Have you seen the new app, Friend.tech?
Essentially, it’s a social network where you can buy shares in people — from NBA players and OnlyFans creators, to ordinary folks like your friends.
Once you own shares in someone, you can engage with them directly.
But what’s more interesting is this: if someone’s share price increases over time — because they become more credible or popular — you can sell your shares for a profit.
This app has touched a nerve. It just launched a few weeks ago and it’s already recorded inflows of about $81 million.
So, should you jump in now, while you can still get in early?
Today, I’ll give you my opinion — and I’ll also give you a better way to bet on people.
It’s Tough to Overlook the Elephant
Projects like Friend.tech — businesses that turn humans into commodities that can be ranked, traded, etc. — have been tried many times before.
In 2015, for example, a tech startup called Klout advertised itself as a “Yelp for people.”
In 2021, BitClout scraped people’s Twitter profiles (without their permission) to create a new social network. It then charged people real money to control their own profile.
And last year, I introduced you to a concept called life-shares. With life-shares, in exchange for an upfront investment, you can own a stake in everything a human does over the next 30 years.
But let’s consider the elephant in the room:
Turning human beings into something tradable is tough to swallow. As any student of history understands, it can lead to exploitation, or worse.
Bottom line: I can’t recommend Friend.tech.
Instead, I’d like to introduce you to something similar… but far better.
In fact, not only does it help you avoid the elephant in the room…
But it could potentially help you earn profits of 1,000% or even more.
A Better Alternative
At Crowdability, we often talk about the importance of “investing in people.” But we don’t mean you should invest in Friend.tech or life-shares.
Instead, we mean you should invest in startups that have high-quality teams.
That’s how you’ll put yourself in position to earn at least 10x your money, which is our minimum target for any startup we invest in.
So, today, I’ll explain why a strong team is so important to startup investment success.
Then, over the next month or so, as I find startups run by great teams that are raising capital, I’ll share them with you.
Ready? Let’s jump in.
Why a Strong Team Is So Essential for Startup Success
Any company, private or public, will be more successful with a strong team.
But for startups, a strong team is essential.
You see, very few startups create significant revenues. These are early-stage enterprises in search of a business model. So the biggest risk to a startup — the existential threat it faces every day — is that it runs out of capital.
That’s why we should invest in the startups that have a lower risk of running out of capital.
And as it turns out, one of the best ways to lower this risk is to invest in a strong team.
Specifically, a strong team has the following elements:
More than one founder. Research has proven that teams with multiple founders make more progress more quickly. In fact, “solo” founders take 3.6 times longer to reach scale compared to founding teams of 2. And being able to get more done more quickly equates to a lower risk of running out of capital.
Significant domain experience in their industry. In other words, they already know all the ins and outs of their sector. This correlates to a lower risk of running out of capital.
A strong team is “balanced.” Balanced teams have one founder who has a technical background, and one founder who has a business background. Balanced teams: 1) Raise 30% more money; 2) Have 2.9 times more user-growth; 3) Are 19% less likely to scale prematurely. Each of these factors correlates to a lower risk of running out of capital.
And finally, a strong team is well-educated. Founders who’ve earned college or advanced degrees are more likely to have critical-thinking skills to help them manage complex situations. Educated founders also tend to have other qualities associated with start-up survival, including commitment, discipline, and motivation. Each of these factors has been shown to improve the growth rate of new ventures, and higher growth is correlated to a lower risk of running out of capital.
Check All the Boxes
Today, you learned about the best way to “invest in people”:
Invest in a startup run by a great team!
To help you take advantage of this idea, I’ll be writing you over the next month or so to introduce you to startups that are run by great teams, and that are raising capital.
Until then…
Happy Investing!
Best Regards,
Founder
Crowdability.com
