The numbers are clear:

3 out of 4 start-ups fail.

For the founders of these companies, that means years of working around the clock, endless uphill battles, low or no pay...

And at the end of the road, 75% of them will have nothing to show for it.

It makes…

Yesterday you took a brief quiz on angel investing.

You were tasked with evaluating five early-stage companies and determining whether or not you’d invest.

How do you think you did?

Well you’re about to find out...

Start-up #1 – Coffee Bean Retailer

Remember the coffee company started by two teachers…

Just before 11 p.m. on a recent Sunday evening, we were alerted to the presence of a gruesome set of written confessions.

We quickly inspected them, but found no revelations of adultery, theft, or murder.

No--their subject matter was of a far more unusual type:

They were confessions of failure…

Peter Lynch was a rock star of a stock picker.

During his 13 years at the helm of Fidelity’s Magellan Fund, he racked up 29% annual returns.

To put that in perspective, a $50k investment would have grown to $1.4 million.

How did he accomplish this feat… and…

I’m writing this from a white-washed island in Greece called Folegandros.

Yes, it’s summertime…

And I’m honoring the age-old investor tradition of “Sell in May, go away.”

Typically, I can’t get paid to travel like this…

But thanks to a new crowdfunding opportunity, now I can.

And so can you.

Late last year, Amazon.com announced the use of “drones” to deliver packages.

Drones are remote-controlled aircraft. They’re mainly used for military purposes.

At the time, it smelled like a publicity stunt…

Flying saucers delivering little brown boxes of books and shampoo?

Really, Mr. Bezos?

But as…

Every week, venture capital firms see dozens of new deals…

Over the course of a year, a 3 or 4-person firm might see several thousand of them.

But can you guess how many they invest in?

Let’s take a look…

The Funnel

Satya Patel, a venture capitalist with 

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Tags: Equity crowdfunding Fast filter Filtering Fundersclub Homebrew ventures Microventures Ourcrowd Passion capital Techstars The funnel Wefunder

“Holy crap,” we thought when we first heard about the JOBS Act.

“Retail investors are going to get killed.”

For the first time in more than 80 years, this historic piece of legislation was about to let ordinary citizens invest in start-ups.

Have you ever noticed that people tend to…

For most things in life, more is better.

Vacation…

Happiness...

Square feet.

But for others, more can be worse.

One surprising example?

Money.

Hey, quit laughing! I’m serious…

In certain cases, it really is better to have less money.

One of those cases: start-ups.

As we learned last week from…

I'm writing this from a sunny sand dune in Wrightsvillle Beach, North Carolina.

Every summer, I spend a long weekend here – with my folks, my sister, and my better half, Cynthia – to celebrate my dad's birthday.

The town might sound familiar to you. It’s named after two entrepreneurial…