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While trust in the gamified giant has become as volatile as a short squeeze on an outdated retail chain, now might be a good…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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Atlas Organics Grand Opening in the News
Many congratulations to Atlas Organics for the success of its grand opening. We are pleased to be part of an entrepreneurial team that has…
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Atlas Organics: Twin Chimneys Site Grand Opening
We are thrilled to announce that VentureSouth portfolio company, Atlas Organics, will be holding a grand opening event at Twin Chimneys Landfill, located at…
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Tracking Angel Returns – piling in?
In a follow up to this post, we need to explain why the 22% annualized rate of return for angels in groups is possible…
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Tracking Angel Returns – data biases?
IRRs of 20%+ sound unlikely. If angels were really doing that, wouldn’t they have followed hedge fund managers to Puerto Rico or the Caymans?…
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Tracking Angels Returns – the right benchmark
Continue the “tracking angel returns” series… Another objection might be that the S&P 500’s performance over the last 15 years is not the appropriate…
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Tracking Angel Returns – inflation, taxes, and fees
Last week’s UBJ article tried to cover a complex subject – investment returns for angel investing compared to other uses of capital – in…
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Tracking Angel Returns – the data
I had the pleasure of writing Matt’s regular Upstate Business Journal article this month. You can see the glossy original here. We’ve reproduced it…
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2015 angel investing – UNH CVR data
The University of New Hampshire’s Center for Venture Research published its 2015 report on angel investment activity today. You can see the press release…
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Due diligence scoring – cash flow evaluation
If you’re still with me, these posts were prompted by a member’s question about cash flow. The company we had been working on scored…
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Due diligence scoring – competition
If you read my last post about diligence data, you might remember that “competition” was a surprisingly large determinant of whether SCAN members choose…
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Due diligence scoring – what criteria are important to SCAN members?
What are the key factors that SCAN members consider when deciding to invest or not? In our April CSR Angels meeting, a member asked…
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Zipit’s progress
Congratulations to Zipit, a portfolio company of SCAN and the Palmetto Angel Fund, on the two partnerships it has announced publicly in March. Today…