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Smart money moves before breakfast
Inspiration Quote for the Day
“The four most dangerous words in investing are: this time it’s different.”
Sir John Templeton
The Morning Ritual
Deb Could Buy Private Shares for $1,000. The Exit Was the Part She Missed.
My wife’s college roommate, Deb, called on Thursday with her reading glasses in one hand and a printout in the other. She had seen an ad for shares in a private company. No accreditation required. A `$1,000` minimum. “Is this like buying a stock?” she asked.
Ten years ago, Deb could not have bought it at all. A 2015 rule change opened that door to everyday savers. Here is what caught my eye. The door comes with three rules, and most first-time buyers read the first page of the offer and skip all three.
Deb’s question was about one private company. Our partner below asks a bigger one: which companies the next decade will reward.
· · · Partner Message · · ·
Editor’s Note: AI is spreading nearly twice as fast as the internet, and Porter believes it could create a brutal wealth divide between the people who profit from this revolution and those it leaves behind.
In his recent broadcast, he sits down with tech expert Luke Lango to reveal how to position your money before that divide becomes permanent.
A study from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis found that 39% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 64 had used generative AI within roughly two years of its mass-market introduction.
At the comparable point, internet adoption was around 20%. The internet took approximately five years to reach the level AI reached us in less than two.
AI adoption versus internet adoption
Many investors will look at that curve and conclude that it’s time to dump a load of cash into AI stocks.
But that’s where the trouble begins, because recognizing an inevitable technology is not the same thing as understanding who will make money from it.
The Great AI Divide will not be between people who believe in AI and people who do not. It will be between those who own the scarce, profitable parts of this new economy and those whose livelihoods are being repriced by it.
That’s why I recorded this sit-down with Luke Lango, one of the best technology investors I know. Luke recommended AMD in 2015, and he has spent years studying how these technological shifts create, and destroy, fortunes.
We also reveal the name and ticker of a little-known spin-off from a century-old American business that we believe could become crucial to the data-center buildout.
Watch my critical broadcast in full today.
Good investing,
Porter Stansberry
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In One Sip
► Regulation A lets companies sell shares to the general public, not only to the wealthy. A Tier 2 raise can reach `$75` million in `12` months. Source: SEC.
► An accredited investor needs `$200,000` of income, `$300,000` with a spouse, or `$1` million of net worth not counting the home. Source: SEC.
► Everyone else can buy in a Tier 2 deal. The cap is `10%` of the greater of annual income or net worth, home excluded. Source: SEC.
► Tier 2 companies must file audited financial statements and keep reporting to the SEC. Source: SEC investor bulletin.
► The buried part: most of these shares have no exchange to sell on, and many issuers restrict transfers. You can buy in a minute and wait years to get out.
Why It Matters for Your Money
Run Deb’s numbers. She earns about `$60,000` and has `$400,000` saved outside her house.
The rule uses the bigger of the two. So her legal ceiling is `$40,000` in one offering. That is a ceiling, not a suggestion.
Now price the waiting. If that `$40,000` sat in a `4%` savings account for seven years instead, it would grow to about `$52,600`. The private shares have to beat `$12,600` of near-certain growth just to break even.
And she cannot sell halfway if a roof leaks or a grandchild needs help. The money is parked until the company is sold, lists on an exchange, or finds some other exit.
Sound familiar? The minimum is never the risk. The lock-up is.
Here is what an offering summary looks like when it puts the exit risk in writing, right next to the numbers. Our partner below does exactly that.
· · · Partner Message · · ·
Green Coffee Company warehouse in Colombia
That is the projected unroasted coffee harvest at Green Coffee Company this year. Last year it was 2.3 million. Volume is where to start on any physical asset, because tonnage is the one figure a company cannot talk its way into.
Everything below is downstream of that number.
The ground. 45 farms. 10,000+ acres. 10 million+ trees. Cherries also purchased from 1,500+ neighboring growers who cannot mill their own.
The plant. Milling capacity above 1 million lbs weekly, the largest in Colombia, at 90% less water than traditional processing. Dual certified, Rainforest Alliance and Fair Trade. The largest arabica producer on record holding both.
The offtake. 3,000+ stores. 130+ grocery chains. 21 states. Target planned 55 locations, demand took it past 300. Walgreens live in 1,700.
