I had this idea a while back and wanted to create just that... so I bought http://ifundedthat.com
I'll sell it to whomever feels like taking a stab at it :-)
Any way to invest $100/200 in startups ?
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Re: Any way to invest $100/200 in startups ?
#12What about startups outside US? Two programmers in México could eat (mostly tacos) a whole month for $200.
Maybe regulations for investing in latinamerican startups are looser?
Re: Any way to invest $100/200 in startups ?
#13Short answer, no. The fundamental reason goes back to 1933/1934 when the modern rules of public offerings were enacted. To avoid investors being fleeced by unscrupulous business owners that falsely advertised the merits of their businesses, stringent rules were put in place for any offering of stock to the public. These rules continue to govern the behavior of publicly traded companies today. As a result of these reg…
That's a very American centric way of looking at it, the world is a lot larger and there are plenty of ways this could be done by incorporating abroad.
The SEC regulates the American markets, but worldwide you've got plenty of options. One way would be to incorporate in Panama, Curacao or Cyprus, where there are not such limitations.
In fact, the whole 'accredited investor' concept is as far as I know limited to the US.
Re: Any way to invest $100/200 in startups ?
#14Earlier quoted context omitted.
But why can't you create a business that is an accredited investor, which invests in companies based on its LP's choices? In other words: Let's say I want to invest $100 in SmallCompany.com, for the equivalent 100 shares. I make that bid, and if SmallCompany accepts the bid, then I give Me-VC.com (the accredited VC company) $100 and Me-VC would make an equivalent investment in SmallCompany of that amount, for that nu…
In your example, you would need to be an accredited investor to invest in Me-VC.
In the U.S. But then this will happen outside of the US.
It makes me mad that in a country that has nearly zero financial regulations from fleecing the poor, there are regulations from keeping the poor from investing in seed stage ventures. The rich can invest in Twitter and the poor are stuck with the lottery (i.e. mathematically constrained odds of 'impossible'). Fuck the rich.