Since 2017, I invested in multiple Startups via Crowdinvesting platforms. Before that, I only invested in public traded companies.

I am currently thinking about investing in some new Startups (and I also operate my own Startup), so that is a good time to check if my previous investments are profitable.

Industry Type Year Performance Comment
Drinks Loan 2017 No profit yet Waiting for repayment, company currently unable to pay.
Software Loan 2019 No profit yet Growing fast but no profit yet.
Software Loan 2018 No profit yet Growing fast but no profit yet.
Restaurant Equity 2018 Bankrupt Won’t see any money.
Food Equity 2019 Worth lesser Valuation has gone down.
Finance Equity 2017 Doubled Valuation has gone up.
Cars Equity 2019 Up a bit Valuation has gone up.
Phones Equity 2018 Doubled Company should be worth more now.

I also invested, via loan, in three - not public - companies which already exist for a longer period and which I don’t classify as a Startup because of that. Of these 3 companies, only one could pay me back in time.

Recap⌗

I invested into 8 startups and only 4 of them are worth more now. But they haven’t gone up 10 times, no! They don’t even cover my losses yet. My investments in other private companies were also bad. Of my three investments in mid-sized traditional companies, only one could pay me back in time.

If I add other investments in the private sector - like real estate investment - then it also looks bad because some of the projects failed.

Summary⌗

Startup investing via equity crowdfunding is a bad idea after my experiences. Even other kinds of equity crowdfunding are a bad idea.

The bad thing is: If you think about it, it makes total sense. Most of the Startups searching for money via equity crowdfunding wouldn’t get a loan from a traditional bank, that’s why they are using alternative founding methods.

My profits from the stock market, in comparison, allowed me at the same time to focus on building my own company. So investing in publicly traded companies gave me profits which are not comparable to my losses in Startup investments.

I think as a normal person, you can think about investing in publicly traded companies but should stay away from Startups and let venture capitalists handle that.