Investing in Bitcoin Startups & Lightning Network with Don Stuart | Value Stack 30
Don Stuart is a former tech entrepreneur turned bitcoin enthusiast and angel investor. He is passionate about educating people on the importance of bitcoin, its impact on society, and how it will shape the future.
As the founder of Sats Standard Capital, he invests in early-stage bitcoin and lightning network companies. He also hosts the Orange Pill Addicts and co-organizes the Kansas City Bitcoin Meetup with the KC Bitcoin Guys.
In this episode, we talk about investing in bitcoin startups, and why someone would want to invest in private companies instead of more traditional assets like publicly traded stocks, or bitcoin.
Given the high failure rate of most startups, Don offers some insights on red flags to look out for in investing in startups, like board seat representation, company structure, founder reputation, as well as some positive indicators – those that are usually good signs the founder and product are on the right track.
Enjoy the episode and check out the full chapters below.
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Audio
Video
Topics
- 00:00:00 – Intro
- 00:01:03 – Starting Sats Standard Capital
- 00:03:21 – How to Invest in Bitcoin Companies as a VC
- 00:04:46 – Becoming a Bitcoin VC
- 00:06:28 – How being a previous founder helps with being a VC
- 00:07:31 – How startup board seats are chosen
- 00:08:34 – Diligence in crypto VC
- 00:11:50 – Why invest in private companies instead of stock market?
- 00:13:43 – How VCs can impact companies aside from funding
- 00:14:57 – Why invest in companies instead of bitcoin?
- 00:19:12 – How high failure rate in early stage leads to “spray and pray”
- 00:22:00 – Bitcoin vs Crypto VC
- 00:32:19 – Rise of layer-2 bitcoin and more
- 00:36:57 – Vida live – lightning network
- 00:38:22 – Unicorn signs of startups
- 00:40:39 – Red flags of startups
- 00:45:26 – Types of business structure
- 00:48:25 – Orange Pill Addicts Podcast
- 00:50:23 – 2022 Recap Episode
- 00:51:16 – Why interview-style format is enjoyable to film
- 00:52:50 – Lightning Network in 2022/2023
- 00:57:22 – Next halving cycle predictions
- 01:02:26 – Choosing what to invest in with limited capital
- 01:03:57 – When will people be spending and using bitcoin?
- 01:05:29 – How will bitcoin help our society evolve?
- 01:16:09 – Taking a long term perspective on bitcoin
- 01:23:58 – Kansas City Bitcoin Meetup
- 01:27:41 – Bitcoin Point of Sales
- 01:30:30 – Outro
