Buying stocks in startups bad?

[Carson]

Can you even buy stocks in a startup? Or is that only possible with a company that went public? If it's possible to buy stock in a startup, should I? Or should I not bother with startups and focus on well established companies? What do you think?

[Scarlett]

I think if it is something that is promising and has a strong foundation of well-know backers and supports, it can be a good thing but for every great startup idea that becomes a huge success are thousands of failures. So It is kind of a risk. I am not sure I would do this personally. 

[Yonder]

The company would have to be listed on an exchange for you to buy stocks, and by the time they are they usually cannot be called a startup anymore.

[James]

As @Yonder stated the company will have to IPO and go public in some way for you to invest in it. 

You can invest at early stages if you know the right people and are considered an accredited investor in the eyes of the IRS. 

These investments should be treated as extremely speculative as the data shows a large majority of companies will fail. 

It really depends on your investment goals. If you are chasing huge gains you are pretty much gambling and you may be in for a rude awakening. It will work until it does not. 

I prefer to invest in solid companies, with low debt levels, stable cash flow, and provide value to their customers. It is also great if the barrier of entry for the competition is high. I also do not like to sell things so I am more of a buy and hold forever kind of guy which I know does not align with a lot of peoples investment philosophies.