Editor's Note: You rely on Crowdability to bring you the very best equity crowdfunding deals each week. Now, rely on us to share the most up-to-date news, trends and opinion. This is the stuff you won’t read in the mainstream press, and the stuff that will keep you on the leading edge of the early-stage investing community. We publish “This Week’s Best Reading” every Friday at 8:00 AM Eastern.
This Week’s Best Reading
Y Combinator’s ‘New Deal’ for start-ups: More money, same 7% equity
“Ivy League” start-up accelerator Y Combinator is shaking up its funding strategy. Read about it here.
Paul Singh's New Fund Focuses on Later-Stage Companies
There's ample “seed” money around to help companies get started. But with less “Series A” funding available to keep them going, many promising start-ups are going out of business. Paul Singh, who helped start 500 Startups, is launching a venture fund to help.
Customers don't care if a company's advantage is unfair. Investors don't care, either. Unfair advantages are often the best kind. Where do they come from? Find out here.
Why do Corporate Acquisitions of Start-Ups Fail?
For decades, big companies have shopped in Silicon Valley for start-ups. Lately, the pressure of continuous disruption has forced them to step up the pace. But more often than not, the results of these acquisitions stink. Steve Blank explains why.
Military Vets Taking Start-Up World By Storm
Craig Newmark of Craigslist highlights five start-ups founded by vets that are taking off. "Vets are effective entrepreneurs, and many of the skills veterans have overlap with those needed to found a startup." Read the post.
Will Tech Stock Slide Put Damper on Start-Up Valuations?
Tech stocks have tumbled recently, and that could lead to a decline in start-up valuations. "As you saw the public-market valuations go up, it pulled the private market valuations with them," said Byron Deeter, a partner with Bessemer Venture Partners. “If public markets continue to pull back, I absolutely expect that private markets will adjust quickly." Read more here.
We’ve been through bubbles before, most recently in 1999, and people are saying we’re in one now. Marc Andreessen and Chris Dixon dissect today’s public and private market conditions to answer the question: Bubble or no bubble?
Are Millionaire Founders Just Lucky?
Albert Wenger of Union Square Ventures penned another in a series of thoughtful blog posts on "Startup Wealth and Randomness." Read it here.
Angel Investor Reveals His Super Secret Investment Strategy
Warning: Dave Pell might just blow your mind. Read anyway.
Inside Mysterious Mithril Capital
Peter Thiel, the legendary PayPal founder and start-up investor, along with his longtime colleague, Ajay Royan, is assembling a shocking portfolio of companies that most folks in Silicon Valley have never heard of, and would never consider funding. Check it out here.
