this episode we talk about what TEDCO is, what they do, and the plans for the future of startups in Maryland.

You have certainly heard of Indiegogo and perhaps you are one of the 9 million backers that have helped fund the 700,000 projects that have been on the platform so far. Now you can go beyond rewards and into equity investing via Indiegogo. This is a big deal and you will want to know more!

It would be hard to find someone with more experience in crowdfunding than Dr. Richard Swart. He has been in the realm for 20 years and agrees that we are STILL just getting started. We discuss the state of the early stage investing world six months after the implementation of Title III. The future is bright -- bring shades.

Red Crow is an equity crowdfunding platform that is focusing on "quality over quantity" in the words of its founders Brian Smith and Jerry Harrison. Wait, Jerry Harrison? The guy from Talking Heads? Yes, that's the one. You always knew they were a smart band, but did you know Jerry is a Harvard graduate? Did you know he was a founder of GarageBand.com? Did you know that he has been to the best restaurants in York, Pennsylvania many times? Are you wondering what is going on with this new venture? Then listen to this episode.

There is no doubt that legal cannabis is going to be a big business, but how can early investors get into it without getting burned? On this episode, we learn a lot about the business from one of the very first research analysts to specialize in this fast-growing field: Vin Maru from investinmj.com. Here we learn that we no longer look south to Mexico, but north to Canada to find the leadership in this industry.

This episode features Kendrick (Ken) Nguyen, a founder of Republic.co and a former legal expert at AngelList. Republic is new to the equity crowdfunding arena, but it has a very established pedigree. This venture is part of the AngelList family and has tremendous potential to popularize equity crowdfunding. Don't miss this one!

This episode features updates from two guests who have appeared on the podcast previously. First, Steven Dresner from DealFlow tells us about the Crowdfunding Conference the company is producing in New York October 6-7, 2016. Then we check in with Ron Miller of StartEngine to see how the early stages of crowdfunding for non-accredited investors are going thus far.

Already four states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana for adult recreational use, and there are over 20 states with medical cannabis. This is a huge trend and a big opportunity, but how do you take advantage? In this episode, we speak with the founder of the leading trade publication for “cannabusiness” and take a look at the business opportunities that are emerging in this rapidly growing industry.

As one of the more active angel investors you will ever meet, Joanne Wilson – aka “The Gotham Gal” – has invested in more than 90 early-stage companies – and you can see what most of them are right on her website. We discuss her investing thesis, current and future trends (including cannabis as an investing opportunity), and the future of agriculture. And we were just getting started. Enjoy!

Asheem Aggarwal is a veteran tech entrepreneur. After taking a break for a few years, he is back in the game with Pairable, a very interesting, very early-stage company that wants to bridge the gap between your physical world and your digital and mobile world. Pairable is not just a product but a platform for developers to build their own applications to provide a more seamless connection between the physical and the virtual. 

In this episode we travel to the Pacific Northwest to speak with Josh Maher, a leader in the Seattle angel investing community and author of Startup Wealth: How the Best Angel Investors Make Money in Startups. He also has a new book, How to Make Money Investing in Pre-IPO Stocks: An Investors’ Guide to Building Wealth in Private Companies. We discuss the Seattle startup investing scene and explore the emerging opportunity of investing in legal marijuana businesses.

Every industry needs an association to further its agenda, and crowdfunding is no exception. On this episode we get to hear from the front lines about current and pending crowdfunding regulations and situations that can affect you and your investments.

Ross is the founder and CEO of Angel Kings, a Washington, D.C.-based seed round investment firm, and the author of Kings Over Aces, a book in which he shares his experiences and expertise on angel investing. We had a wide-ranging and lively conversation, and you will enjoy his perspective.

Mike Belsito is an entrepreneur and author based in Cleveland, Ohio. In this episode, we discuss his startup adventure, what he learned and why he decided to write a book to help others raise money for their businesses. Mike is also in the interesting role of "Entrepreneur in Residence" for the town of Lakewood, Ohio.We talk about what that means and why more cities should have this kind of program.

TruCrowd is a crowdfunding platform that has embraced Title III crowdfunding for all. Investors can get in on deals with investments as low as $100. They also announce a brand new project in this episode, Fundanna...which will specialize in fundraising for companies in the CannaBusiness.

Israel has become an international hot spot for high-tech innovation. Many great companies have been created there. But how do investors get access to these deals? IAngels was created to enable investors from all over the world to get in on the Israel high-tech boom. Shelly and I discuss how to find the best companies to offer to investors and what you need to start building your international startup portfolio.

