Jeremy Au )reconnects with Milan Reinartz) to explore how angel investing evolved into a community-led platform, why Southeast Asia’s VC math doesn’t work, and how late-stage private markets offer new opportunities for retail millionaires. They talk through founder quality, opaque incentives, and the need for real diligence in a fragmented region. It’s a grounded take on what needs to change in early-stage investing and what’s already shifting.
1. From solo investing to a platform: Milan started out deploying his own capital but realized he needed to pool investors to access better rounds.
2. Backing experienced founders only: He avoided pre-revenue startups and focused on tier-one operators with track records and strong fund backing.
3. Bundling small checks to access big rounds: The club combined smaller investments into a single vehicle to meet the $100K+ minimums of top-tier deals.
4. Vetting with the right experts: The community cross-checks deals with vertical operators like SaaS leaders or commodities experts to assess traction and founder integrity.
5. Southeast Asia’s exit math problem: Milan explains how capital raised outpaces available exit value, making traditional VC returns nearly impossible at scale.
6. Filtering out bad faith actors: Milan and Jeremy discuss how investors can use networks and peer validation to spot red flags early.
7. Giving accredited investors better access: Milan’s platform opens up late-stage private tech companies like SpaceX and OpenAI to “retail millionaires” without large ticket sizes.
Watch, listen or read the full insight at https://www.braves ea.com/blog/rebuilding-venture-capital)
Get transcripts, startup resources & community discussions at )www.bravesea.com)
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