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Founding Team

The founding team developed the concept for Localstake so that they could support local businesses in a new way—by investing in them. With backgrounds in investment banking and investment management, the Localstake team understands the risks and complexities in making local businesses a viable investment opportunity for investors.

Localstake was founded around the following five core principles:

  1. All individuals should be able to invest in private businesses
  2. Investors should invest in what they know best—their community
  3. Collaborative research and decision making results in better informed investors
  4. The process for raising capital should be efficient and inexpensive
  5. Local investors can offer many valuable advantages to small businesses

Founders

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Ryan Flynn

Founder

Prior to founding Localstake, Ryan worked in investment banking at Periculum Capital Company, LLC. At Periculum, Ryan worked with management teams of small to middle market companies to assist them in raising growth capital and selling their business.

Ryan received his Bachelors of Science in Business Administration and Psychology from Washington and Lee University. He holds the Series 7, 24, 79, and 63 securities licenses.

Check the background of this investment professional on FINRA’s BrokerCheck.

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Brandon Smith

Founder

Prior to founding Localstake, Brandon was an investment analyst at J.P. Morgan in Private Banking. While there, he was responsible for investment analysis and risk monitoring for high net worth families, foundations, and business owners.

Brandon attended Indiana University where he graduated from the Kelley School of Business, majoring in Finance and Entrepreneurship. He holds the Series 7, 24, 79, and 63 securities licenses and is a candidate for the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation, having passed all required exams.

Check the background of this investment professional on FINRA’s BrokerCheck.

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Steve Hodges

Director of Technology

Steve has worked as a software developer at startups since 2011. Prior to that, his work in the Office of Communications & Marketing at IUPUI earned the campus over a dozen national and regional awards for excellence in higher-education communications. That work included application development, building a student media production program, rollout of campus-wide digital signage, and nacient higher-ed social media integration efforts. In addition to production, he has also served leadership roles since 2005, building and managing media and software projects and teams.

His degree is from the Indiana University School of Informatics at IUPUI, with a certificate in applied computer science from Purdue University. He serves the university as a member of the IUPUI Alumni Council.

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Important Disclosures: localstake.com is a website owned by Stake Management LLC (“Stake Management”), which licenses SaaS tools and technology to a variety of issuers, broker-dealers, investment advisers, financial institutions and other entities. Stake Management is not a broker dealer, funding portal or investment advisor. The permitted use of Stake Management’s technology should not be interpreted as an endorsement or recommendation of any issuer, offering, or technology licensee. The Localstake Marketplace Platform operates under a technology license from Stake Management.

All offerings of securities are made through Localstake Marketplace, a registered broker dealer and funding portal, and member of FINRA and SIPC. Stake Management and Localstake Marketplace are hereinafter referred to collectively as the "Localstake Marketplace Platform Operators", unless otherwise specified.

The Localstake Marketplace Platform Operators do not provide legal advice, tax advice, or make investment recommendations, and no communication through this website or in any other medium should be construed as such. Investment opportunities posted on this website are private placements. Private placement investments are NOT bank deposits (and thus NOT guaranteed or insured by the FDIC, by a bank, or by any other federal governmental agency), and are NOT guaranteed by the Localstake Marketplace Platform Operators or any of their collective affiliates, owners, managers or members. Private placements of securities such as those displayed on this website MAY lose value. There is NO guarantee of a return on your investment and investors must be able to afford the loss of their entire investment. Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) nor any federal or state securities commission or regulatory authority has recommended or approved any investment or the accuracy or completeness of any of the information or materials provided by or through this website. Nothing on this website shall constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to subscribe for or buy, any securities to any person in any jurisdiction to whom or in which such offer or solicitation is unlawful.

Any financial projections or returns shown on the website are illustrative examples only. Any investment information contained herein has been secured from sources the Localstake Marketplace Platform Operators believe are reliable, but we make no representations or warranties as to the accuracy of such information and accept no liability therefor. Offers to sell by issuers on Localstake Marketplace or the solicitations of offers to buy by investors on Localstake Marketplace, any security are only made through official offering materials that contain important information about risks, fees and expenses. Investors should conduct their own due diligence, not rely on the financial assumptions or estimates displayed on this website, and are encouraged to consult with a financial advisor, attorney, accountant, and any other professional that can help to understand and assess the risks associated with an investment opportunity. Please review the risks of investing in private placements on Localstake Marketplace.