skhatri11

Probably best to "scratch your own itch" first. Do your friends have the same problem(s) your solving?

Have you tried making something that you (and your friends) would pay $5 / month for?

I loved Mailbox. Really disappointing. What do folks suggest we use as our replacement email app? Problem with Apple's stock Mail app is that Google doesn't allow push email. Yes, those few seconds before I receive an email are very precious to me :)

You mean a S-1?

I can send you the Twitter link too :)

Stock is getting slammed after hours.

Competition is important here, but I think low oil prices are driving customer savings.

Generally :)

Hearing rumbles that this deal isn't going to go through. But I will say from experience that when companies announce such deals they have already done their homework and generally feel pretty good about anti-trust issues. We'll be interesting to watch. Either way - Wall Street is selling Walgreen's on the news.

TLDR. Summary: Burn was too high.

I always wondered what the economics of a buffet were.

Is the eating a cost a traditional bell curve? At what point do buffet's lose money?

Qasar has been instrumental in Instavest's development. He gives it to you straight up and has garnered the trust and respect of all YC founders. You can count on him for sage counsel and "gentle reminders" that keep you focused on growth and product. This is a great step for Qasar and an awesome win for YC. Congrats!

The biggest problems in investing are (i) when and what do I buy; and (ii) when do I get out?

Instavest is the only platform to address these issues in a systematic way.

You'll see high quality investments ideas that have been backed by real money. You can choose to invest in these ideas and have the investment leader notify you when they sell or you can invest in your own idea and share with it with the community.

Our equity trades only $3.49 a trade.

How would an insurance company price this risk?

Good piece, but more specific to money licensing companies.

One more thing: Unlike most regulated industries, this is not a space where you "do and ask for forgiveness later". You have to be super aggressive when it comes to compliance. Otherwise you will get shut down. Think of it as "preventative health" to the extreme :)

Thanks for the typo. That has been fixed.

To address your comment on the CEO search. The markets do not like surprises. There is too much speculation with Jack Dorsey as the interim CEO. Especially because Dorsey is the CEO of Square and SqUARE is exploring an IPO. This further confuses investors. What the market wants is guidance. The fact that the company of this size has not named a CEO is puzzling. Large companies don't wait 2 months to name a successor - especially after they have forced the incumbent out. Most boards have a plan.

The blog post says by stocks (or index funds). Going to Reddit personal finance will just confuses people. The Mr. Money Mustache posts are good, thanks for sharing.

20% of the profits at a hedge fund is divided among the partnership with the owner of the hedge fund getting substantially all of the economics and the junior analyst receiving nominal basis points. On Instavest the 10.3% is for the one lead investor (with the Instavest transaction fee, of course :). Also, the lead managers on Instavest have an opportunity to build their track record and brand.

Thanks, Roy. I believe that the Index Fund approach is a good one - especially for novice investors - and Instavest definitely does not replace Index Funds.

What we are, however, is a better to invest in the stock market. The problem with investing in the stock market is (i) where do I invest? and (ii) when / how do I get out? The Instavest platform is a curated research base that's meant to show you the ideas that our out there. There is no obligation to invest (or follow, as you put it). You can poke around and if something strikes your fancy, jump in.

To come back to Index Funds for a second, I think that ~85% should be in Index funds unless you have an edge. The balance of your portfolio should be in higher returning assets. Its hard to do that buy yourself, however, and that's how Instavest adds value.

On the topic market efficiency, I think Warren Buffett said it best" "If I was running $1 million today, or $10 million for that matter, I’d be fully invested. Anyone who says that size does not hurt investment performance is selling. The highest rates of return I’ve ever achieved were in the 1950s. I killed the Dow. You ought to see the numbers. But I was investing peanuts then. It’s a huge structural advantage not to have a lot of money. I think I could make you 50% a year on $1 million. No, I know I could. I guarantee that.”

The reason why retail investors have a structural advantage is because they can invest small dollars in relatively inefficient parts of the capital structure. A large hedge fund or Goldman Sachs can't invest in a small cap company because that doesn't have high average daily trading volume because they have to put big dollars to work. This leaves a part of the market that is relatively uncovered with an opportunity to make substantial returns.

Folks on Instavest are not investing in Google or Apple, they are looking for overlooked stocks or opportunities to make incremental return like this (scroll to bottom of this link): http://blog.instavest.com/the-17-investment

Hope that clarifies things :)

Thanks for your thoughtful comment. Agreed that there are some bad apples in the HF space and I think that many of them will die in the next few years. Unfortunately, many emerging managers can't start their own hedge fund because it takes a minimum of $250 million just to get the ball rolling. At Instavest, we hope to be a launching platform for these folks while delivering value to other investors.

Thanks for the tip!

Thanks!

