Investing in Bitcoin Startups & Lightning Network /w Don Stuart | Value Stack 30

Don 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. Thanks for listening! Support the show here, or by listening to the podcast directly on Fountain app! 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