What Every One of My Winning Startup Picks Had in Common
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| By Chris Graebe |
Today, I want to tell you about four recent startup success stories.
One aims to launch satellites into orbit with decommissioned fighter jets.
One sits on the largest known uranium deposit in the United States.
One uses human collagen to 3D print bones and regenerate tissue.
And one made a party punch that Mark Cuban couldn't say no to.
Four different industries. Four different stories.
All with one thing in common …
Every single one of them could have handed their earliest investors a serious win over the past 12 months.
Starfighters Space (FJET) went from $3.59 in its private Alpha Round to $31.50 on its third day of public trading.
Eagle Nuclear Energy (NUCL), which my readers backed in early 2025 and watched go public shortly after, grew by 4x from a buy-in of $3.60 to peak.
And Conexeu Sciences (CNXU) traded as high as $16 from our pre-public Alpha Round entry point of $2 a share.
My Deal Hunters Alliance readers had the chance to get into all three of these startups …
Long before a single share ever changed hands on Wall Street.
Every one of those were Regulation Crowdfunding deals.
And every one of them went from raise to exit in under two years.
Which is unusual, in and of itself.
But the fact that our first three private-equity “exits” resulted in three publicly traded stocks is truly remarkable!
What about the fourth company?
BeatBox Beverage, a scrappy Austin startup I discovered back in 2020, is in a class by itself.
It didn’t go public, but it saw another kind of exit that was favorable when Anheuser-Busch (BUD) bought it for $490 million.
While that was before we formed our Alliance, the six-year time frame … and nine-figure exit … is still an outstanding example of why I do what I do.
Four wins in four very different companies.
But what made each one so promising wasn’t so different from one startup to the next.
Every Time, It Starts with the Founders
Long before every deal … before I look at the numbers, the market size or anything else … I look at the people running the company.
The founders of BeatBox were three kids out of Austin, Texas, whose business had survived multiple near-death moments.
But they kept going, kept pivoting and kept building. That kind of grit tells you something numbers never can.
With Eagle Nuclear, I flew out to the Nevada-Oregon border and walked the grounds myself.
I met the engineer doing most of the uranium drilling and the core testing.
I analyzed the leadership and saw a team that understood both the science and the regulatory landscape, along with the patience to navigate both.
Then there was Conexeu Sciences, which aims to become a major player in cosmetic treatments and advanced medical repairs.
It recently direct-listed onto the Nasdaq. This was a bold move that helped boost its visibility in front of investors and the regulators.
Speaking of the FDA, Conexeu is preparing for what could be a big regulatory catalyst in early 2027. That’s when it plans to submit its wound care device for approval.
This could help propel the company from a preclinical-stage biotech to a company with a product on the market.
With each of these deals, I visit their sites, shook hands with management and had real conversations … which we recorded and shared with my subscribers.
Why This Level of Due Diligence?
Because in early-stage investing, you're not just betting on a business. You're betting on the human beings behind it.
And arrogance is my biggest red flag …
Confidence is great, but a founder who thinks they have all the answers, who isn't building a competent board around them, who can't see around corners, is a founder I run from.
Humility, adaptability and the ability to attract the smartest people to the team is what I'm looking for every time.
Timing Is Everything
Each one of these four wins was the result of an “Alpha Round” investment.
That's the earliest proper stage of outside funding, just after the founders and their inner circle.
It’s the moment of calm before the venture capitalists and other big-money investors can pile in and drive up the price.
The 2012 JOBS Act, also known as the CROWDFUND Act, made this window available to everyday investors for the first time in 2016.
Yet most people don't even know it exists.
For example, when we got into Starfighters, the company was operating out of Kennedy Space Center with a bold idea and not much else.
And when we backed Eagle Nuclear, an executive order had just been signed pushing aggressive domestic uranium production.
And almost nobody else had connected those dots yet.
That's what early timing looks like.
That’s the whole game in Deal Hunters Alliance. And so far, we can call this strategy an early success … just like the startups we’ve discussed here today.
Every One of These Startups Had a Major Tailwind at Its Back
Billions of dollars in a government-backed space initiative …
A national push for domestic mineral production …
The demand for a better solution for wound care and tissue regeneration …
And beverages riding a generational shift in how young people drink …
These companies saw their moments and seized them.
You can see this throughout the public markets. When a sector catches fire, even the smaller players can benefit.
The key is being in those smaller names before the fire gets lit.
I just found exactly that in a new company I haven’t even shared with my members yet …
Now, Another Sector Is About to Ignite
And this brand-new prospect checks every box on my list.
The founders have the grit and the humility I look for.
The timing is “Alpha Round” early …
And the tailwind?
This private company’s niche industry could usher in $2.7 TRILLION of economic growth, according to McKinsey & Co.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said “it will deliver extraordinary impact.”
Netscape’s former Chief Strategist, Kevin Coleman, said, “The disruptive potential of [this technology] will make the change of the Internet era look like a small bump in the road!”
And Bank of America’s managing director, Haim Israel, said it’s “the most important technological race of our generation."
Israel and went further, stating it could "eclipse even artificial intelligence in its economic impact."
I can’t wait to reveal this brand-new opportunity.
You can gain access the very first day the deal opens.
That means you’ll have the chance to invest …
Before angel investors …
Before venture capital firms …
Before any giant investment banks get a seat at the table.
It all starts on Tuesday, Sept. 8, at 2 p.m. Eastern. Here’s how to participate.
Happy hunting!
Chris Graebe
