Brighton Park Capital: The $4B Growth Equity Firm Most Investors Have Never Heard Of
TL;DR Brighton Park Capital manages approximately $4 billion in assets. In roughly 18 months, the firm generated two disclosed exits above $400 million each: Paradox sold to Workday for $1 billion in
May 28, 2026
Private Credit Default Rates 2025: Three Indices, Three Very Different Numbers
TL;DR: Depending on which index you read, private credit default rates in 2025 were either 9.2%, 2.46%, or less than 1%. All three numbers are accurate. They just measure completely different things.
May 28, 2026
SEC Private Placement Enforcement 2025: $700M+ in Fraud, Named Cases, and Red Flags
TL;DR: The SEC brought actions totaling over $700 million in alleged private placement fraud in 2025 alone. If you are putting money into a Reg D offering, here is what the enforcement record tells yo
May 28, 2026
CrowdStreet Review 2026: $4.5B Platform After the $63M Fraud
TL;DR On May 19, 2025, U.S. District Judge Steven Grimberg sentenced Nightingale Properties CEO Elie Schwartz to 87 months in federal prison for stealing $62.8 million from roughly 800 CrowdStreet inv
May 28, 2026
506(b) vs 506(c): The Two Reg D Exemptions Every Accredited Investor Needs to Know
Under 17 CFR § 230.506 , private companies can raise unlimited capital from investors without registering securities with the SEC. Two paths exist: Rule 506(b) and Rule 506(c). In the twelve mont
May 28, 2026
Afore Capital: The $500M Pre-Seed Fund That Backs Founders Before They Have an Idea
In February 2025, Afore Capital closed its fourth fund at $185 million , crossing $500 million in total assets under management. That is a remarkable number for a firm that bets exclusively at pre-see
May 28, 2026
DPI vs TVPI: The PE Metric That Pays Your Bills (One of Them Doesn't)
Here is the number that should keep every private equity LP up at night: half of all PE funds raised between 2015 and 2018 have still not returned investors’ initial capital, according to ILPA d
May 28, 2026
Blue Sky Laws: What Accredited Investors Must Know Before Every Private Deal
TL;DR In 2023, state securities regulators obtained more than $333 million in fines and restitution , plus approximately 461 years of criminal incarceration, from 1,186 enforcement actions. Your Regul
May 28, 2026
Qualified Investor vs. Qualified Purchaser: The $5M Line That Separates Good Funds From Elite Ones
Qualified Investor vs. Qualified Purchaser: The $5M Line That Separates Good Funds From Elite Ones By Jeff Barnes, MBA | Angel Investors Network A friend of mine runs a top-decile hedge fund. He takes calls from...
May 27, 2026
SAFE Notes vs. Convertible Notes: What Angel Investors Must Understand Before Signing
I watched a founder's ownership drop from 78% to 35% at a single Series A closing. The cap table wasn't wrong. The math was clean. What happened was that three SAFE notes — each signed 12 to 18 months earlier, each...
May 27, 2026
Common Stock vs Preferred Stock: What Every Angel Investor Must Know Before Writing a Check
Imagine a startup you backed at $2M post-money raises a Series B, sells two years later for $15M, and you walk away with less than what you put in. Not because the company failed. Because you didn’t understand the...
May 27, 2026
Angel Investing in 2026: What the Data Actually Says
Angel Investing in 2026: What the Data Actually Says Seven percent of angel exits produce 75% of all the money made. That one statistic, from a landmark study of 1,137 exits conducted with support from the Angel Capital...
May 27, 2026