If you—or an entity you represent—meet BIG's membership requirements, please send us an email explaining why you wish to join. BIG prioritizes serious investors seeking alternative deal flow over a member referral.

While 70% of members are local to Colorado, you do not need to live in the state to become a member.

You will receive a DocuSign packet with a Disclaimer and QC form. Upon completion, you will be invited to BIG’s member portal and also added to our distribution list for event invites, follow-ups, one-offs, newsletters and other important communiques.

BIG does not have a fund, nor do we syndicate deals. Members invest independently and directly with sponsors. Members contact sponsors directly with their commitments.

While we hope you'll discover at least one opportunity that meets your criteria, investing in showcased offerings is not a requirement.

Common types of alternative investments BIG focuses on include real estate, private equity, private credit, and venture. Key characteristics are (1) low correlation with traditional stocks and bonds (that can protect portfolios during downturns), (2) lower liquidity (not easily purchased or sold), and (3) higher complexity and risk (sometimes requiring specialized knowledge). Here's what they are not: publicly traded stocks, government / corporate bonds, and cash equivalents.

Many BIG members allocate to alternatives for these four reasons:

1. Cash Flow—Real estate and private credit alternatives distribute 8-10% annual cash-on-cash. Public equities (including funds) typically pay a 1-3% annual dividend.
   
   

2. Reduced Volatility—Stocks can fall fast and furious. During the 2000-2002 Dot-Com Bubble Burst, the S&P was down 50% and the Nasdaq down 78%; the 2008 GFC peak-to-trough decline was 57%; the more recent 2022 inflation & rate hike bear market caused equity prices to sink 25%. Recoveries usually take 7 weeks… 7 months… 7 years… or sometimes 17 years. But one never knows when the stock market will bounce back. Because alternatives don’t mark to market daily, their values tend to be more stable.
   
   

3. Tax Advantages—Real estate, venture and private equity are usually taxed at long term capital gain rates. Real estate has its own special tax-reduction-and-deferral strategies, including bonus depreciation, 1031 exchanges, QOZs, and step-up in basis. Venture can benefit from the QSBS exemption.
   
   

4. Illiquidity Premium—If investors are willing to forgo immediate asset liquidity, they can often expect higher total returns. Sponsors target higher returns in exchange for exclusive access to LP capital for extended periods.

Upon submission, applications are relayed to BIG’s Screening Captain and our Screening Moderators. If a member-investor is listed, that person is consulted on overall satisfaction with the sponsor — and if he/she would invest again. Pending a positive reply, the application is shared with a relevant asset-class screening team, which votes on whether it should be screened. If the vote count has >60% in favor, a moderator is assigned and a call date is scheduled. During the 50-minute Zoom, 8-10 volunteers (selected for their asset-class expertise) pepper the applicant with questions. He/she then drops off and the team discusses their impressions and concerns, such as: Are the assumptions and target return realistic? Is the deal easy to understand? Is the sponsor a skilled presenter? Would anyone on the team personally invest? The screeners then vote again on whether to: 1) showcase the offering via a virtual pitch or one-off, 2) ask the sponsor to re-apply in a year, or 3) pass.

Note: Screening is not deep-dive due diligence. BIG’s screening teams are only tasked with determining the appropriateness of an offering for BIG. This process does not evaluate, endorse, or make any representation regarding the investment merits of any offering, and does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation.

Every six weeks (on Thursdays at 11:45-1 pm MT), BIG hosts a virtual Zoom event, spotlighting two sponsors and offerings that met BIG's application requirements. Between events, special-situation opportunities are shared via email when a deal can't wait for the next live presentation slot. Every pitch is followed by a Q&A session one week later for deeper exploration. BIG hosts two social events annually and occasionally schedules sponsor-organized Happy Hour gatherings—all held in Boulder.

BIG hosts 9 virtual events annually, showcasing 17 offerings. Each event spans 75 minutes, plus we host a 40-minute follow-up Q&A session for every featured sponsor. BIG also shares 9 special-situation one-offs, followed by a 40-minute, deep-dive Q&A Zoom. Every quarter, BIG hosts educational webinars on various investment topics.

If you participate in all 38 events and follow-ups, you'll invest 32 hours per year furthering your knowledge of alternatives. While some members devote this much time to BIG, most selectively choose the asset classes and sponsors that fit their investment preferences. If you spend even a dozen hours per year, you'll likely see the rewards.

BIG is an investment club, not a for-profit enterprise. However, we do incur overhead and technical expenses. To support ongoing operations, active members agree to cover a tech/ops fee of $250/yr.

