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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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…