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Tag: invest locally

Turning Passion into Profit

by Malcolm McDonald on August 11, 2021.

We’re not saying this blog will cure your post-Olympic blues, but we do have something golden for you. This week we chatted with Alek Kocevski, a 20 yr Greenvillian originally from Macedonia, who is bringing an ancient Eastern European art form to life in the US. Golden Butterfly Studios is the only business in the...

You’re Special… Sort of.

by Malcolm McDonald on July 28, 2021.

“You’re special, just like everyone else.” Unfortunately, this is as true in business as anywhere. Specialize or die – in a world of investing options and democratized finance, that’s the challenge Vicinity welcomes “with aaaarms wide oooopen.” So what does make Vicinity special? The local asset class. Haven’t heard of it? That’s ok, we made...

A Twist on Buffett’s Advice

by Malcolm McDonald on June 23, 2021.

Today we’re taking a new look at one of Warren Buffett’s most quoted lines: “Never invest in a business you cannot understand.” While we wholeheartedly agree with the Oracle of Omaha, we think there’s a key, misplaced assumption investors make when applying this old adage. The assumption is that what we can “understand” is static and we...

Is Real Estate Really “Location, Location, Location”?

by Kasen Wysong on February 17, 2021.

At the end of 2020 Chapel ran a successful campaign on Vicinity’s portal to fund a multi-tenant facility in the Poe Mill area. For context, Poe Mill is a historically overlooked neighborhood in downtown Greenville. At face value, it might appear this project didn’t check the box for a “location, location, location” real estate deal; however, a closer look reveals the opposite.

What Robinhood got wrong (& right) in their Super Bowl commercial

by Malcolm McDonald on February 10, 2021.

I was about ready to let the whole Robinhood/Gamestop wildness go… and then I saw the commercial. You’ve probably seen it by now – the Robinhood Super Bowl spot featuring an upbeat voiceover narrating scenes of puppies, babies, and emotional zoom calls (yes, really). The TLDR is that “We are all investors.” Maybe it was...

Doubling-down on Democratization

by Joshua Rollins on February 10, 2021.

While trust in the gamified giant has become as volatile as a short squeeze on an outdated retail chain, now might be a good time to look at who this prince of thieves is taking from and whom it is giving to.

What have you assumed?

by Malcolm McDonald on January 28, 2021.

Assumptions are all those little (and BIG) things we expect to be true in the future around our business, its market, or the customers we’re trying to serve. Since no one can predict the future without these assumptions, we would all be paralyzed and unable to build any businesses.

5 Questions for the Capital Seeker

by Joshua Rollins on January 28, 2021.

There comes a point in nearly every business’s life when getting funding is a necessity. At this fateful moment, there may also be a realization that a certifiably insane number of capital sources are out there. Most of these will not be a good fit, and each will have their set of strings, checklists and “arrangements” attached.