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The Redemption Panic: Why BDC Gates Aren’t Defaults

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The Redemption Panic: Why BDC Gates Aren’t Defaults Non-traded BDCs are gating withdrawals again. Having already lost money on retail private credit once, here’s how I read the headlines — and the three things that would actually worry me. The headlines vs. the data Every few weeks in 2026 another headline lands: a giant private-credit […]
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The Prohibition Model: North Carolina Bans Litigation Funding

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The Prohibition Model: North Carolina Bans Litigation Funding On June 22, 2026, North Carolina became the first US state to ban third-party litigation funding outright — not disclosure, not a cap, a flat prohibition. Here’s what the statute actually does, and what it means for the asset class. My angle here isn’t a lawyer’s — […]
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The VC Myth, Debunked: Why Patent Funders Aren’t VCs

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The VC Myth, Debunked: Why Patent Funders Aren’t VCs Reading Sean K. Thompson’s new preprint — and what the publicly disclosed Burford and Omni Bridgeway data actually say about how patent funders make money. The Setup In 2025, four WilmerHale attorneys published The Venture Capital Model Applied to Litigation Funding: Misaligned Incentives and the Harm […]
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The Sovereign Mirage: 9 Years, Two Arbitrations, Total Loss

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LexShares Case #254: The Sovereign Mirage A Turkish contractor built $1.5 billion in infrastructure for a Central Asian state. Then the government stopped paying. Two international arbitrations and nine years later — nothing. The Numbers Invested $50,000 Returned $0 Net Loss ($50,000) MOIC 0.00x IRR -100% Holding Period 3,270 days The Case A Turkish construction […]
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The $10M Extraction: Anatomy of a Subordinate Note

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The $10M Extraction: Anatomy of a Subordinate Note What a 27-page Series Note Supplement reveals about a real estate deal that the marketing page doesn’t A word on why I read 27 pages of a note supplement most investors will never open. Willow Wealth is the company formerly known as YieldStreet — the platform where […]
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The Patent Platform Turn: How Families Beat Single Cases

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The Patent Platform Turn: How Families Beat Single Cases How patent acquisition and licensing-first strategies are reshaping litigation finance (2025–2026) My interest here isn’t academic. The “old model” this post describes — one patent, one defendant, one big swing — is exactly how I bought patent cases as a retail investor on LexShares. I held […]
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The Litigation Grind: 42 Cases, 7 Years, 1.25% IRR

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42 Cases, 8 Investors, One Platform’s Collapse How my investor group barely broke even on a litigation finance crowdfunding platform The Bottom Line My investor group put $2.3 million into 42 commercial litigation cases on LexShares from 2017-2020. We barely broke even. Total Invested $2,331,000 Members 8 Cases 42 Record 20 wins, 15 losses, 7 […]
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The $208M Rebrand: YieldStreet Becomes Willow Wealth

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YieldStreet → Willow Wealth: Anatomy of a Rebrand When $208 million in losses meets a name change — what veteran investors learned about “democratizing” alternative investments I’m not writing this as an outside observer: I was a YieldStreet investor, and I came out behind. Across my three YieldStreet notes, two individually paid — a pre-settlement […]
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The Passport Patent Payday: 9 Years to 1.84x

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LexShares Case #644: The Passport Patent Payday An inventor’s RFID technology ended up in every US electronic passport. After 9 years of litigation, the government finally paid. The Numbers Invested $25,000 Returned $45,897 Net Profit $20,897 MOIC 1.84x IRR 9.43% Holding Period 2,458 days The Case In the mid-2000s, an inventor developed technology for securely […]
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The $100M Question

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The $100 Million Question A dinner-table thought experiment about what you’d actually do if real wealth landed overnight — and what it reveals about purpose. Background This thought experiment showed up at our dinner table while my wife and I were talking about retirement. We bounced between the usual topics—where to live, how to invest, […]
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The David vs Goliath Letdown: $50M Claimed, 1.12x Returned

