Startup investing can be rewarding both financially and personally. By investing in a startup you are contributing to job creation and capital formation. The influence of entrepreneurs has shaped the U.S. since before its founding and the contribution with such innovation its absolutely immeasurable.
Even though picking winners is not an easy game, making a home run by investing in startups means that the returns could yield between 5x to 100 times returns on the initial investment. However, it is crucial to conduct the appropriate due diligence on the business, market, competitive landscape and founding members to mitigate against risk.
At the company I co-founded for instance, Onevest, an investment platform for startups, we help with the due diligence process by only showcasing highly vetted startups. Each entrepreneur and their high level officers have to pass through background checks in order to even be considered, in addition to pitching the business venture to our investment committee, which is comprised of four financial experts, and led by the former Chief Financial Officer of E*Trade Financial, Robert Simmons.
1) Invest in a domain you know. One of the best ways to reduce risk is to understand the market that startup operates in. This will provide you with a better sense when projecting the potential success of the venture. Make sure that the business has a scalable model so that it can grow to a level in which you will be able to get your money back as an investor.
2) Drill into the track record of the founders. The people behind the company are the most critical factor, especially for early stage companies. This is mainly due to the fact that products need to be iterated several times until they are able to find where they fit in the market. Just like Jim Collins’ book “From Good To Great”, it is all about having the right people sitting in the right seat. Eventually they will end up finding the right direction. Here you want to focus on their background story (previous companies, education, etc.) and what type of value they bring to the table.
3) Diversify your investments. Instead of putting all your eggs in the same basket make multiple investments. This will increase your possibilities of success and will also help to reduce the risk involved. It will also increase your chances of getting your money back with some returns at a liquidity event such as a public offering or an acquisition by another company. In the end, these investments are for the long run so try to be patient.
4) Join an equity crowdfunding platform to get access to deal flow. If you are struggling to find deals, the best way to remedy that is to go online. By registering on investment platforms you will be able to navigate different deals. Especially if you are new to startup investing, you may want to see as many deals as possible before pulling the trigger. It is important to learn about the market before making any type of investments.
5) Examine the monetization strategy. The first dollar is what really matters. As an investor it is critical to see how the company is going to be able to scale down the line. The startup in question needs to be charging for its service at a reasonable price. There is no point to investing in a company that cannot sustain itself financially so a clear path to monetization is key.
5核查公司的盈利策略
核查公司的盈利策略，判断初创公司是否有一个清晰的盈利途径很重要。
6) Explore the market. It is absolutely critical to see what competition the startup has and what kind of competitive advantage they have been able to put in place in order to beat everyone else in the race. The competition could acquire the startup instead of cloning their work, so investigating the appetite in the market could be beneficial. Moreover, you want to make sure that the startup is operating in a big market. The founding team should be focused on customer development and they should definitely listen to what clients are saying. Feedback is key in the event the startup needs to pivot or iterate the product until they get it right. The specific idea is not as important as the team’s approach, and the size of the market.
7) Investigating the financials. Calculating projections to 5 years is almost impossible but the founding team should be able to at least showcase the roadmap of how they want to build the story towards becoming a profitable company. It is very interesting at this point to review the burn rate of the company and if what they are doing with their money actually makes sense.
8) Research their use of funds. As an investor, you need to understand what, why, and how the startup intends to spend the money. Having a good idea of what to do in this section would give you a better sense when testing the entrepreneur’s vision. In addition, review the salaries and see how much the founder intends to pay himself/herself. For a seed round, the absolute maximum salary should be $150,000 (depending on the amount raised and the experience of course). Also, try to understand if the funds that the startup is raising would be enough to accomplish important milestones that could help the company to either become profitable or to raise additional rounds of financing.
9) Review the legal documents. Look at the articles of incorporation, by-laws if available, investor agreement, subscription agreement, term sheet, etc… This step is all about getting familiar with how the company is structured and who is involved (directors, investors, advisors). Additionally, here is where you want to pay special attention to how the startup has structured the deal and what percentage of ownership in the company you are receiving for the amount of money that you are investing.
