Vicinity Views
News, education and insights on investing in public offerings through the Vicinity platform and private early-stage offerings with VentureSouth.
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Turning Passion into Profit
We’re not saying this blog will cure your post-Olympic blues, but we do have something golden for you. This week we chatted with Alek…
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You’re Special… Sort of.
“You’re special, just like everyone else.” Unfortunately, this is as true in business as anywhere. Specialize or die – in a world of investing…
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A Twist on Buffett’s Advice
Today we’re taking a new look at one of Warren Buffett’s most quoted lines: “Never invest in a business you cannot understand.” While we…
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Is Real Estate Really “Location, Location, Location”?
At the end of 2020 Chapel ran a successful campaign on Vicinity’s portal to fund a multi-tenant facility in the Poe Mill area. For…
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What Robinhood got wrong (& right) in their Super Bowl commercial
I was about ready to let the whole Robinhood/Gamestop wildness go… and then I saw the commercial. You’ve probably seen it by now –…
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Doubling-down on Democratization
While trust in the gamified giant has become as volatile as a short squeeze on an outdated retail chain, now might be a good…
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What’s the difference between microinvesting and crowdfunding?
While crowdfunding serves a purpose, there are some glaring differences between it and investment crowdfunding, also known as microinvesting.
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An Alternative to Fighting Manipulation with Manipulation
There’s a good chance you’ll come across a BFF or “soul sister” at some point in life, but you’ll have better luck finding good…
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What have you assumed?
Assumptions are all those little (and BIG) things we expect to be true in the future around our business, its market, or the customers…
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5 Questions for the Capital Seeker
There comes a point in nearly every business’s life when getting funding is a necessity. At this fateful moment, there may also be a…
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4 Investor Insights from 4 Years of Reg CF
Four years old… this is the age you can expect recognition of shapes and colors, and a love for rhyming words. Also for some…
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Double Duty Diversified Income
It’s trivia time at Vicinity! Which of the following headlines from the past year are real? Aliens in hiding until mankind is ready, says…
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Back to basics: General Solicitation: Who cares? 2. Investors
2. Informed investors. If you approach VentureSouth to ask for investment and we suspect you are generally soliciting investors, we will pass – no…
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Back to basics: General Solicitation: Who cares? 1. Regulators
Assume you are raising money, not really paying attention to posts like those in this series, and you generally solicit investors when you should…
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Back to basics: General Solicitation: What is an offer of securities?
Is publicly saying “we are raising money” the same as publicly soliciting a sale of securities? Well, if you really are not selling securities,…
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Back to basics: General Solicitation: 506(c) trade offs
As we mentioned a couple of posts back in this series, using 506(c) involves substantial trade offs. For us, it was fun to be…
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Back to basics: General Solicitation: Angellist rolling funds
As we were writing these posts, “rolling funds” became a topic of conversation on “VC Twitter”. Ignoring the “rolling” part for a second, these…
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Back to basics: General Solicitation: 506(c) offerings
506(c) offerings As you could probably guess from the last post, it is not actually that easy to qualify for a 506(b) exemption. However,…
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Back to basics: General Solicitation: Pre-existing substantive relationships
Pre-existing relationships One way to avoid general solicitation is to ensure that securities are only offered to those with whom the issuer has a…
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Back to basics: General Solicitation: Who was General Solicitation?
Who was General Solicitation? The short answer: publicly advertising that you are selling securities. The longer answer begins in 1933. That year, Congress passed…
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Back to basics: General Solicitation: A few disclaimers
If you came back after yesterday’s post, we commend your dedication! You may (understandably) not particularly care about the intricacies of the Securities Act…
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Back to basics: General Solicitation: The Perils of General Solicitation
At VentureSouth, we’ve learned a lot from Twitter. We also try hard to avoid trouble with regulators – both for ourselves and our portfolio…
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VentureSouth Establishing Fayetteville Angel Investor Group
VentureSouth, the Southeast’s largest angel investment network, is once again expanding its footprint. Fayetteville, N.C. will become the 14th community with a VentureSouth angel group, bringing…
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The negative side of being the lead investor
After reading the previous post about the advantages of being the lead investor, you may have been left wondering why so many people –…