Instavest

Finance and crypto

social investing

SHOW HN2015

80points
69comments
#335of 2,565 in 2015
Top 14%of 2015 by points

How HN took it

CuriousMostly questions and neutral comments

1 positive, 39 neutral or asking, 4 mixed, 20 critical, out of 64 comments about the project. Thread score -0.43.

Idea: 1 for, 12 againstDesign: 0 for, 3 againstExecution: 0 for, 1 againstDocs: 0 for, 1 againstPricing: 0 for, 1 against

The thread, comment by comment

Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.

positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker

What HN said

What people liked

  • Social, community aspect of copying investors is interesting

    From 1 comment
    • The voluntary gifts aspect is interesting. In the FAQ, there's mention of the option to tip someone whose investments you've shadowed, if you've been successful. If you…
      chiaro on HN

Objections

  • Pump and dump and manipulation risk

    From 2 comments
    • I can think of many ways to abuse this site[0], and that is just from an initial standpoint. This could be the next big SEC case waiting to happen. Are there measures in place to…
      gravypod on HN
    • I would worry about lead investors front running their trades; its pretty easy to make money in the market if you can get a large number of people copying your trades AFTER you…
      mckoss on HN
  • Survivorship bias and past returns do not predict future results

    From 3 comments
    • How are you controlling for survivor bias? Unless these investors are highly leveraged, have insider information, or are simply 'lucky' (or a combination of all three) I would…
      bdkoepke on HN
    • While it's an interesting idea, it seems like this is suggesting trying to copy someone's short term stock wins. The current page shows someone (6 random faces, where you can't…
      mpdehaan2 on HN
    • Ideas like this one smell of ponzi schemes. If this method were really a profitable idea they would not share it.
      bottled_poe on HN
  • Review and verification of lead investor writeups may not scale

    From 1 comment
    • > The write up is reviewed internally by member of the Instavest team and is cross checked for financial discrepancies against SEC filings. Is this really scalable?
      discardorama on HN
  • Sign-up requires funding and investor details are hidden behind login

    From 2 comments
    • Why is it that I can't see any details about the investors without logging in? The only thing I can see are the returns of 6 select investors, which is less than helpful. And I…
      gruez on HN
    • I closed the signup exactly at that same spot. Unfortunately this gives the sign "snake oil". The intent and model is o.k but not enough credibility for me to wire money without…
      3327 on HN
  • US-only, with citizenship and residency requirements

    From 3 comments
    • I've seen a few platforms like this and they're US only. Anyone aware of one that supports Canadian investors?
      biot on HN
    • Not according to your signup. It requires me to affirm that "I am a US citizen or permanent resident." I'm a legal long-term US resident but not a permanent resident (i.e. green…
      ctphipps on HN
    • Also, Why does it require me to be an US citizen?
      ravenkat on HN

Requests

  • Support for Canada and other countries

    From 2 comments
    • I've seen a few platforms like this and they're US only. Anyone aware of one that supports Canadian investors?
      biot on HN
    • Can I sign up to receive a notification when you do add canada.
      mrebus on HN
  • Integration with other brokers such as Robinhood

    From 1 comment
    • Cool! But i would like to have it integrated with other brokers (robinhood!). BTW: this is very similar to https://zercatto.com , no?
      tuxetuxe on HN
  • Team page with names and bios

    From 1 comment
    • > Our team includes alumni from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Goldman Sachs, Braintree, and Oaktree Capital Management. Where is the team page with their names and bio?
      btian on HN

Questions

  • How are lead investor trades reviewed and controlled

    From 2 comments
    • >3. An investor must disclose if the asset they are purchasing is held on another platform workaround: get your spouse/in laws/friends to hold the assets for you >4. Moderation…
      gruez on HN
    • 3. Like other financial institutions, we cannot stop bad people from doing bad things. What we can do is put the proper safeguards and procedures to protect people. 4. Let's say…
      skhatri11 on HN
  • How is this different from Covestor

    From 1 comment
    • How is this different from Covester (http://covestor.com/), which has been around (and seemingly struggling) for awhile?
      bcaine on HN

Alternatives named

  • eToro

    From 2 comments
    • This is exactly what Etoro does. Etoro has many problems though. To name a few: - Many traders will keep losing trades open indefinitely and only close their winning trades. This…
      Avalaxy on HN
    • Etoro.
      Avalaxy on HN
  • Covestor

    From 2 comments
    • How is this different from Covester (http://covestor.com/), which has been around (and seemingly struggling) for awhile?
      bcaine on HN
    • I am not sure how this is a pump & dump scheme. Covester (backed by USV and acquired by Interactive brokers) has a similar model. Wealthfront's predecessor -KaChing-(backed by…
      nrao123 on HN
  • DittoTrade

    From 1 comment
  • Zercatto

    From 1 comment
    • Cool! But i would like to have it integrated with other brokers (robinhood!). BTW: this is very similar to https://zercatto.com , no?
      tuxetuxe on HN
  • Motif Investing

    From 1 comment
    • I was referred to a similar website, when I share this with my co-worker. https://www.motifinvesting.com/motifs#catalog=our
      grdvnl on HN

Category, keywords, summaries and labels on this page were made by AI (Thread Reader v2) and not checked by hand. Each point links to the comments it came from.

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