Читать книгу Equity Crowdfunding for Investors - Matthew R. Nutting - Страница 10

Speaking of IPOs, naturally you hope that the startups in which you invest will grow and eventually go public, as did Apple and Facebook, so you can earn spectacular returns, as did Markkula and Hoffman. One of the aims of the JOBS Act (Title I), after all, was to make it easier for fast-growing companies to go public (an important part of the new law but one which is not a focus of this book). Keep in mind, though, that an IPO – while conceivable – is probably the least likely exit for your angel investment. Only a fraction of 1 percent of angel investments end in IPOs,5 although some successful investor groups – such as the oldest angel group in the western United States, the Band of Angels in Menlo Park, California – achieve “IPO hit rates” of more than 3 percent of their portfolio companies.6

Still, you can earn a return on your investment through other exit strategies, including management buybacks, acquisitions, and resale on new kinds of secondary markets. We expect that the emergence of equity crowdfunding will spawn new, online secondary markets and/or public stock exchanges for crowdfunded equity – that is, Internet-based marketplaces where crowdfunding investors can sell their shares (after a mandatory one-year holding period). Secondary markets that launch after this book is published, as well as many other useful resources for crowdfunding investors, will be listed on our website, www.wiley.com/go/equitycf.

Exit strategy is relevant only if the startup you invest in survives and grows. Many do not. Some of them simply fail to gain traction in the marketplace and wind up in dissolution or bankruptcy. Some of them stay small even if they succeed, in which case there may be no practical exit for angel investors (depending on the terms of the deal).