When you already have a highly successful film and video production company and international digital marketing firm, what do you do next? In the case of R/GA, it launched R/GA Ventures to help fund new companies. Based in New York City, R/GA Ventures has nurtured dozens of new companies already, including through an accelerator program that focused on connected devices and the Internet of Things. Dylan Boyd, the director of R/GA Ventures, joins us to discuss how they operate and what they see for the future of the Internet of Things.

Oscar Jofre is a passionate believer in and promoter of equity crowdfunding. His website KoreConX.com is a free all-in-one solution that helps companies navigate the process of raising equity capital. It also helps simplify shareholder communications to reduce risk. In addition, KoreConX offers a number of features that are helpful to investors in startup companies. Most are free, and there are some premium services offered as well. KoreConX also provides a free e-book, Equity Crowdfunding 101, that you can download from the site.  

There are a lot of investing platforms out there, but CircleUp has carved out a very lucrative space by choosing to focus on consumer goods and retail ventures.The company is growing rapidly and so far has helped more than 120 companies to raise capital.I talk to Jay Moon, CircleUp’s Director of Marketing, about how rigorously they evaluate companies before allowing them onto the CircleUp platform and the results they have seen so far. In addition, we touch on the potential impact of the JOBS Act Title III rules that were recently approved by the SEC. Jay also tells us about an innovative new service CircleUp is offering, which addresses the biggest pain point we see at Early Investing.

Electricity changed the world. Ever since Edison and now Tesla - there have been innovations in the generation of electrical power. Fred Ball and his team at Independent Energy have a big idea. An idea that has the potential to revolutionize electrical power generation and distribution.  Everyone wants to know about innovations early, right? Well, this idea is at a very early stage and we think you will enjoy hearing about the concept and the 10-year plan to change the way we light up our world. 

Tom "TK" Kuegler is our guest on this episode. After founding and selling several compoanies TK cofounded Wasabi Ventures, a VC firm dedicated to funding comanies at the earliest possible point. We talk about how theydecide on what ventures to fund, theimportance of being hoinest and direct with young entrepreneur, the need for more lifestyle businesses in the start up world and much more.

Betamore is a 2 and a half year old Technology Incubator, co-working space and education center located in Baltimore, Maryland. In it’s short life Betamore has become a cornerstone of technology innovation in the area and has  already seen one of it’s incubated companies Zerofox a social media security firm, leave the incubator and  thrive in the wild.   Jen has an extensive background in the technology startup world as well as being an expert in regional economic development. She took on the role of CEO at Betamore The BetaCity event which will feature demos from 20 startups and VC pitches from 8 companies is set for October 1, 2015.  For this event they have partnered with Plank Industries, the private investment firm controlled by UnderArmor CEO Kevin Plank.   BetaCity will take place at the brand new City Garage, a part of the ambitious Under Armor Headquarters campus that is now being developed in the Port Covington area of South Baltimore.     If you are interested in being in the pulse of the Baltimore Startup scene BetaCity is a Must attend event.

Manolis Sfinarolakis was inspired by the promise of the JOBS Act to quit his job at the Hartford Insurance and launch an internet TV series focused on helping companies raise capital via Crowd Funding. In addition he launched the Virtual Crowdfunding Summit which will be held onloine for 3 weeks starting November 30th and will feature over 100 Presentations from a wide array of professionals for all aspects of Crowdfunding. 

You know, everybody wants a patch of land they can call their own and Jason Fritton is no exception. As one of the founders of the real estate funding site Patch of Land Jason has been one of the pioneers in this new land rush. On this episode he gives us some insight on how they are doing as a company and how easy it is for you to invest in a wide variety of real estate opportunities with expectations for a nice rate of return and relatively low risk. While most of our focus here on the early investing podcast is on equity investing in startup companies and all the risks and rewards that go with that territory, today we are getting real. We are getting back to the land…

Jeff Bekaries and Megan Johnson started Spark Market to enable businesses to take advantage of the state of Georgia’s intrastate crowdfunding law… Then they had a better idea. We learn about what the future oif SparkMarket will be and how it will take them beyond their Georgia roots in this episode. Jeff and Megan talk about what the Georgia law enabled them to do and we discuss the laws on the books in several other states as well. 

On this episode I speak with Jeff Lynn of Seedrs.com. Based in London, which has emerged as a worldwide leader in Crowdfunding, they have helped fund over 200 companies so far! They have a different way of determining who is allowed to invest in the UK. It's not just Net Worth. Listen now and learn more about a place where Equity Crowdfunding is being done very, very well.