Payments are made directly to BIG's contracted provider, Mountain Jet Media (MJM). This fee underwrites the member and sponsor platforms that power our investment club. Without an agency running our tech stack, BIG could not exist.

Platforms like Discord, Slack, and other online forums often end up being the tree that fell in the forest… with no one present. Email inboxes are where real investors live. BIG's custom P2P tool allows you to opt into email groups (by sponsor) and ask questions / share information directly with other members.

The Boulder Investment Group is a self-directed investment club, facilitated by James Calano and Jared Wandry, which provides a forum for participants to access investment opportunities, discuss such opportunities with others, and invest directly with presenting entities at their sole discretion. It is not a legal entity and is not registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission or any state securities agency. Each participant agrees and understands that neither Boulder Investment Group, including its members, advisory board, screening teams, and contract IT vendor (Mountain Jet Media LLC), nor James Calano or Jared Wandry, or any individual who succeeds either of them as a facilitator (collectively, “BIG”), is an investment adviser, financial planner, investment company, investment fund, investment bank, broker dealer, or investment clearing-house.

BIG provides no investment advice or recommendations with respect to any particular companies, funds, or asset classes to any participant. BIG’s screening teams review sponsor submissions against BIG’s administrative submission requirements, such as track record documentation and an existing-member reference, to determine whether an offering is eligible to be presented to BIG participants. This process does not evaluate, endorse, or make any representation regarding the investment merits of any offering, and does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation. BIG receives no compensation from any source other than fixed, non-performance-based fees collected directly by its contract IT vendor, as further described below.

BIG makes no representations or warranties as to the completeness or accuracy of information conveyed about investment opportunities, including any capital-raised figures or sponsor-reported performance metrics (such as MOIC, IRR, cash-on-cash return, DPI, or TVPI) that BIG may track or share with members; such figures are self-reported by sponsors, are not verified or endorsed by BIG, and do not constitute investment advice or a representation of future results. Where a sponsor-reported figure is not available, BIG may supplement it with information gathered from other sources, including other participants; any figure so obtained is provided on the same unverified basis as sponsor-reported figures. Any status label, target comparison, or similar characterization BIG may apply to such figures reflects a mechanical comparison only, is not verified or endorsed by BIG, does not constitute investment advice or any opinion by BIG regarding a sponsor or offering, and should not be relied upon in making any investment decision.

Participants must conduct their own due diligence on any investment they choose to make, and each participant is solely responsible for his or her own investment decisions. If a participant chooses to make an investment, the participant shall invest directly with the company or fund; BIG does not act as an intermediary. Presenting sponsors, not BIG, are solely responsible for conducting their own know-your-customer, anti-money-laundering, and other diligence on any participant who invests with them. Information about sponsors and their offerings is shared for each participant’s individual evaluation only; participants agree to keep such information confidential and not to further distribute it outside BIG, and BIG is not responsible for a participant’s unauthorized use or disclosure of any such information.

BIG provides certain tools through which participants may communicate directly with one another regarding sponsors and offerings, including Peer-to-Peer Sponsor Groups (P2P Groups) and Circle.so-hosted community features. BIG has no obligation to monitor, and does not monitor, communications exchanged between participants through any such tool. Each participant is solely responsible for any information, opinion, or statement he or she shares with other participants through any such tool, and BIG does not review, verify, endorse, or assume any responsibility for any information, opinion, or recommendation shared by a participant through any such tool.

All investment opportunities presented involve a high degree of risk, and all participants agree that they are able to bear the risk of complete financial loss. No person affiliated with BIG (or BIG itself) will be held responsible for an individual participant’s use of the information, investment decision, or the results of any investment. To the fullest extent permitted by law, BIG accepts no liability for any loss, damage, or injury related to any participant’s participation in BIG, and each participant agrees to hold harmless his or her co-investors, BIG and BIG’s members, advisory board, screening teams, contract IT vendor (Mountain Jet Media LLC), and facilitators.

Disclosure

Mountain Jet Media LLC charges fixed, pre-set fees for membership processing and for sponsor applications and presentations, which fund the technology platform that allows BIG to operate as a digital club; no such fee varies based on the amount of capital raised or invested, or on investment performance, and no such fee is shared with BIG’s screening teams or anyone evaluating sponsor applications. Mountain Jet Media LLC is owned by Brandon Calano, who attends BIG’s board meetings in a non-voting capacity to help confirm the club’s technology and operations needs are met, but who has no vote on any sponsor application, screening decision, or membership decision.

BIG may amend this disclaimer at any time; continued participation in BIG following such an amendment constitutes acceptance of the amended disclaimer.