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投资人参与一个项目，一般都是通过拿到股份—股份增值—股份退出的方式挣钱的；
所以一个常见的投资项目确定成交的第一步就是拿到股份，而为了拿到股份有很多种方式；
题主也列了三种：发起设立、股权转让、溢价增资；
稍微详细说说：
发起设立：
字面意思，公司还没成立，投资人/机构和创始人一起成立公司；
这时候就有一个问题，我们假设是家中国公司；投资人和创始人聊的挺好，200万-20%；
那么第一个问题：公司注册资本注册成多少？
10万么？那么按照比例算，投资人的200万里2万进入注册资本，剩下的198万进入资本公积，创始人自己出8万。可10万的公司是不是太少了点？假如你再是个特殊行业（比如游戏），申请某个什么牌照之类的东西（比如文网文）还需要注册资本，你10万干啥都不方便啊；
那么注册资本200万好了，还是按照比例看投资人40万进入公司注册资本，然后同时需要创始人投入160万成立公司；可问题是有几个创始人在现实情况中有160万现金呢？当然也有变通方式，比如你投资人不就40万进入注册资本了么，剩下的160万借我，我拿去成立公司不就好了？
但这里又有问题，投资人借你160万，然后协议里答应成立完公司豁免债务是可以；可如果哪天退出了，投资人的税基就出现了问题，工商上看投资人是40万-20%，而不是200万-20%，退出的时候所得税就要多缴（200-40）*25%=40万RMB，投资人会想凭什么？
那么注册资本直接上1000万？我投资人到是简单，200万全进注册资本了，可创始人哪来的800万其他注册资本呢？当然现在国内的工商体系允许认缴但不实缴，可你总需要再未来某个时点缴纳上不是？
所以你看，作为投资人，何必用这么复杂的方式呢？
再看股权转让：
字面意思就是投资人从公司已经存在的股东（人或者法人股东）手里买一定的股份；对投资人来说OK的，反正都是拿到了股份，但这里又有问题；初创公司融资是为啥？
要钱发展啊！
我投资的钱都去买老股东股份了，钱没进公司，你怎么发展？
还有，如果转让的话，价格怎么定？按照注册资本么？创业者肯定不干啊……
那按照所谓的投资人和创始人谈的价格来算，肯定有溢价了；而转出股份的人就需要缴纳所得税……
最后溢价增资：
也是字面意思了，我投资人作为新的股东，对已经存在的公司增资；公司估值按照我们商定的方式，比如你哪怕最初是一个10万注册资本的公司，投资人投资你200万-20%；
那么交易方式上就是，投资人2.5万进入注册资本，公司注册资本从10万增加到12.5万；
然后剩余的197.5万进入资本公积……
可这又有朋友会说了，12.5万也不多啊，是不多，可你可以在这次工商变更之后再做一次资本公积转增注册资本啊。
反正全部的钱都是在公司账号上，你公司可以拿来用……
所以要你是投资人你选择哪种？
当然以上的情况也不绝对，常见的融资有可能是溢价增资+股权转让结合的方式，且常见的是初创公司融资，尤其是比较中后期的融资，一次融资交易中，大部分的金额是溢价增资，少部分金额股权转让；
原因也很简单，我融资，大部分钱还是要进公司的，但Founder为了改善改善生活以及早期投资人想退出之类的诉求，那么也会做一小部分的股权转让，而常见的这种『买老股』的价格相对于同时发生的溢价增资的价格要有一定的折扣。
希望有帮助。
翻译一篇福布斯的文章，可能不符合国情，当做借鉴吧
原网址：Forbes Welcome
投资初创公司不仅能获得金钱，还能创造更多工作，完成自我实现。美国从成立之前就深受这种投资精神的影响。
尽管初创公司成功的概率很小，但是一次成功投资会带来5到100倍的回报。在投资之前，对初创公司的业务，市场，竞争对手情况和其他投资人进行核对是至关重要的。
比如在我资助的初创公司投资平台，我们将仔细核查每个初创公司的背景，以确保每个能够被考虑的投资对象都有很高的成功几率。
1 投资你了解的领域
降低风险最好的方式就是了解你要投资的初创公司所在的市场环境。了解这个项目的领域，你对这个项目能否成功会有更敏锐的直觉。确认这家公司的业务是可以扩展，规模可以增加的。这样你才能从中获利。
2 深入考察其他投资人的信息
公司的投资人对初创公司来说是一个至关重要的因素。主要是因为初创公司需要尝试很多次才能找到准确的市场定位，适宜市场的产品。所以，其他投资人的耐心，他能给这家公司带来的资源等，对初创公司来说非常重要。这些信息需要你通过考察他们以前投资的公司和他们的教育情况来判断。
3使你的投资多样化
不要把所有的鸡蛋放进一个篮子里，显而易见，能降低风险，增加成功的可能性。这可能会增加你资产的流动性，比如你投资的一家公司上市了或者被其他公司收购了，这样你的股权就可以变成现金了。（都投出上市公司了，为毛还要说资金流动性？老外的逻辑我也是醉了）最后你要有耐心，你的投资是长期的。
（投资多样化这一节，没有任何帮助，完全废话）
4登陆众筹平台，多看一些投资案例
新手投资人要多看，看过足够多的投资案例之后，再投资。
（我已经想开始吐槽了，这也太没营养了，国内投资人哪个不是身经百战，在大忽悠和好项目之间辗转，这一节也是废话）
5核查公司的盈利策略
核查公司的盈利策略，判断初创公司是否有一个清晰的盈利途径很重要。
6调查市场
调查市场很重要，注意消费者的发展趋势，聆听客户的声音。客户反馈是初创公司得以改善他们产品的关键。所以初创公司团队调查市场的和市场的规模比新奇的idea更为重要。
7投资人需要调差初创公司的金融状况
虽然一家初创公司做一个5年的计划看起来很扯淡，但是从这份计划里，投资人需要看这家公司在盈利之前，公司如何花钱，有多少比例用来支付公司的日常开销。结合你自己的经验，能够感觉出这家公司是在玩过家家，还是真刀真枪的想干事儿。
8研究初创公司如何花钱
做这些研究会让你了解初创公司的创业者们的视野。此外还要看创业者们给他们自己的工资，判断他们是一群怎样的人。确认他们的花钱计划能够保证公司坚持到下一轮融资或者开始盈利。
9核对公司的法律文档
确认公司的法律文书，投资人协议，订单等各种条款协议。这里你需要特别注意的是你的股权，和你的分红。（有投资人会不注意这些吗？）
选择投资项目可以去BuyBusiness4Cheap
http://www.buybusiness4cheap.com
不是多数，而是基本上都是