That's a fair point - although I think a lot of institutional investors (LPs) are pushing back on management fees both in the hedge fund and private equity arenas.

I think a fundamental alignment of incentives - putting your money where your mouth is - can be very powerful. This demands a flight to quality where only the best managers survive and investors know what they are "paying for."

It is quasi-contextual, but it would seem that a lot of startups share the same problems so there is broad applicability.

We're fixing this now. Thanks for the clarification.

Thanks, we're adding this.

Nothing to release right now - we're focused on developing the core product!

To emphasize, Instavest is not a replacement for a financial advisor nor is it a replacement for a portfolio of index funds.

Rather, Instavest is a supplement to your portfolio and helps you access previously overlooked / out of favor investment opportunities.

Searching for high-returns on a small part of your portfolio is something people do already.

All we are doing is bringing this phenomenon online and aggregating ideas so people can invest easily.

Right, and that's why its up to you to decide what to do after you read the Instavest research.

Here's an example of a writeup. There are several more like this. This position is up approximately 30%.

SunEdison is an attractive investment opportunity: by Jay Yoon March 11, 2015, 2:57 p.m.

Solar Is Cost Competitive Even Without Subsidies:

In general, I am very bullish on the overall solar sector. The cost of solar has declined to the point where it is competitive on a non-subsidized basis in many countries. Currently, solar is cheaper than retail electricity in approximately 30 countries. This includes some of the largest solar markets such as US, Japan and Germany. Other large countries, most notably China and India, are very close to grid parity.

Adoption of Solar Is Still At the Beginning Stages.

The overall penetration of solar is very low today (approximately 0.3% of global electricity generation). A small increase to 1% penetration will triple the market size. Thus, the solar industry is still at the beginning stages of a prolonged period of growth. The cost of solar will continue to decline going forward which will lead to the increased penetration of solar in many countries. For example, in the US, solar is currently cost competitive on a non-subsidized basis in 14 states. By 2016, this number is expected to increase to 47 states.

Leading Market Position.

SUNE is well-positioned to take advantage of the long-term growth in solar due to its leading market position. SUNE is currently the largest renewable energy provider in the world. In FY 2015, the Company expects to install between 2.1 – 2.3 GW of solar and wind projects. By comparison, SolarCity guided for between 920MW – 1 GW of deployments in FY 2015. SUNE’s competitive moat is significant. The Company’s scale and first-mover advantage provides them with project development expertise, access to capital and a broad network of relationships. SUNE also has a geographically diverse business which mitigates country-specific risk.

Differentiated Business Model.

SUNE has a differentiated and diverse business model. The Company entered the wind power market through their acquisition of First Wind. More recently, SUNE entered the energy storage business through its January acquisition of Solar Grid Storage. Thus, as a “one-stop-shop” provider of renewable energy services, SUNE has been able to differentiate itself from competitors.

Terraform and Future Yieldcos To Unlock Significant Value.

The formation of the Terraform Yieldco has allowed SUNE to retain the majority of its solar projects rather than selling them to a third party. The Company’s ROI from a retained project is significantly higher than the ROI realized from selling the project to a third party financial buyer. SUNE has announced its plans to form additional Yieldcos in the future, including an emerging markets Yieldco focused on projects in Africa and Asia. Terraform, along with the formation of future Yieldcos, will allow SUNE to maximize the value received from its solar and wind project developments.

Trading At A Large Discount to Fair Value.

SUNE shares are trading at a large discount to fair value. As I mentioned previously, the Company expects to install 2.1 – 2.3 GW of solar and wind projects in FY 2015. If SUNE sold these projects to a third party, I estimate that the Company would report ~$1.10 of EPS from its project development business. Comparable solar companies with a sizable project business trade at an earnings multiple of 25x or higher. For example, Sunpower currently trades at a multiple of near 30x FY 2015 earnings. Assuming a relatively conservative multiple of 20x FY 2015 EPS, I estimate SUNE’s project development business to be worth $22 per share. Thus, SUNE’s project development business by itself is almost worth the current share price. I estimate the remaining components of SUNE’s business (e.g. Terraform, Samsung JV, Semi business) to be worth an additional ~$15.00 per share. Putting it all together, I estimate that SUNE is worth $37 per share on a combined basis. This represents a 67% premium to the current share price of $22.17 (as of March 10th). Thus, I would recommend going long SUNE at the current price level.

To emphasize, Instavest is not a replacement for a financial advisor nor is it a replacement for a portfolio of index funds.

Rather, Instavest is a supplement to your portfolio and helps you access previously overlooked / out of favor investment opportunities.

Searching for high-returns on a small part of your portfolio is something people do already.

All we are doing is bringing this phenomenon online and aggregating ideas so people can invest easily.

-Saleem