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LexShares Case #1101: The Copycat Fuel Injection System A small engineering firm proved a €14 billion auto giant stole their technology — but $50M+ in claimed damages became a 1.12x return The Numbers Invested $30,000 Returned $33,710 Net Profit $3,710 MOIC 1.12x IRR 4% Holding Period 1,699 days The Case A Michigan engineering firm developed […]
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The $5 Million Mistake: Rejected Settlement, Total Loss

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LexShares Case #617: The $5 Million They Should Have Taken A retail developer rejected a $5M settlement offer, went to trial, lost, appealed, lost again. Total loss. The Numbers Invested $82,500 Returned $0 Net Loss ($82,500) MOIC 0.00x IRR -100% Holding Period 1,351 days The Case In 2009, a major metropolitan transit authority — one […]
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The Counterfeit Nightmare: Chinese Prison, Zero Recovery

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LexShares Case #321: The Counterfeit Equipment Nightmare A small reseller bought “genuine” equipment from a Fortune 50 company. It was counterfeit. Their employees went to Chinese prison. The lawsuit went nowhere. The Numbers Invested $47,500 Returned $0 Net Profit ($47,500) MOIC 0.00x IRR -100% Holding Period 1,648 days The Case In 2011, a small East […]
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The Trademark Grind: 50 Letters, 4 Years, 1.10x

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The Trademark Enforcement Campaign 15 lawsuits, 4+ years, and a 1.10x return — the economics of volume trademark litigation The Numbers Invested $50,000 Returned $54,970 Net Profit $4,970 MOIC 1.10x IRR 2.1% Holding Period 1,673 days Distributions 5 payments The Case A financial advisor built a nationally-recognized brand around his radio program. His company owned […]
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The Second Million: $1M to $2M in Three Years

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The Second Million: $1M to $2M in Three Years The first million took fourteen years of earning and saving. The second took three — and taught me more about people, work, and “enough” than about money. The Acceleration My wealth grew far faster after I crossed my first million in 2018. I doubled it in […]
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The Extended Hold: 16-Month Term, 45-Month Finish, 13% Return

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The Extended Hold: A 16-Month Deal That Ran 45 How a 16-month small business lending deal stretched to 45 months — and still delivered 13%+ returns The Numbers Invested $70,000 Returned $87,032.77 Net Profit $17,032.77 MOIC 1.24x IRR 13.12% Target Term 16 months Actual Term 45 months The Investment In April 2018, YieldStreet launched Short […]
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The Monsanto Verdict: $289M Jury Award, 1.70x Return

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LexShares Case #656: The Groundskeeper Who Made History Johnson v. Monsanto — the first Roundup cancer verdict, a $289M jury award, and my small piece of legal history The Numbers Invested $25,000 Returned $42,399 Net Profit $17,399 MOIC 1.70x IRR 29% Holding Period 770 days The Case You probably heard about this one. Dewayne Johnson […]
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The Installment Plan: 31 Payments, 1.69x Over 3 Years

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LexShares Case #1098: The 31-Payment Settlement A medical finance fraud case settled quickly — then took 2.5 years to pay out in installments The Numbers Invested $30,000 Returned $50,703 Net Profit $20,703 MOIC 1.69x IRR 65% Holding Period 1,061 days Payments Received 31 The Case A Florida investor spent seven years building a relationship with […]
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The Pyrrhic Victory: Won at Trial, Lost Money

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LexShares Case #310: When Winning Still Loses Money UKnight v. Knights of Columbus — a $100 million lawsuit wins at trial, but the $500,000 verdict doesn’t cover the litigation funding The Numbers Invested $170,000 Returned $149,937 Net Profit ($20,063) MOIC 0.88x IRR -4.41% Holding Period 1,018 days The Case List Interactive v. Knights of Columbus […]
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The Double Loss: No Verdict, No Lawyer, No Recovery

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LexShares Case #249: A Total Loss What happens when the plaintiff loses at trial, then loses their lawyer The Numbers Invested $50,000 Returned $0 Net Profit ($50,000) MOIC 0.00x IRR -100% Holding Period 1,079 days The Case A landlord leased 18,000 square feet of office space to a county child services agency in Pennsylvania. The […]
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The Startup Vindication: Trade Secrets Case, 1.76x in 15 Months

