A friend came to me with an opportunity to invest into a company. This individual owns and operates multiple businesses and does have a good track record. He came to me with an opportunity that group of individuals are developing a product that one of the four major sports leagues is interested in and is close to signing a contract with. They're looking to raise $1M and the minimum required investment is $25K. I'm told the they are currently valued at $9M, but believe it will sky rocket once their product gets put into production. I'm not really sure if this classifies as a startup, but has anyone had any experience with something like this? I've kept my money in an IRA that has earned 18.53% over the last 10 years, so am I better off staying there or making a risk for something that could return 50 times?