Start-up Funding: It takes a lot of love

“More and more platforms are pushing into Germany that enable private individuals to invest in start-ups. But individuals should think this through carefully.

Feel like Elon Musk for once. He was a co-founder of Paypal: Hardly any smartphone would be imaginable today without the payment app. Musk was an early investor in Tesla, and today he's filthy rich with a rocket company and he could even afford Twitter. Anyone who invests in a start-up as a private person is not guaranteed to get rich - there is a good chance that the money invested will be lost completely.

 

It was generally a good idea that the EU standardized the rules on corporate financing. The European patchwork quilt needs to be cleaned up in other areas as well. But whether it was a good idea to give private individuals the opportunity to invest in start-ups can be doubted.

 

Private investors are protected from risky forms of investment – for good reason. But what is more risky than investing in start-ups that often fail in the early stages? Venture capital funds can be credited with the expertise to judge whether a business model is really ingenious or founders just think it's ingenious. In addition, they have sufficient capital to compensate for one or the other total loss.

If climate protection is important to you and if you like playing on the computer, you should better buy a lot of small Zeedles. Investing directly in the company: But that takes a lot of love – and excess money.”

That's why you Germans won't have a computer-based economy. Allergy to risk will not allow you.