Archives

A Different Take on Value Investing

by Joshua Rollins on November 2, 2021.

I distinctly remember the look I received from our investment advisor assigned to my company’s 401k retirement plan. It was the annual plan review. I was eating a fantastic water buffalo burger at one of my favorite local restaurants in Gainesville, FL. He – let’s call him Mike – spent about 30 minutes talking through...

Pride of Place

by Malcolm McDonald on October 26, 2021.

Pride of place. It’s one of those phrases that sounds familiar, but you’re not sure why. What place are we talking about? Are there lions involved? While it’s not the catchiest phrase, it captures a concept I believe will define our microinvesting-fueled funding revolution.

Double Duty Dollars

by Malcolm McDonald on October 13, 2021.

If you’re in the thick of raising capital, worrying about who’s running their mouth about your brand and what they’re saying might not be top of mind. Brand is something you can focus on after you secure the cash you need, right?  While we’re certainly fans of staying focused, we think there might be a...

Accredited or Sophisticated?

by Malcolm McDonald on September 8, 2021.

I recently saw someone post on social media about their momentous achievement of reaching “Accredited Investor” status. For context, that’s the financial equivalent of 10,000 Benjamins, 40 college degrees, a 3 year stay in a 5 star NY hotel, 4 Lamborghinis, or your very own private island. Amassing $1 Million in net worth is quite...

The Collab of the Decade

by Malcolm McDonald on September 1, 2021.

This week we’ve got buildings on the brain. Private real estate investing is hardly a new arena, but the rise of Crowdinvesting has CRE developers and investors feeling a little FOMO. Never fear, the Vicinity team is here to explain where Regulation CF fits into the world. TBH we haven’t been this excited about a collab since Aerosmith &...

Booming Babies and Business Buying

by Malcolm McDonald on August 25, 2021.

The mass exodus of baby boomers from small businesses has been predicted for several years now. While the “tsunami” of boomer biz owners looking for the exit hasn’t happened, we may be in the early stages of that phenomenon. The WSJ reports that the amount of small businesses for sale is at a 6 year high, with...

Evaluating Evaluation

by Malcolm McDonald on August 18, 2021.

Today we’re going mountain climbing. What mountains you say? Well, the small ones of course! Zeb Parsons, one of our recent podcast guests left us with a line we’ve been noodling on: “Climb the small mountains first & the big mountains later.” This got us thinking, as a business owner, how do I know I’m picking the...

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...