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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Profits, and Losses, and EBITDA…oh my!
One of the main financial statements you can use to analyze a business is the Profit and Loss statement (aka the income statement, the…
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“Going local” is more than buying a cup of coffee
I’m the type who turns buying apples into an arduous process. I’ll skeptically compare the fifty-cent difference between apples, assuming the proper scrutiny stance:…
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Investor Insights: Prophets and Pro Formas
Before we talk about the future, let’s mention a bit about the past. Business owners, sales leaders, finance executives and other stakeholders are all…
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The Who Economy
I’ll never forget pitching two angel investors with my first fully thought-out business plan. I’ve always been a dreamer, a creator, and an aspiring…
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Investor Insights: Debt vs. Equity Investments
First, the disclaimer: If you can’t afford to lose 100% of your investment, then you shouldn’t invest – hard stop. Now the TLDR: When…
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I Invested Local with Reg CF! Now what?
Two weeks ago, we discussed some reasons to invest local via the JOBS Act and Reg CF. Last week, we answered how to invest…
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Investor Insights: Robinhood & Vicinity
If we’re talking about new and innovative ways to invest, we have to talk about Robinhood. Robinhood has become synonymous with the democratization of…
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How do I invest in small businesses?
Let’s be honest for a moment. When we eat out, 99% of us (disclaimer: fake stat we made up) don’t go beyond leaving a…
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Investor Insights: Investor Accreditation
So, what’s an accredited investor anyway? Are you one? Does it matter? As to the first question, it’s pretty simple. An accredited investor is…
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Reasons to Invest Local with Regulation Crowdfunding
If you’ve read our stuff before, you know Regulation Crowdfunding provides a new-to-you business investment opportunity. An avenue to invest local that has been…
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Time Travel, Reg CF, And The Justice League
When you hear the term “crowdfunding for small business,” it might sound like a recent phenomenon. But put aside Reg CF and tech startups…
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How can I increase cash flow as a small business?
Spreadsheets, bookkeeping, cash flows, balance sheets, financial statements…it’s tough to manage your finances as a small business. You may be a passionate owner with…
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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 –…