As the equity crowdfunding industry awaits SEC action on the JOBS Act Title III regulations, many states are taking their own actions. The rules vary widely from state to state and on this episode I interview Brando Smith of Localstake. They are based in Indiana and are actively providing a funding platform for Indiana based ventures that is open to investors in that state and ALSO to residents of 27 other states. 

Kelly Keenan Troupbour Angel investor, board member of the Baltimore Angels and founder of SeeJaneInvest.com  See Jane Invest is a website with a mission to help women become investors and entrepreneurs. She has been published in the Huffington Post and was recently featured in Fast Company magazine. 

Crowdfund 101 is a web site dedicated to making your crowd funding campaign a success by getting you to focus on the basics first. Hence the name crowdfund 101. Joseph Hogue started the site and newsletter last year and it is growing rapidly. http://crowd101.com

Mike was a key employee in a high-flying internet era technology company called PSI Net which gave him the ability and opportunity to become an angel investor and mentor to startups in Maryland DC and Northern Virginia. Startup Maryland is a regional initiative launched out of the Startup America Partnership.  Driven from within the startup community, and led by/for entrepreneurs, Startup Maryland is peer-driven and focused on high-growth ventures. We have a great conversation and talk a lot about the annual Pitch across Maryland competition. This year the Pitch Across Maryland Bus made 30 stops in 15 days all around the state of Maryland saw presentations from scores of investors. You can read more about the finalists here.

On this episode I speak with Alejandro Cremades, one of the founders of Onevest, an online platform that connects Angel Investors with exciting companies in the Earliest stages of growth. Onevest was formed in Julky oif 2014 withthe merger of Rock the Post and CoFounder's Lab and in addition to the investment platform, the new company still carries on the mission of CoFounder's Lab as well, which was to connect people who are looking for other people to help them realize their start up dreams.

Dan Miller and his brother Ben Miller started Fundrise to give ordinary citizens the opportunity to invest directly in commercial real estate in their own neighborhoods. They were the first company to successfully execute a Real Estate Crowdfunding campaign that took advantage of Regulation A.  Is this the future of Commercial Real Estate Development? Let’s find out.

David Khorram is the founder of Crowd Funding Planning, a leading service for promoting a crowd funding campaign. On this episode, David tells us how he leverages Google’s tools and services to find opportunities and we discuss the psychology of the crowd, their first equity crowd funding project and how to make sure that your campaign gets fully funded. 

It takes more than a great idea and an enthusiastic founder to get investors to take your startup seriously.  The Startup Garage takes fledgling companies through a series of 7 milestones to prepare them to approach potential investors. On this episode, founder Tyler Jensen explains how they help entrepreneurs prepare to get their show on the road.   In addition to their paid services, there are a lot of free resources at the website, including a series of eBooks on seeking financing from friends and family, Angel Investors and via Crowdfunding. It’s solid information from a team that has helped raise over $200 Million for new ventures.

Have you seen the Startup parody videos produced by Vooza.com? Well, you really should. If youhave had any contact at all with the world of Startups and Technology compoanies you will recofnixe the characters and situations in these short comedic videos. On this episode I interview both Matthew Stillman, the CEO of the fictitious Vooza and Matt Ruby the Standup comedian and Tech startup veteran behind Vooza and we try to get to the bottom of all this. This episode might not make you rich, but it will make you laugh.  

Our Crowd is already a tremendous crowdfunding success story, and the story has only just begun. Previously, Jon Medved was a Venture Capitalist who focused on the booming startup scene in Israel. With OurCrowd he has created a way for accredited investors to get into one of the hottest startup markets in the world without learning Hebrew.  We cover a lot of ground in this high energy exchange and you may very well want to join the crowd at OurCrowd after you listen to Jon. 

There are a lot of private equitry deals out there. A LOT. Dealflow.com has taken on the enormous task of tracking all these deals down and making this data available to you, the savvy individual investor. Steven has been building financial information businesses for years and this latest one has the potential to be another winner. We had a great conversation and Stgeve explains how the brand new dealflow.com may just revolutioize the world of private equity placements.

Being an entrepreneur can be very lonely, but it doesn't have to be that way. Founder Dating gives company founders a platform to find co-founders, advisors, advice and much more. They connect people ina very specific way and Jessica Alter the founder and CEO will share with us her thoughts on what it is to build a very specific type of online community.

