What Is an SPV? A Practical Guide to Special Purpose Vehicles for Angel Investors
An SPV is a Delaware LLC created for one deal only — to hold equity in a single startup. The pitch: clean deal access with expert due diligence. The catch: the median SPV returns exactly 1x after
June 3, 2026
Common Stock vs. Preferred Stock: Why Liquidation Preference Is Your Only Real Protection
In 2005, Trados received a $60 million acquisition offer. Per Delaware Court of Chancery ruling In re Trados Inc. Shareholder Litigation , preferred stockholders received $52.2 million. Common
June 3, 2026
Q1 2026 Venture Funding Broke Records. Here's What Accredited Investors Should Do With That Data.
Per Crunchbase's Q1 2026 global funding report , venture capital hit $300 billion in a single quarter, shattering every historical record. Four AI companies absorbed $188 billion of that, or 65 cents
June 3, 2026
Fund of Funds for Accredited Investors: What the Fee Math Really Says
According to Harris, Jenkinson, Kaplan and Stucke (2018) , A fund of funds (FoF) is a pooled investment vehicle that buys shares in other funds rather than individual companies. You pay two layers of
June 3, 2026
SAFE vs. Convertible Note: The Investor's Playbook
Founders love SAFEs. You should think twice. Y Combinator's Simple Agreement for Future Equity dominates early-stage rounds because it's fast, cheap, and founder-friendly. But SAFEs strip away
June 3, 2026
Convertible Note Explained: How Startups Borrow Their Way to a Valuation
According to Y Combinator's published financing documents , A convertible note is debt that becomes equity in a future priced round. Startups borrow now and postpone valuation questions. Before Uber
June 3, 2026
Mach Industries $300M Series C: Production Over Prototypes in Defense Tech
Mach Industries raised $300 million in Series C at a $1.8 billion valuation—a 3.8x jump in 12 months. The company is run by 22-year-old Thiel Fellow Ethan Thornton. It makes jet-powered loitering
June 3, 2026
Self-Directed IRA for Alternative Investments: The Tax Advantages, the Prohibited Transaction Traps, and How to Set One Up
TL;DR: Americans hold $18.9 trillion in IRAs (ICI, Q3 2025), but only an estimated 2 to 5 percent of that sits in self-directed accounts. A self-directed IRA (SDIRA) lets you put tax-deferred or
June 2, 2026
Shield AI Raises $1.5 Billion at a $12.7 Billion Valuation: What Defense Tech's Biggest Round Tells You
TL;DR: On March 26, 2026, Shield AI announced a $1.5 billion Series G at a $12.7 billion post-money valuation , up 140% from $5.3 billion just twelve months before. That equity round is only part of
June 2, 2026
The INVEST Act: What the House-Passed Capital Formation Bill Could Change for Private Investors
TL;DR: The Incentivizing New Ventures and Economic Strength Through Capital Formation Act of 2025 (H.R. 3383) , known as the INVEST Act, passed the House 302-123 on December 11, 2025. Eighty-seven
June 2, 2026
DPI: The Only Private Equity Metric That Shows You Real Cash
Quick take: Private equity distributions as a share of NAV collapsed from 29% in 2021 to just 9% in the first half of 2024 -- the lowest level in over a decade, according to Goldman Sachs Asset
June 2, 2026
Blue Sky Laws: The State Securities Rules Every Private Investor Needs to Know
Blue sky laws still govern every private placement in America. The 54 state and territorial securities regimes cannot block a Rule 506 offering, but they can void one. State regulators ran 1,186
June 2, 2026