The brand. Exclusive third-party rights to sell Juan Valdez branded coffee in U.S. and Canadian retail and institutional channels, under a ten-year, auto-renewing agreement. Colombia’s coffee since 1959. The company distributes it. It does not own it. Outside of the brand, they also sell their coffee as private label to large buyers like Carnival Cruise.
The book. Revenue $1 million in 2021, $26 million in 2025. Gross margins better by $4.5 million. $120 million+ raised from 2,000+ investors. Pre-money valuation stated at $365.8 million. Shares $1.15. Minimum $1,000.50, no accreditation required, up to 20% bonus shares at higher tiers.
The exposure you are actually taking. Unlisted and illiquid, with no secondary market and transfers subject to board approval. An exit is a hope, not a schedule. Total loss is possible.
The tonnage doubled and the shelf space is already standing. Whether the second one monetizes the first is the entire question, and it will be answered in harvests, not headlines.
Review the offering
Paid affiliate advertisement. Green Coffee Company is offering securities under Regulation A. An offering statement has been filed with and qualified by the SEC; qualification means only that the company may sell the securities described in it. Review the offering circular before investing. The shares are private, unlisted and illiquid, there is no secondary market, transfers are subject to board approval, and you may lose your entire investment. Revenue growth and past performance do not predict future results. Non-accredited investors may invest no more than 10% of the greater of annual income or net worth. Rights apply to retail and institutional sales in the U.S. and Canada (non-cafe business) and are governed by a 10-year agreement to manufacture and distribute the iconic Juan Valdez® brand in the U.S. and Canada. Juan Valdez®, Procafecol S.A., the National Coffee Federation of Colombia, and any of their respective affiliates (collectively, the “Juan Valdez Parties”) are not sponsors, issuers, co-issuers, promoters, guarantors, underwriters, placement agents, or participants in any manner in this investment offering. The Juan Valdez Parties have not reviewed, approved, authorized, endorsed, recommended, or verified this offering, any related offering materials, or any statements made herein, and do not express any view or opinion regarding the merits, risks, or suitability of this investment. Any reference to the “Juan Valdez®” brand or related trademarks is made solely for the limited purpose of describing an existing commercial agreement relating to the manufacture, marketing, and sale of certain coffee products. Such agreement does not extend to, and expressly excludes, any securities offering, fundraising activity, investment program, or capital-raising transaction. Investors should not rely on the existence of any trademark license, brand association, or commercial agreement with the Juan Valdez Parties as an indicator of financial performance, investment quality, creditworthiness, risk mitigation, or likelihood of success of the issuer or this offering. The continuation of any commercial agreement is subject to contractual terms and conditions and may be modified or terminated, and no assurance is given that any such relationship will continue for any period of time. No Juan Valdez Party assumes any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained in this offering, nor for any investment decision made by any investor.
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The Wealth Angle
Here is where it gets interesting. On a stock exchange, thousands of buyers and sellers argue about the price every second.
In a Regulation A round, the company sets the price. That is not wrong, and it is how private rounds work. It just means the offering circular is where you do your homework, because no market did it for you.
Think about that for a second. You are buying the company’s own estimate of what it is worth today, with a promise of reporting tomorrow.
I like that the door is open. Everyday savers were shut out of private companies for decades. I would just walk through it with money I could leave alone for ten years, and never with the emergency fund.
· · · Partner Message · · ·
Not every way to invest means owning the asset outright. Bitcoin Up or Down, This Trade Pays Either Way
No coins, no wallets, no crypto exchanges. Just a regular brokerage account.
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☕ Key Insight:
Private shares are now open to almost anyone, capped at `10%` of income or net worth per deal. The real cost is not the `$1,000` minimum. It is the years you may wait to get out.
Coffee Break Move
Before your second cup, if a private offer has your attention, open the offering circular and find three sections.
If you are comfortable: read the risk factors, the use of proceeds, and the transfer restrictions. Size the check so you could forget it for a decade without changing your plans.
If you are stretched: build three to six months of cash first. A private share cannot pay a surprise bill, no matter how good the story is.
Deb read all three sections on Friday with a pot of coffee. She is still interested. She is also writing a smaller check than the one on her printout.

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