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LexShares Case #678: When a Giant Copied the Startup A trade secrets case generated 1.76x in 15 months — via a plaintiff buyout The Numbers Invested $150,000 Returned $263,269 Net Profit $113,269 MOIC 1.76x IRR 58% Holding Period 456 days The Case Cosmetic injections are a $4+ billion global market. The problem: poorly trained providers […]
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The Acquisition Exit: 48-Month Term, 21-Month Payoff

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The Acquisition Exit: A 48-Month Deal Paid Off in 21 How a platform acquisition turned a 48-month investment into a 21-month win with 13%+ returns The Numbers Invested $250,000 Returned $289,248 Net Profit $39,248 MOIC 1.16x IRR 13.14% Target Term 48 months Actual Term 21 months The Investment In December 2017, YieldStreet launched Diversified Pre-Settlement […]
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The Rubber Band Windfall: 2.57x on a Toy Licensing Fad

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LexShares Case #285: Riding the Rubber Band Craze How a toy licensing dispute turned $25,000 into $64,135 in under 2 years The Numbers Invested $25,000 Returned $64,135 Net Profit $39,135 MOIC 2.57x IRR 66% Holding Period 682 days The Case Remember when rubber band bracelets were everywhere? In 2013-2014, loom kits were the hottest toy […]
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The Break-Even Beginning: My First Litigation Bet

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LexShares Case #217: My First Litigation Investment 640 days to break even — and why I consider that a win The Numbers Invested $10,000 Returned $10,000 Net Profit $0 MOIC 1.00x IRR 0% Holding Period 640 days The Case A software company developed a web-based payment platform for transportation companies. A Fortune 500 trucking conglomerate […]
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The Concentration Bet: Going All-In on Litigation Finance

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The Concentration Bet: Going All In on Litigation Finance How reaching my first million reshaped my strategy — and why I concentrated heavily in litigation finance, with the risks, rewards, and lessons that followed. A note on how to read this one: it’s a time capsule. I wrote it in November 2018, at the moment […]
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The 14-Year Climb: From First Job to First Million

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The 14-Year Climb: From First Job to First Million From arriving in the US with nothing to $1 million in investable assets — strategic job changes, disciplined saving, and alternative investments that turned a $32,000 starting salary into financial independence. The Starting Point (1999-2004) I arrived in the United States in August 1999 with a […]
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The 73-Day Payday: 1.79x in 10 Weeks

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LexShares Case #281: A 73-Day Win How a wealth management fraud case turned $75,000 into $134,295 in under 3 months The Numbers Invested $75,000 Returned $134,295 Net Profit $59,295 MOIC 1.79x IRR 1,741% Holding Period 73 days The Case A professional athlete trusted a major bank’s wealth management team with his career earnings. What followed […]
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From $5,000 to $300,000: A Credit Building Roadmap

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Building a $300K Credit Line: From Zero to Arbitrage-Ready How to build credit history and maximize limits for credit card arbitrage Introduction This post continues from the Credit Card Arbitrage Guide, addressing the second part of Evan’s question: Can you talk a little more about how to get started doing credit card arbitrage, like the […]
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Credit Card Arbitrage: How to Borrow Cheap and Invest Smart

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The Complete Guide to Credit Card Arbitrage How to borrow at 0-3% and invest for double-digit returns using credit card balance transfers Introduction Recently, a reader named Evan asked the following question: Can you talk a little more about how to get started doing credit card arbitrage, like the basics? I just discovered this and […]
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The Midtown Payoff: $100K to $119K in 12 Months

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The Midtown Payoff: $100K to $119K in 12 Months My first preferred-equity real-estate deal ran its full term and paid off — a 19.45% IRR over 366 days. EVIVA Midtown Add-on Project Paid Off My first preferred-equity investment in a commercial real-estate project has been repaid in full. It ran 366 days from capital commitment […]
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The Deal That Never Closed: 36 Days, $3,330 in Cash Drag

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The Deal That Never Closed: 36 Days, $3,330 in Cash Drag A preferred-equity commitment that was returned before it ever funded — and what 36 days of dead capital actually cost. ProudLiving Project Has Been Terminated My second preferred-equity investment in a commercial real-estate project was terminated before it ever closed. It ran 36 days […]
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