Ken Nguyen: Republic – Bridging the Gap Between Investing and Startups #353
Channel: Epicenter Podcast
Date: 2020-08-20

Republic is an investment platform that allows anyone pretty much anywhere in the world, of any income and net worth, to invest in some of the best private equity startups. It allows regular people, not just a few wealthy accredited investors, to invest in highly vetted private startups, with as little as $10 or as much as $100,000 per investment.

In the past, accredited investors were the only ones allowed to invest in startups through equity-based incentives. However the JOBS Act of 2016 created an exemption under the federal securities laws so that crowdfunding can be used to offer and sell securities to the general public. Republic launched just after the JOBS Act was passed with a goal to create an investment platform which was truly accessible to everyone. This was around the time that companies began raising funds with ICOs, and Republic was among the first platforms to offer a framework for Security Token Offerings.

Republic has recently innovated again with their Republic Note product. This is a profit sharing token which allows investors to receive dividends when companies who raise money on the platform make an exit. The tokens are issued by Republic which distributes a portion of the exit profits to investors in proportion to their holdings. This is a similar model to the Binance Token, which isn't surprising since Republic was the first portfolio company of Binance Labs. 

Ken Nguyen, Co-founder and CEO of Republic, explains the advantages of crowdfunding over traditional investing, the long term regulatory implications, and the opportunities this model opens up for startup funding.

Topics discussed in this episode:
- Ken’s background and his history with AngelList
- The implications from the JOBS Act 2016
- Ken’s vision for Republic and making investment more accessible for more people
- Overview of the US Securities Law and investing
- The interaction between Republic and crypto
- The types of start-ups and investors using Republic
- The importance of the community aspect within start-ups on Republic
- The Republic Note token
- Republic Note’s Reg A offering and what the benefits of this will be
- Where Republic Note can be traded
- Why Republic chose to partner with the Algorand protocol 
- DeFi, compliance with Securities Law and anti money-laundering 
- Republic’s visions for entering the EU market 
- The comparison to Binance
- What changes would Ken like to see with the Creditor Investor rules in the US

Links mentioned in this episode: 
- Republic website: https://bit.ly/3g6Vvih
- Republic on Medium: https://bit.ly/3iSs9WI
- Republic Note: https://bit.ly/3iO53QU
- When will the Republic Note’s Reg A offering be qualified?: https://bit.ly/3iRuVeS
- Republic Twitter: https://bit.ly/314BjsY
- Ken Nguyen Twitter: https://bit.ly/3g6PfHo

This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Brian Fabian Crain. Show notes and listening options: https://epicenter.tv/353