Neil here.

Many of last year’s newly public superstars posted heavy losses… but they still made a killing for their angel investors.

In a sample of 12 high-value recently public companies, Crunchbase found that 75% of them reported losses of over $100 million in 2020. This sample included companies like Airbnb, Snowflake, and DoorDash – some of the most valuable companies to debut last year.

Not only that, but many of these companies are posting these losses alongside sky-high valuations. Airbnb, for example, reported $1.05 billion in losses with a $111 billion valuation.

This is part of an ongoing trend in the public markets… that despite generating insane amounts of revenue, many highly anticipated tech IPOs underperform. In 2019, for example, tech IPO returns averaged around -4.6%.

What does this mean for you? Well, it means you’re in the right place here.

As startup investors, we spot the companies we think have the best potential from the very start. And if our bets are right, sticking with a startup company from its earliest valuation all the way to an exit could make angel investors wealthier than they ever thought possible.

(Right now, I’m eyeing this one. It’s a tiny company in a fast-moving space that could turn out to be the startup deal of the century. Click here for the full report.)

At the end of the day, startup investors have a chance at much bigger returns than anyone who waited to jump in when the company went public.

Let’s take Uber, as an example. On its IPO day in May 2019, the company posted a cumulative loss of $655 million, making it one of the worst first day losses in IPO history. By November 2019, Uber’s stock had fallen over 40%.

But back in 2010, Uber was just getting started. In its seed funding round, Uber raised around $1.6 million at just a $5.4 million valuation. To put that in perspective, Uber’s last publicly available private round data valued the company at around $76 billion.

Investors in Uber’s seed round made a killing. Napster Co-Founder Shawn Fanning, for example, invested $25,000 in Uber’s seed round, which was worth over $124 million by IPO day.

That’s around a 496,000% jump. In other words, while Uber’s IPO was a flop, the company growth was still an incredible success for its earliest investors.

Of course, only the wealthiest angel investors had access to this kind of opportunity. It wasn’t until 2012 that everyday investors could benefit from these kinds of early-stage investments.

But imagine if you’d invested just $100 into Uber way back in 2010.

Using the same return listed above, that stake would have been worth almost half a million dollars by IPO day (not accounting for any dilution).

In 2021, I expect tech IPOs to continue underperforming, but I also expect massive returns for angel investors from these same market events.

That’s why I’ll always be such a huge advocate for startup investing. The opportunity to see such insane growth and work alongside incredible founders just can’t be beat.

Plus, startup investors have the chance to break into some of the market’s most up-and-coming industries… just by way of throwing a couple hundred dollars behind a company.

Take this startup, for example. Its valuation is expected to soar 11,113% over the next year alone.

The team behind this company has discovered a medical breakthrough that could turn the $1.5 trillion pharmaceutical industry on its head. For any American suffering from common conditions like arthritis and insomnia, this breakthrough could be a modern miracle.

And for any investor lucky enough to get in first, this could kick back a massive return.

If you’re interested in learning more, this startup’s founder is telling all today.

Just click here for the full report.

I’ll be back soon with another update.

Until next time,


Neil Patel