Nearly everyone is an investor nowadays. We are not talking about serious investors who professionally calculate returns, run risk assessments on a daily basis, meet with Wall Street guys for lunch. We are talking about the “average Joe” who has a day job, spends Saturday night watching Saturday Night Live with a can of Budweiser and puts some of his savings into public stocks and managed funds from time to time. There are millions of casual investors across the globe who dabble in shares or mutual funds with their savings making buying and selling decisions based on market trends and advice from brokers or friends. While some will tell you it’s just an alternative to low interest rates the banks are paying, others will tell you “there is a bit of excitement involved in banking on a company’s stocks in hope that the business does well and the value of their investment shoots up”. If you ask me, the stock markets may offer “some” lure, but it’s pale compared to the thrill of being a VC in early stage startups.
While we have to agree there is always a sense of excitement in any form of equity investment no matter how small, buying a few shares in a large, established, publicly listed company (although you are considered part owner) is quite passive in comparison to being a small investor in an innovative startup. The involvement level as an investor in public shares is often limited to watching the prices of your shares go up and down and occasional reports of the business on financial news channels and media.
When it comes to being able to play the VC role (even investing small amounts like $20 in a fund) with start-ups, there is a whole new level of excitement, passion and involvement that comes with it. More than the financial return rates, It’s the thrill of banking on an idea you believe in. Within the Grow VC service for example, you can invest in the exciting realm of startups for as little as $20 playing the VC role which was previously restricted to VC firms and larger private equity investors. Further, since the platform is web based there is a virtually no “local market” and one can invest in breakthrough startup ideas and businesses from all over the world.
The concept of crowd-funding where “you or I” can actually help funding startups actually creates a much higher level of involvement with the startups one invests in exactly like a VC firm would. The Grow VC service provides an online environment where funders and startups have an open communication channel so you not only get to learn about the startups you choose to invest in through their profile pages, but you can also follow their progress through updates and periodic term papers creating that heightened sense of involvement. Being able to participate and watch the business evolve and grow is far from feeling like a passive investor. The crowd-funding model opens doors to some fantastic opportunities for smaller investors. It offers a chance for the average casual investor to fund the next YouTubes, Facebooks, Googles and Twitters of the world. It gives you and me the opportunity to be the next VC and experience the thrill that comes with the job. Doesn’t that beat the charm of the stock markets?
