Saturday, January 27, 2018

An Angel's 10 Commandments

Rumor has it God gave Moses 15 Commandments but he dropped a tablet on his way down Mt. Sinai.  For Angel Investors there are only 10. They should be used wisely and often by Angels and Investees alike. 

1. If it doesn't feel RIGHT - PASS.

2. Dealflow: There is NO SHORTAGE of DEALS

3. INVESTING takes TIME to LEARN - be PATIENT

4. VALUATION matters - for EVERYTHING

5. BACK $0 Companies.  FOCUS on the 100-1000x RETURN POTENTIALS

6. JUDGMENT is OVER-RATED. FIND the BEST PEOPLE in each MARKET 

7. Invest ONLY is Your Spheres of INTEREST

8. HARBOR NO OPINIONS. Listen and USE INTUITION

9. DEVELOP Your INSTINCTS

10. Look at a LOT - Invest in a FEW

Tuesday, January 2, 2018

Internet Free-for-All

As a follow-up to my 12/12/17 post regarding Net Neutrality and the prediction that the FCC would rollback regulations against the ISPs - the internet is now in a retooling phase.

Elections have consequences and one is a move to deregulated internet access. What this means is that the ISPs (the cable and telco internet providers) will now be trying out paid prioritization business models in the not to distant future.

The FCC and Justice Department will be watching closely as this saga unfolds. There is a sense that this move by the FCC levels the playing field in terms of regulation as it relates to net neutrality and the growing attention on social media and search platforms and off of the ISPs (which have shouldered the heavy gatekeeper regulations).  All this, while the internet mavens (called edge providers) like Google, Facebook, Twitter, Netflix, et. al. remained the innovative upstarts, even as their annual revenues rivaled that of most countries GDP.

My feeling is that this new deregulation is good for the internet overall; however, look for scrutiny to continue on both the ISPs and edge providers by not only the FCC and DOJ but Congress as well. 

Keep in touch,
Jim Lavorato