Baltimore based Restaurant Delivery Service Order Up caught our attention in August when they announced a substantial investment form a triop of regional Tech luminaries including Steve Case's Revolution Ventures. While we had heard of Order Up previously, they didn't seem to be that big a deal as their service, so far, only covered a small area in the city of Baltimore. Little did we know that they are operating in many other markets around the country, have been profitable for some time and weren't even sure that they wanted or needed outside investment. We asked Co-founder and CEO Chris Jeffery to fill us in on his entrepreneurial journey and he delivered. 

In this episode we hear from Heather Schwartz Lopes a co-founder of EarlyShares.com They provide accredited investors with a direct connection to well vetted direct investment opportunities. Heather's background is in big financial institutions and she brings the discipline and structure from that world into this exciting new venture. Based in Miami, Early Shares is off to a great start in their first year of operation. 

Greg Cangialosi, after selling his E-mail marketing firm, Blue Sky Factory, Greg co-founded Betamore to create a new hub for startup companies in Baltimore and also co-founded the Baltimore Angel Investment Group. Now, as CEO Of Mission Tix he is in the process of rebooting the 13 year old ticket selling platform.

Start Engine is a Los Angeles based Business Accelerator providing startup companies with resources, including funding and mentorship. In addition they are poised to launch an equity crowdfunding platform based on the provisions of the JOBS Act Title III. As of this date we are all still waiting for the SEC to release the actual Title III regulations and no one has been more interested in seeing this happen than our guest Ron Miller.  We discuss what StartEngine is doing and what will happen in the future and I goad Ron into telling us what is wrong with the Title III regulations as they exist in draft form. You can add your comments on the delay by the SEC in enacting these regulations by visiting http://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/ruling-comments

Anirban Basu is probably the highest profile economist in the Mid Atlantic region. He speaks frequently on Business and Economic Development and is also featured on the Daily Economic Forecast on WYPR, the NPR News station in Baltimore. His company, the Sage Policy Group has clients in 31 states and 5 foreign countries and Anirban is not shy about what he thinks government needs to do in order to encourage and foster real economic growth in the region, and Maryland in particular, while the discussion and examples are local, the insights are nearly universal.  

George Davis is a partner in Gamma3, a venture catalyst firm based in Baltimore, MD. They are focused on creating companies based on the high level research being done in the Baltimore-Washington region at the Johns Hopkins University, The University of Maryland and the Applied Physics Laboratory. Hundreds of millions of Federal dollars fund this research and the Gamma3 mission is to help these visionary scientists create viable companies that will be based in the region and help to keep the brainpower, talent and jobs in Maryland.  George is also CEO of Gemstone Biotherapeutics, one of Gamma3’s portfolio companies. Earlier in his career, George was the President and Chief Operating Officer at Aether Technology when that pioneering wireless enterprise firm went public in 1999 and then did a secondary offering that raised over a billion dollars just prior to the dot com crash in 2000. 

Crowdfund Beat is the most comprehensive site for crowdfunding research and information as well as breaking news. Sydney Armani and his team take an academic approach to crowdfunding and startup entrepreneurship. If you want the facts and figures check out crowdfundbeat.com In addition to the US site they are also localized in several other countries including the UK, Germany and Japan and will be launching Crowdfund Beat China later this year.  Sydney is a frequent speaker at conferences worldwide and they also produce several conferences a year of their own. They also stream these events live and archive them on the site. 

Jay Samit – Veteran digital disrupter with experience at top entertainment companies including Sony, EMI and Universal as well as cutting edge Tech firms Oovoo and Social Vibe. Now as Chairman of Realty Mogul he is leading the revolution in Real Estate funding. He tells us how, you too, can be an owner of the Hard Rock Hotel in Palm Springs.

Peter Shankman – Founder of Help a Reporter Out (HARO) which revolutionized the way reporters find sources. He is the author of 3 books (so far) including Nice Companies Finish First: Why Cutthroat Management is over and Collaboration is In. He discusses why it is important to invest in what he calls “Nice Companies”. He also shares the classic story of how he funded the launch of his first company and tells us about his latest venture Shankminds.

David S, Rose – Founder of Gust.com the leader in connecting startups with investors, and the author of  Angel Investing The Gust guide to Making Money and Having Fun Investing in Startups. The only third generation angel investor I have ever met, David is founder of the New York Angels, one of the largest and most active Angel Investing Groups in the world. 

Andy Gordon – Investment Director here at Early Investing talks about his life in business and his vision for helping our readers profit from the brave new world of early stage equity investing.